🏟️ Time to choose: get in the arena or stay comfortable

The 5-minute weekly newsletter for high-performance dads.

Good evening!

Happy (early) Memorial Day Weekend 🇺🇸 

Never forget that we are free because of the brave.

-Collier

_QUOTE
“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly….”
-Theodore Roosevelt

Gents - THIS is what we are after.

GET IN THE ARENA.

There will be doubters no matter where you go, but what separates you from them is that YOU are in the arena with a face that is marred by dust, sweat and blood—and they are not.

Growing up, I would always hear from coaches to “leave it all out on the field.”

But to leave it on the field, you have to BE ON THE FIELD.

If you are looking for a sign to go after whatever has been nagging at you…here it is. Don’t delay. Get in the game.

Your future self, your wife and your kids will thank you because you decided to get off the bench.

_WISDOM
Your name is all you have, so protect it.

In an interview with Inc.com, Brett Worthington, VP of global business development and partnerships at SmartThings, was asked about the best advice he received from his dad.

His answer:

"My dad's advice... Essentially, your name is your integrity, and how people know you will do what you say you will do. It's how they know you'll live up to the standards you have set for yourself as a son, husband, father, professional, and so on. I didn't realize until later in life how profound and deep this was. I was building my own personal brand, and my name was how people in my professional network, and most importantly how my children, would see me. When I am gone, what will they know me by? It will be by how they speak to my name. This gem will be passed on to my children and hopefully generations to come.” (Source: Inc.com)

Let’s make our name mean something—for ourselves, our marriage, our kids, our future grandkids, etc.

Integrity. Honesty. Joy. Kindness. Humility.

Those are the kinds of words I want to be associated with my name.

But to get there, I/we have to put in the work to embody those traits. No days off.

Here’s to the work. Let’s get it.

_ACTION
Don’t take your kid’s biology personally.

Peaceful Parenting Coach Luke Adsit said this about parenting toddlers:

Toddlers aren’t defiant, rebellious or disrespectful.

They just don’t have the brain development to resist impulses.

Try not to take biology personally.

(Source: Luke Adsit)

I ‘bout fell out my chair after reading this—trying not to feel the shame of putting labels on my kids because of their inability to do something that they are incapable—at a biological level—of doing.

My takeaway: Do myself and my kids a favor and stop putting pressure on them to do something they can’t biologically do. Plain and simple.

That’s a wrap, folks!

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