Two things made me man up:
-Nearly losing my father to illness
-Being introduced to powerlifting after rehab and counseling for substance abuse.
I was a wimpy kid with no confidence. Almost losing my father taught me to never procrastinate in life. Just live, love and do before it is too late.
Powerlifting not only gave me physical strength, it gave me discipline. Before, I hated the gym. My cousin tried to get me into body building while I was in rehab but I found it all so boring. Powerlifting took a while but it became an outlet for me to channel all the negative feelings I had about myself and grow from them. At first I had thoughts like "im a weak pussy, I don't want to do this. I can't do this." As I worked on my form and got stronger, those thoughts turned to "I got this, let's do this". A lot of people ive spoken to say they get this from martial arts too. Powerlifting has given me confidence, physical presence (corrected my posture) and even changed the way I carry myself.
Strength, confidence and a burning ambition to better yourself is all you need man. If you really have these attributes you'll be swimming in pussy. When you really have it, people around you can sense it.