Dad Quote of the Day

There are 13 things that we all need to remove from our lives if we are going to be successful. These things are absolutely holding you back and all of them you have a degree of control over. Usually, that control is 100%. 1. An unhealthy lifestyle – Letting go of an unhealthy lifestyle takes self-control, but will improve quality of life. It requires a commitment to physical activity and eating well. 2. Short-term goals – They’ll only lead to short-term results. 3. Small ideas – If you’re not shooting for something big, you’ll never find out what you’re truly capable of. 4. Excuses – Success means taking responsibility for your life, even when you can only control your outlook. 5. A “fixed mind-set” – Without hard work, brains and talent won’t lead to success. Success is about embracing a “growth mind-set” and spending serious time learning how to be better at all you do. 6. “Magic bullets” – Focus on incremental improvements. 7. Perfectionism – Accept that things are never perfect, and take a first step anyway. You can always adjust later. 8. Multitasking – Do just one thing, with focus, until it’s done. 9. Trying to control everything – Being overly controlling is counterproductive. Recognize which variables you can control, and put your attention on those. 10. Saying yes all the time – Give time and attention only to things that further your goals. This may mean missing out on a few experiences, but the payoff will be big. 11. Toxic relationships – Consider the people you see most often. Being around people who are doing well will make you more successful, too. If toxic people are dragging you down, see them less. 12. Worries about being liked – If you’re doing something truly innovative, some people won’t approve and that’s okay. Stick to your vision, and take detractors as a sign that you’re stirring up things in a good way. 13. Television and social media – Unless they’re directly linked to something you’re trying to achieve, minimize or get rid of them altogether. When you do, you’ll find you have more time to enjoy. Now, here’s today’s lesson. When other people are contributing to these problem areas. Handle them with empathy but segregate them away from you to the degree you can. When the person who is causing you your problems is yourself, give yourself the same empathy but judge yourself worthy of success and correct yourself to move forward. Thoughts from 1 Thessalonians 5:15 DQOTD - Chef Dad Chef Kid Email me at info@dqotd.com

A staircase takes you upwards and downwards in an orderly fashion. You can’t go left or right unless you reach a landing or you’re in a James Bond movie. Learning in life is similar to both a staircase and a James Bond movie. Certain steps have to be taken in order and sometimes life throws you a curve ball. When you’re a baby you learn to roll over. Then you crawl. Then you walk. Then you run. Why does the child want to do this? Because they see everyone around them doing it. Dads need to model this in life also. Hang out with people that are improving their lives. What are those people learning? What are they doing in their spare time? How are they exercising? What food are they eating? How disciplined are they? Are they living below their means? Are their children following their lead? Thoughts from Philippians 4:9 DQOTD - Chef Dad Chef Kid Email me at info@dqotd.com

One time I asked a guy I worked with, a true expert in his craft, given what he knew of my skills what he thought of my seeking out something else from our current job. His answer was, “I have no idea.” This guy knew me. He had helped train me. I had worked with him for a couple years already. I would correct me when I was off target and encourage me when I was struggling. His advice had even led me to win an award with a substantial bonus for all of my hard work. He still didn’t know how to advise me. It’s partially the same with our kids, our spouses, and ourselves. We are poor observers. We filter things through our own biases. If we are honest, we don’t even know our own True North much of the time. For some people, the external influences of others is their compass and they get buffeted by every wind that hits them. Having your own True North helps you stand against the storm. But remember, it has to be internal. True North is not governed by other people because as soon as they remove their guidance or support, you are lost. For myself, praying and asking God for direction, consistently and with the belief that I will receive an answer, has helped me more times than not. It doesn’t always come when I want it, but I always get direction when I stay open to it coming from any direction. Thoughts from Matthew 6:6 DQOTD - Chef Dad Chef Kid Email me at info@dqotd.com

Have you ever seen a kid running full steam and kind of teeters off to the side and falls down? What does that child do? They look up and see what mom and dad’s reaction is. If mom and dad are freaked out, they start crying. If they’re calmly watching, they get back up and go play. Parents that want that child to grow up and understand their choices won’t make a great big fuss. They’ll tell them to get up, brush themselves off, and go on and play. That child will grow up with greater confidence because of their experiences. Liberty comes with a price. But, if you want your own liberty, you must defend other people’s liberty, too. To be at liberty, you have to have the environmental and legal ability to make choices, even if those choices could hurt you, so you can learn from them. To be confident in those choices, you have to have been burned, cut, scraped up, beat up, knocked down time and again. You have to have had broken relationships and strong relationships. You have to have lost money, lost opportunities, lost work, lost family and friends, made money, made or found opportunities, found work, created an opportunity for yourself or others, and grown new family and friends. That is life. This also means that your children will grow up with a balanced understanding of the true nature of life and how to win. My advice is to raise your kids with a box of Band-Aids and an air horn. The Band-Aids are for the booboos. The air horn is to warn them of danger and to celebrate their successes as loudly as possible. Thoughts from Matthew 7:12 DQOTD - Chef Dad Chef Kid Email me at info@dqotd.com

I want things to flow easily. Who doesn’t? But that is not my life experience. My experience is that life is hard and full of challenges. There are standards that have to be met for everything and everything has variability. On the Earth, stability is often perceived as the Status Quo with compromise and give and take. But in engineering stability is perceived as a process that produces a consistent result. That result falls within a range of tolerance until it breaks. Again, this is another way of looking at a status quo. I have been amazed by some different forms of stability. Benchmark standards to which all other standards are calibrated. Consider Righteousness doing what is right at all times. Consider Purity being unmixed or uncut and without contaminants. If you’re religious, Consider Holiness as living according to the purity and righteousness of God. Now consider how you personally meet those standards. That is my biggest challenge. I almost never do. I wake up tired because I slept late. I eat the wrong food out because I’m impatient and don’t want to wait until I get home. I focus on the less effective part of a solution because I have imperfect information. I can always strive to be better and my family expects me to be better. And, I then hold my family to the same standards to see them improve. It’s a challenge I will live for my whole life. Thoughts from Hebrews 13:8 DQOTD - Chef Dad Chef Kid Email me at info@dqotd.com

Something I struggle with is my natural human tendency to want to see evil people and organizations, that hurt those I love, destroyed in the most painful way possible. We make comparisons to mothers being mama bears when fighting for their kids. If you’ve ever seen a bear eat, they go for the soft belly and groin of their prey to devour the organ meat and kill their prey quickly. The news has reported many times that a dad has encountered a person abusing their son or daughter and that dad either killing or beating the attacker to the point of death or great bodily injury. Typically, they are not prosecuted because of the regard for defense that good parents are held to. Revenge against the demonic is not to be provided with ice cream and cake. You fight the demonic with appropriate power and authority. It is the act of controlling one’s own failures and bad habits that can be overcome when you are willing. Discipline, self-control, personal responsibility will all help you become a better Dad and Mom. Revenge against your personal weakness is the greatest victory because you strengthen yourself, then your family, then those around you and your community. The sweetest revenge is a dish served cold. When you overcome something that has been plaguing you for a long time, that is truly sweet. Thoughts from Romans 12:21 Amplified Bible translation DQOTD - Chef Dad Chef Kid Email me at info@dqotd.com