The Best Advice I Ever Got From My Father
Today is Father's Day and I wanted to share with you something a little more on the personal side.
As we think back over the years I would venture a guess that we can all remember something our father said to us. Maybe it was an encouraging word, a funny joke he ALWAYS told, the way he talked about his job, or unfortunately, maybe you remember the negative and discouraging words your father seemed to always speak.
Regardless, if you had the privilege of being raised with a father in your home, you were influenced by him in some capacity, good or bad.
I was blessed to have a great father and was positively influenced by him. Although we didn't, and still don't, see eye to eye on everything, I have many great lessons I learned from my father. And today I thought I would share just one.
"Success comes at your inconvenience not your convenience."
I want you to read that several times and really receive it. All too often we think that success in life - whether that's being a good father, having a great marriage, making a lot of money, or yes even being a good surfer - comes to those who are lucky.
And while this is true in some cases, the vast majority of success comes because you pursued it regardless of how easy or hard the pursuit was.
Having success in any facet of your life doesn't happen unless you inconvenience yourself and get after it. Just like being a really good surfer doesn't happen by sitting on the beach and perfecting your wax job. You have to paddle out, face your fears, and charge it.
I think most people can receive and understand that. Where they get confused is that they think the pursuit will come easy. Unfortunately, this couldn't be further from the truth.
Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, will not be convenient or easy. It is a myth that you will get your "ducks in a row" and then be able to focus. So quit waiting for the perfect time because there is no such thing.
If you are going to achieve success at any level you must start pursuing it… now. Not tomorrow, not when it would be more convenient, and certainly not when you feel like it… now.
If you want to be a better father, husband, friend, businessman, and yes even a better surfer, inconvenience yourself today and move toward your vision, because if you don't, you'll be one year older when you do.
Happy Fathers Day to all you dads. Thank you for all you do. -Luc
Very inspiring. I try to instill this type of mentality to my children and colleagues, and your dad makes perfect sense.
You do have to face your fear and challenge yourself, and when you do, great things do happen; I am a personal witness of it.
Great share!
My high school wrestling coach Ben Kundick who is in the pennsylvania high school coaching hall of fame used to say. " In order to be a champion you must master four things". “1 You must always keep creating movement”“2. You must always be able to escape off the bottom”. " 3. You must always have one move that is so perfected you can score with it on any opponent". “4. You must always keep your head above your waist”.
That correlates in life. Keep your head up when your feeling down. Escape off the bottom. Take critisism positively and work on what they said. When your job is going badly work harder, when your school work is in a rut work harder get out off the bottom. Get up earlier when you don’t feel like it. Keep moving always moving toward or in a positive direction. If your out of work or down on cash find one thing positive to do each day moving forward. Keep list of things to do and cross off something every day keep movement. Score everyday, workout, surf, yoga, get your wife or girl some flowers, Score, by giving something away, volunteering, mow your neighbors grass or wash their car make points, call an old boss for a referal, make a sale, call an old customer you havnt spoken to or were afraid to speak with, follow up on a resume.
I named my son after my high school wrestling coach. Don’t talk or preach to your kids show them actions speak louder than words
Two things I got from my pop;
life is not fair and actions speak louder than words.
Just lost my job after nearly 11 years. This advice could not have reached me at a better time. While I feel worthless and hopeless, the sun came up this morning, and somewhere, someone is riding some tasty waves. Nothing is forever, just like perfect waves are not on every beach everyday. Thanks for sharing.
You had an excellent coach Mike. I second everything you’re coach taught you; my Dad did the same. His philosophy was “don’t focus on your mistakes; learn from them and improve”. Both my Ma and Pa would do what was
Another one from Dad that’s stuck with me: “You have to be a Dad first and a friend second, in that order”. Long-term that has helped me understand how to help my kids better. He won’t admit it, but he is the best, a true role model to me in a world that needs more.best for us kids( punishment,advice,etc) even though it might be very difficult for them to do. We’d get punished, and then hugged and kissed and told they loved us very much. It was what we did that was wrong, not who we were.
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