What kind of memories will you leave for your loved ones?
Your loved ones will not remember what you said but rather remember what you did. As it is said that: With words, you can only preach, with action you teach.
Today marks two years since I lost my Dad. Actually, it was not a loss. He was always a gain; still remains so, and will continue to be forevermore.
He was a man of few words who taught through action, not words. He was confident and strong, yet humble and gentle. He never missed a moment to say a kind word; provide positive feedback or notice something good.
He always found it a joy and a blessing to get the opportunity to contribute his time and efforts to his community and society at large. He had very little need for recognition; fame or credit. For him, making a positive impact was the biggest reward.
He was insightful and wise; an effective leader in the community; a family man, and a sound businessman. For my Dad, his greatest happiness came from making others happy! He was always a joy to be around.
I miss you, Dad. Thank you for your love and inspiration!
These are just some of the fond memories my father left me. Memories that inspire me every day to aim for being like him.
What about you? What kind of memories will your children have of you? Create the fondest memories with your loved ones. The types of memories that will inspire them beyond your life!
Recent early childhood development discoveries further confirm the investment in early childhood development has extra importance for a parent. However, regardless of the age of your child or of the father for that matter, a father’s positive influence can play a huge role.
Here are some important things a father can do to be a great dad:
– Love unconditionally, and practice, “I love you the way you are, not the way I want you to be”. The more children are loved the way they are, the better their self esteem. In this way they feel more secure later on in their life.
– Be a great role model. The best way to teach a child is to model the behaviour. Children do not listen to what you say, they learn from what they see in you!
– Inspire in your children strong and deeper “roots”! Roots imply – model principles, ethics and values. Once children have strong roots they will not succumb to temptation and compromise their own principles, ethics and values. This will give them a strong foundation of integrity – leading to deeper relationships that are built on rapport and trust!
– Inspire your children to acquire “wings”. Wings implies modelling self esteem and belief in the self. Once children have wings they will have the confidence and positive pride to aim high and tap into their genius.
– Create memories by spending quality time with your children. Kahlil Gibran beautifully said:
“You give but little when you give of your possessions.
It is when you give of yourself that you truly give!”
– Be a good, loving husband, partner, sibling, and human being! If you want your children to be the same, model that behaviour by being that person.
With words, you can only preach, with action, you teach! Saint Francis of Assisi was the preacher who said preach always, and if you must, use words. Francis preached through his actions, he taught by the life he lived!
For me personally, today is not only Father’s Day, but also the second anniversary of my dad’s passing. He was all of the above and more. I aspire to be like him, and I have no excuse not to be because I had a great role model. Thank you, Dad. I love you and miss you!
So remember, it’s never too late to be an even greater father than you are today.
“You don’t choose your family. They are God’s gift to you, as you are to them.” ~Archbishop Desmond Tutu
What is the most important thing in your life? Many will respond by saying “my family”. Then ask yourself, what is the one thing you can do today to really express this feeling you have for your family?
Today is Mother’s Day in North America and hopefully, you are treating Mom today. Sometimes in the business of life, we overlook what is most dear to us.
Saying ”I love you” to our most near and dear ones can be done every day and in every way.
More than what you say, let your demeanor and body language reveal how much you care
Plan to reflect “I love you” in thought, speech, body and in all the things you do with your family today!
Every day is a special day. At the beginning of each day, we get an opportunity to draw a new picture of our life.
Every first of the month is extra special. We are given an opportunity to start anew – a new day, a new month, and with it, a new life.
For me, today is a day of immense gratitude because it is my Mom’s second birthday since her passing, and a vivid reminder to me of how she was and still is, a powerful inspiration in my life.
You can travel the world many times over, but there will only ever be one mother in your life. If your mother is still alive, cherish her, for you will only truly realize her true value when you see her empty chair.
For me, ‘Mom’ absolutely personifies the best of all words in the English dictionary!
