✅Read a book a week for 30 years!
✅Can fix anything!!
✅Socially strong & networks well!
✅Great leader!
He never moved up in his company.
I recently asked him why & the answer he gave me brought me to tears!!
Man I love my dad ❤️🙏
He told me at 25 he had given up drinking for good.
His father was an abusive alcoholic & he was on the same path until he met Jesus at 24 & I was born :)
He didn’t go to college.
He married my mom at 18 to escape his childhood & at 18.5 they were pregnant with my sister.
He had to grow up fast & took a job at an auto parts store at 18.
He was quickly promoted & promoted again to assistant manager by 20.
At 23 he was promoted to manager & running his entire shop!!
The money was good, but the hours weren’t.
55-60 hour weeks.
His mentor a man named Bill Miller at the auto store & a manager of a bigger store was stepping down after 40 years of service.
My dad went to congratulate him afterward & what Bill told him changed my dads life & ultimately mine 🙏
He pulled my dad aside and said,
Garry it’s not worth it.
I’m an old man now.
I gave everything to this company.
I missed my sons baseball games,
my daughters dance recitals.
After 40 years I got this F*cken watch.
He threw it away.
I wish I could go back & not work weekends.
My kids are grown & moved away.
My dad remained friends with Bill & the next year decided to step down as manager.
He went on to work as a parts guy 5 days a week from 730-330.
The thing I always recall first about my childhood is my dad was always home & always there on weekends playing!!
Truthfully, this decision cost our family some money.
We grew up on the bottom cusp of lower middle class :)
But looking back,
My childhood was the greatest!!
I never had the newest anything.
We didn’t eat out or take extravagant vacations.
MY FATHER WAS MY HERO THO!🔥💪
He worked as a parts guy for Ford & another couple companies over the next 40 years until retiring last year!!
He also:
✅Coached my sisters teams in soccer
✅Made every recital of hers
✅Coached me in: ⚾️ 🏀 ⚽️ 🏃🏈
To this day his nickname among my friends is LEGEND!!
He also ran multiple marathons,
Got my mom into running & working out & they did a marathon together!
He volunteered for our small town 26 years in a row & built a gym there that is used by hundreds now!
He still coaches & mentors youth today in that gym!!
This is last week :)
I reflect back on what my childhood would’ve been like had my dad done the “normal” thing & prioritized work & money over his family & health like a lot of men do.
I’m so grateful he decided to not be “normal” & climb that company ladder.
I’m glad he was home!!
Now that I’m a father I’ve made a similar choice.
I was promoted many times in corporate banking & found myself making great money with great incentives.
Those incentives come at too high a cost for me tho.
Recently, I told my boss I’m stepping down from running my bank.
I’m going to work 2.5 days a week as an entry level employee instead of running a staff & branch.
I’m 37,
my boss was flabbergasted,
Once you go down you never come back up he warned!
They’re training my replacement now.
My daughter (5) is ecstatic dad will be home more soon!
I called my dad to tell him,
Thanks dad,
I love you & I’m going to honor your legacy & continue to pour into what truly matters just the way you taught me! 🙏
I’m going to coach all my kids games just like you!
I’m going to lead my family on adventures & pour in daily!!
I know my path isn’t for all.
I also know the role of a man is:
✅PROVIDE
✅PROTECT
✅PRESIDE
I take all of those very seriously & have systems in place we’ve built to provide income streams & passive income to replace a lot of the lost income from my job.
I got super intentional & decided
Less stuff
❌new cars
❌vacation home
❌designer clothes
❌fancy watch
Weren’t worth me working a job I didn’t love for the next 20 years & being gone 48hrs/wk
I’d rather live frugally & be around the people I love doing things I love more.
Perhaps my kids will grow up & follow a similar path or perhaps my daughter will grow up & be the first female President :)
Either way I’ll support their dreams & I’ll be there each step of the way to cheer them on, support them & love them!
Most important to me, I’LL BE THERE!
So again, I don’t challenge anyone that loves their work & works 80 hours a week that my way is better.
We all make choices that we think is best for us.
My one final thought to you would be
Pause a bit.
Reflect.
Get off autopilot.
If you do work a job you don’t love,
👇👇
Look around,
Is the stuff worth it?
Ask yourself WHY you keep going day in & day out?
Can you set a plan in motion to get out?
My dads friend Bill Miller once said he would give anything to go back & get TIME with his kids.
TIME is the one thing we never get back.
I’ll forever be grateful my father,
THE LEGEND,
paused a bit & decided he wanted to be present more than just give us presents.
I sincerely hope you do the same & whatever conclusion you come to you go full steam at it & live your best life too!
Cheers & have a blessed day🙏
• • •
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When I decided to share here I knew I wanted to be authentic & share the real me.
-divorced
-fired
-on anxiety meds
-dad bod before
BUT IMPROVING 1 DAY & 1 INTENTIONAL DECISION AT A TIME!!
🧱 by 🧱
This last year has been the best of my life & that’s no coincidence.
I follow & interact with champions daily on here & IRL!!💪🔥
Here’s a few: @_CynthiaThurlow I am forever grateful. I have abs & am intentional about what I eat now!
Better yet, my energy levels have
@ZachHomol my man, love you brother!
You have coached me & challenged me to level up:
✅boldness & faith
✅marriage & priorities
✅rest & recovery
✅living with intent in every area!!
I said if I could have one mentor I would choose you over anyone, glad I did :) 🙏💪🔥
I was asked yesterday on a coaching call how I’m always positive :)
This has been an intentional choice & something I’ve worked hard at for years now!
🙏You can’t be grateful & grumpy at the same time!!
🔥I curate my entire life around positivity.
Strategies I use: 🧵
👇👇
❌I never watch sad movies or horror movies.
If I’m watching movie it’s going to inspire or educate me.
❌I never listen to sad music.
All praise music that floods my soul.
I dance & sing often too :)
❌I don’t follow toxic people.
Only Champs that inspire me on my timeline!💪
❌I don’t follow politics or the news at all.
My wife said on Jan 25th something about President Biden & I had no clue he had been inaugurated 🤷
He’s President now?!
Maybe that’s bad,
but I feel I affect the most change in the world from within myself, my home & my community.
Money comes to me easily, frequently & abundantly in God’s perfect way with no burden attached to it.
Said this affirmation daily for 15 months now.
Yesterday I signed an offer for my new position at work & was happy it!
Today they gave me 5k over what I asked for!! 🙏❤️
Daily affirmations & telling yourself who I am are incredibly powerful for me.
A few more I say everyday,
I will provide, protect & lead
my family today.
I am a man of integrity and honor.
I have self-discipline & will run towards or through any obstacle that comes my way.
Tinlie is a blessed child of God.
I will train, empower, instruct and equip her to do more for the kingdom of God than she could ever imagine.
I will love and protect her and be the example see she looks up to.