Imagine you’re on trial and your daughter is called to bear witness on your daily habits. With her left hand on the Holy Bible (King James Version, of course) and her right hand raised the judge asks her “Do you solemnly swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you God?”. Your daughter answers, “Yes”.
What will her sworn testimony be? Will your daughter’s testimony be a glowing testament of how you Prioritize Physical Activity daily, or a striking one? Will you be able to hold your chest and chin up high because you know your talk and your walk are in stride? Or would your claims not match the man she knows you to be?
Will she say, “daddy Prioritizes Physical Activity!”, or will she say, “daddy really likes watching T.V.”.
Talk That Talk
“His wishes and prayers are only gratified and answered when they harmonize with his thoughts and actions.”
As we all know, ACTIVE-DADs come in all shapes and sizes. There is no “Perfect” starting point because the goal is to start where you are, RIGHT NOW, and aim to continuously improve.
If that means going from completely sedentary to joining the One Activity, One Day A Week Challenge (How Low Has Complacency Set Your Bar?), then YOU’RE WINING! The secret; The more you keep going, the more you keep WINNING. Along the way, you can adjust and discover new approaches.
But first thing’s first.
major time on major things
I’ve said it before in Health Is A Wealth Multiplier, but I’ll say it again, if you’ve figured out how to build wealth, you already have the tools to be an ACTIVE-DAD and lead a healthy life prioritizing what brings you the most value. On your journey, you are likely to share the road with others traveling in the same direction, albeit, often at different speeds and in different vehicles
I am stoked to introduce you to Barri Griffiths. He hosts an extremely successful and alluring podcast appropriately titled Wrestling With Real Estate, to which I was fortunate enough to grace an episode of. Prior to the podcast episode, I met Barri traveling down a similar road to financial independence.
You have kept the bar pretty low. Complacency has done that to you. Your bar wasn’t always set this low. It happened over time. It is the result of you repeatedly settling for whatever you felt like at that moment. You must own it.
Of course, you don’t deserve ALL the credit. Those around you helped you along the way too. They would comfort you saying, “that’s ok” or asking, “why are you trying so hard?”. They thought they were being good friends, good peoples. Heck, you were giving them an excuse not to try harder too.
Admittedly, sometimes you need that soft-landing place, some comforting. But only occasionally, otherwise you become as fluffy as a pillow, like now. This sounds vivid and eerily familiar to your life, it’s because I have been there.
RAISE IT UP!
How easy would it be to raise the bar, just ever so slightly? I’m not talking about an all-out overhaul. Not one of those bootcamps that you go to for three to five days that blasts your body, leaving you beat up and hurting, never to return for another boot camp for two weeks or longer. I’m talking one small step for mankind, one giant leap….errrr, scratch that. But seriously, one small step. Followed by another. And another. Until you have reached one mile, two miles, three, etc.
Time For A Challenge
When is the last time you challenged yourself? Just enough to be break out of the normal routine.
I’ve been introduced to Darren Hardy and his phenomenal message about building good habits through consistency. That should sound familiar to you from any of the ACTIVE-DAD material (check out The Physical Activity Snowball Effect). But this isn’t about me, or ACTIVE-DAD, this is about YOU!
For the second year in a row, Darren Hardy has started the 90 Day Summer Raven Run Challenge. Run/walk ONE mile or more each day and post your mileage in the comments here: DAY 1. It started June 15th. If you miss Day One, Two, or day 30, who cares. That’s not as important as getting started and keeping the motivation going.
You and I may have missed the boat for the start of this particular challenge, but the year is still young! You can join Darren Hardy, along with THOUSANDS of others committing to consistency…consistently running or walking at least ONE mile and posting it for accountability with #RavenRun.
Running/walking ONE mile a day for 90 days not for you?
Let’s make it even more simplistic. I challenge you to challenge yourself in not going a mile today, but Prioritizing Physical Activity ONE day a week, for 6 weeks. That’s it! The Active-Dad ONE DAY A WEEK Challenge. One day a week, you choose the day, you choose the activity for 60 minutes. You can raise the bar if you want to, but that’s up to you. In fact, it’s all up to you! Start with ONE DAY!
Garden for an hour, walk for an hour, ride your bike for an hour, push the lawn mower for an hour, go fishing for an hour…any activity that doesn’t put you on the couch for an hour, go do it!
Weekend Warrior circle
If the only day you think you can pull this off is on the weekend, join the Weekend Warrior Circle and challenge yourself ONE Saturday every week, to Prioritize Physical Activity. Have your family hold you accountable by scheduling a family bike ride every Saturday. Biking not your thing? You chose the Physical Activity or let your family weigh in!
Every Sunday since the summer has begun, I have committed to my family to take a hike somewhere, and I my wife has taken full control over the destination. She’s happy because we’re out of the house, my daughter’s happy because she has her hiking stick, my son’s happy because I’m carrying him the whole way, and I’m happy because we’re hitting the ACTIVE-DAD TriFecta; 1) Outdoors, 2) Prioritizing Physical Activity and 3) Together Spending Quality Time.
IT’S YOUR TURN!
Commit To The Challenge!
One Day A Week
60 Minutes of Activity
Nobody can do it for you. But your family CAN help. Invite your family in on your plans so the can help you keep accountable. Nothing is more motivating than your four year old daughter being disapponted in for not keeping you word.