When J.K. Rowling wrote the first Harry Potter novel, 12 different publishers rejected the book. Even Bloomsbury, the publishing house that finally purchased Rowling’s manuscript, advised Rowling to get a day job.
Walt Disney was turned down 302 times before he got financing for building Disney World.
Harrison Ford moonlighted as a carpenter to support his young family before getting his first big break in movies.
It is not surprising then that Thomas Edison once said, “Genius is one percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration.”
Here perspiration implies both hard work and perseverance.
Perseverance is often the deciding factor in having a dream and living it. So how do we grow this quality and make it a part of our being? The answer lies in the acronym “PERSEVERE”.
P- Purpose – Purpose lies at the core of perseverance. Every story of perseverance derives its strength from the purpose around which it revolves. If the purpose is ambiguous or weak, it will not sustain you on your path for the long haul. It is therefore important to define your purpose, find out what really makes you tick, and set out a plan of action. Identify potential challenges you could face and develop resources that could help you navigate them.
E – Enthusiasm – Enthusiasm is the positive energy you bring to every task. It forms the key ingredient that spurs you when times get difficult or the wait seems endless. The easiest way to boost enthusiasm is to do what you love or love what you do. On top of this, learn to see the silver lining in every moment. Surround yourself with life-affirming thoughts that encourage you to scale new heights. Practice gratitude. Think of five things that make you feel thankful every day.
R – Resilience – Resilience is the ability to bounce back whenever you fall down. Resilient people don’t allow setbacks to slow them down but use them as stepping-stones to their success. A setback becomes a failure only when we decide to stop trying.
S – Support – We are all interconnected and interdependent. It is a good idea to involve people in our dreams and help them achieve theirs. Invite, welcome and acknowledge support from family, friends or mentors, as well as strangers.
E – Efficiency – Make sure your daily actions and processes are imbued with efficiency. Efficiency happens when you identify and consistently practice a set of best practices in your field.
V – Values – During any change or crisis your values and principles will keep you from feeling lost or unbalanced. They will serve as beacons helping you make the right choices, rather than acting from fear or confusion.
E – Eliminate – Eliminate all that is unnecessary, irrelevant and takes you away from your purpose. Clutter distracts your mind and weakens your drive.
R – Review – Make it a habit to regularly review your tasks and identify patterns or actions which have led to maximum results. Simultaneously, rethink, change or eliminate all that is no longer serving your purpose.
E – Elasticity – this refers to flexibility. Remember that life is a spontaneous and dynamic process. While it is important to keep your eye on your purpose, many times you might be called upon to take unfamiliar detours in your journey. But while you do this never lose sight of your larger goals.
How about you? When you have a setback do you bounce back bigger and stronger?
I am no counselor or relationship expert. However, I do run into relationship issues while I coach business executives.
What I have noticed is that the biggest lament for women in a relationship (marriage, common law) is lack of expression, appreciation, and priority.
Women find men to be misers in expressing their love and appreciation and give priority to other things (business, sports) compared to the relationship.
Men, on the other hand, are confused. No matter what they do, women can find fault with them.
If men started to take every opportunity to express their love and appreciation and assign priority to their relationship and women started to pick their battles, things can improve. It would be good to do a weekly checkpoint of how this is working out as follows:
⁃ what worked well last week?
⁃ what could have been done better?
⁃ what are the goals for the coming week?
I believe when an important relationship is rock solid in terms of communication, respect and understanding the rest of the challenges are far easier to handle. When the foundation of an important relationship is shaky, the rest of your life gets impacted!
If your priority is your physique then you will have a good physique.
If your priority is wealth, you will attract more wealth.
If your priority is family, you will have better family relationships.
If your priority is service & spirituality, you will attract more service & spirituality.
When you prioritize spirituality & service, you create the foundation of abundance in wealth, health and family. Why? Because spirituality is the ‘engine’ which gets the entire being in motion.
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