It can be tough, I know. To find the strength and energy, both physical and mental, to be the best you can be. Emotionally too. The list of things to do and chores to knock out seem endless. There is no rest for the wicked, as the saying goes.
There is something that I have learned, though, that can provide the motivation and reminder to get up, stay up, and keep moving forward. That is… Be, do, have. Be the man you want to be. Just visualize that man in your head: what he looks like, how he moves, how he talks, how he thinks, how he carries himself throughout the day. Just be that person. Pretend you are already him. Then, do the things that you think that man would do. That man would turn the TV off and play a board game with his kids. That man would get up off his favorite chair and go outside to play catch with his kids. That man would take a few extra minutes and thought to prepare a meal in the kitchen, rather than ordering food delivered or going out to eat. Finally, if you do these things, or at least try to be the future man you want to be and try to do the things that man would do, you will have the life you want. You will become that that man that you envisioned. You will feel like the man you wanted to be.
Make no mistake, this is a daily exercise. This is a constant way of operating and thinking for you. You do not want to think of yourself as the man you always have been. You do not want to revert back to the guy that has regrets and who knows he is not showing up and performing the fatherly duties that you know he should. Of course, there will be days that you need that relaxing time in your favorite chair. There will be the times when you deserve to watch the game or a new show. But by following the simple Be – Do – Have method, you will slowly but surely evolve into a motivated, ambitious father that takes advantage of every day and opportunity with his children.
This is what a dad does. This is what a dad wants to do. This is who a dad wants to be. So be him. You can. You will.
