How to Grow a Beard

Want to learn how to grow a beard successfully?  It’s not that hard, but you’d be surprised how many beards don’t make it past the first month.  The reason for this is that most men don’t make a goal when they set out to grow a beard.  The number one rule for growing a beard is to make a goal and a plan.  I usually encourage men to have a goal of at least 3 months of not trimming.  This only works if you stick to your goal so be sure that you really want to do this.

Why 3 months?  During the first 4-8 weeks most beards go through a couple of awkward phases that become very tempting to cut off the beard completely.  If you don’t have a goal in place then you will most likely succumb to the awkward stage which will result in shaving off your beard.  So stick to your plan and know that the awkward phases will pass.

The other big factor that comes into play with growing a beard is social pressures.  Most likely you will get a lot of comments on your beard.  A lot of them may not be very nice.  Chances are if it’s your first beard you may be self conscious to begin with which doesn’t help when people make comments or criticize your beard.  Realize that your friends, family, co-workers, and even yourself are not accustomed to seeing you with a beard so don’t be surprised when people bring it up.  Since your beard is on your face there is no way to hide it but you can make the best of it.  

Tidying up your beard appearance can greatly help while you grow a beard.  Selecting and shaving a cheek line and neck line will help give a cleaner appearance.  It gives the look of intent and not that you forgot to shave or that you are lazy (common criticism).  It’s important to only cut the cheek line and jaw line without touching the rest of the beard which will become very tempting.

Realize that there will be some hurdles to overcome when you grow a beard but there is beard glory waiting on the other side for you.  The first few beards are usually the hardest to grow but it gets easy every time.  The main key is to make and stick to a goal and ignore any negative comments that might come your way.  It’s your beard and it’s your life, live it, and enjoy.

- The Beard Baron