Also check out Darren Hardy and his book The Compound Effect.
The saying goes “you cannot change all the people around you, but you can change the people you choose to be around.”
Whatever lens you may be viewing the world today, who you surround yourself with has become ever so important. There’s no doubt in my mind that you have given this tremendous thought, considering the current state of the nation.
Since all of us have pretty much been hunkered down for almost four months now, we’ve likely kept our physical contacts with the outside to a minimum and contact with our immediate family at an all-time high! HOPEFULLY!
That can get challenging after a while. So, today is as good as any other day to take a walk with your daughter. Heck, it’s National Father Daughter Take A Walk Day. Could you think of a better walking partner?
Be Still! Sit down somewhere! No Running in the house! Stop being such a busybody!
I’m willing to bet you have yelled one of these go-to phrases at least once. My daughter might hear me utter these words several times in a day. The context is always important, but the truth of the matter is, we say these words more often than we think. We look at our kids and ask, “Where do they get all that energy?”.
That should be our first clue as to how we are all wired to GO! You don’t have to teach your kids how to be busy and rambunctious. They do that on their own.
While National Trails Day may have been the first Saturday in June, you don’t need a reason to go outdoors and hit the trails. You’ve gotta be tired of being cooped up in the house.
The same goes for me. I need zero reasons other than the thought of distractions for the kids. From the West Coast to the East Coast, if there is a trail to be hiked, my crew will seek it out.
Despite that, there are many reasons to hit a trail; fresh air, the smell of dew and dirt, the pleasant noise of birds, squirrels and other critters sounding off and scurrying around. Don’t get me started on the sights! Lush shades of green leaves, yellow stripped bees, and red blossoms.
Nope, I don’t need one extra reason to hit a trail. But, perhaps you do? So I’ll give you one more.
NAP TIME
I’ll go out on a “limb” and say your kids have energy for DAYS. We have to be creative with ways to help them burn that energy off. Having an obnoxious one year old and loud four-year-old, once we’ve played in the yard once or twice for the week, it’s time to switch it up.
As men, we are drawn to others we can relate to, that have been where we’ve been or possibly even look like us. That has been my experience. We say things like “That’s my dude” or “He’s my people”. A common thread is shared. A person will resonate even more if they are achieving some of the goals you have your sights on. You may even realize that you’ve stumbled upon the “Secret to Success” when a common theme is shared enough times, by a multitude of people who are totally different.
The stories from Everyday Dads can be extremely motivating and practical in approach, but nothing beats access to Experts. A heavy dose of “Bro-talk” from the untrained and unstudied can also lead you astray, spinning your wheels with no results. This could do a number on your motivation and have you right back on the couch proclaiming NOTHING WORKS! The right expert can get you back right! Or just give you the extra UMPH that you need.
I coach dads for a living full-time as well as train several people in-person. Most of what I do consists of leading groups, organizing and running fitness challenges, and creating content for my paid members.
Up until this point, Ask An Active-Dad has featured both Everyday Dads and Experts that are super motivating, and who I know on a personal level or have at least met at an event (Frank Clayton, Jr.). We all know dads out there living and breathing our mantra of “Prioritizing Physical Activity”. It’s refreshing and re-energizing to encounter them doing their thing.
Coronavirus News Fatigue is real, and while we may be “over” hearing about it, there are some lasting impacts. One reality is the inability to attend big conferences and network, face-to-face, like we once did. At least not for a little while longer. So, we turn to social media. That’s exactly what I did.
I am a certified personal trainer and the founder of Fit Dad Fitness, where I help equip fathers to live active, involved, healthy lives with their children, using fitness as the foundation to keeping families strong and together.
Very few things come as natural as running. Actually, I’ll name two others…crawling and walking. You have kids so you know what I’m talking about. As soon as they get a handle on walking, they find so much joy out of taking off and running, FOR NO APPARENT REASON! My three-and-a-half-year-old daughter will take off running in the Safeway grocery store. In Target. Close to streets! That’s terribly scary at times. But it comes so natural to her. But when it’s structured and under supervision, it’s so fun to watch, encourage and join in.
My one-year old son just got his legs under him. So, he’s not getting anywhere fast. But I know my son. He is mischievous. He is destructive, in ways his sister never was. Hence, his moniker Tiras The Tyrant. I know he is going to be a runner. So, in the spirit of National Running Day (#NationalRunningDay), like many times before, I will be taking my little ones on a run. Tiras will be in one of my favorite ACTIVE-DAD go-tos, the B.O.B. Jogging Stroller (#BOBdads).
The first Wednesday in June, people across the U. S. participate in National Running Day. It a good day for beginners to begin a life-changing commitment to running.
My family history has a history of hypertension. Because of this, I’m at a higher risk for hypertension. May 2020 is National Stroke Awareness Month (#StrokeMonth). Interestingly enough, World Hypertension Day (#WorldHypertensionDay) is on May 17.
This is the world asking you if you know where you stand. Do you have Hypertension?
What Is Hypertension?
Just like most medical terms, there is usually a common, more relatable term to describe it.
Poop = Feces
Microorganisms = Germs
Hypertension is the term used to describe High Blood Pressure.
