My First 6 Months as a Dad

It all started with a passage I read earlier this morning from Meditations.

“Stop allowing your mind to be a slave, to be jerked about by selfish impulses, to kick against fate and the present, and to mistrust the future.” -Marcus Aurelius

That quote provides the solution to a lot of what I’ve been going through lately.

• Raising a newborn son
• Being a good father/husband
• Fitness (strength, cardio, flexibility training)
• Running my 1-on-1 personal training business
• Social media content creation (Instagram, YouTube, etc.)

Let’s break it down, piece by piece, and I’ll show you how it applies to my life.

Hopefully, with this exercise, you can apply it to yours as well.

Stop allowing your mind to be a slave, to be jerked about by selfish impulses…

This is about one action viewed from two different perspectives:

1. Doing what you know you should be doing
2. Not doing what you know you shouldn’t be doing

Resist temptation. Do what’s good for you.

Easier said than done, right?

You want to get in shape and eat healthy.

What happens next?

You cave to thoughts–an intangible form of resistance–and eat the Snickers bar.

The selfish impulse, eating a delicious treat, is self-sabotage.

Every action that doesn’t push you towards your goal is an action that makes you less disciplined and more of a slave to impulses.

…to kick against fate and the present

Your battle tonight may be that Snickers bar.

I don’t use this example to mock. I use it because it’s the reality for most people today.

You have to make a choice, or choices, to move into a more positive direction.

A healthier Snickers bar. No Snickers bar. Fewer Snickers bars this week than last week.

Any resistance against these actions is you kicking against fate. You’re denying the present (reality).

For me, this battle against fate takes the form of balancing work and my new chapter in life.

When I want to [train, shoot content, edit content] is not when I get to do those things.

I do them when life provides me the time.

The selfish impulse is I want to record content this weekend. The reality is my family is in town to visit my son so I have to find another time to do it.

The selfish impulse is I want to train whenever I have free time. The reality is I train in the mornings when my wife and son are sleeping.

The past few months with my son has been an ongoing battle of me internalizing my new reality.

I’ve accepted my fate. I’ve accepted my present.

Now it’s about doing the work.

Anything else is just complaining and nobody likes complainers.

Especially spouses and children.

…and to mistrust the future

If you don’t accept your fate and do the work, you don’t believe what your future could be.

This mistrust in your future is really a mistrust in yourself.

There’s work to be done. There’s a plan to get it done. …but you won’t do it.

Why?

Scared the plan won’t work? Readjust and continue.

Scared the plan will be hard? It will be…and?

Scared people will notice? They will not and/or they won’t care. And if they do? Ask yourself, “Will you let that person be the reason you don’t live up to your potential?”

Recap

I have more obligations and interruptions now than I’ve ever had in my life.

I could sit around and complain.

Look at all this stuff that’s getting in my way!

Or I can do what needs to be done and figure out how to make it all work.

It’s the type of man I want my wife to be around. It’s the type of man I want my son to look up to. It’s the type of man I want to be.

Stop being a slave to impulses. Stop fighting against the present reality. Trust in your future.

Recommended Viewing

If you liked the message in this email, I have two short videos I know you’ll love.

How The World Is RIGGED Against Your Diet

The $1,000,000 Diet