Ran into a good family friend the other day that I hadn’t seen in a while that happens to follow a lot of the shit that I do and was very complimentary of The F*IT List & Daily Hustle…
“Definitely seems like you are channeling your Dad in everything you do… Seems like you have found your calling.”
Damn… I haven’t thought about it like that.
I never really felt like I was channeling my inner Jim Byrnes and definitely haven’t come to the glorious realization that I have all of a sudden found my calling…
Yet, sometimes in the midst of living our lives, intentionally or unintentionally, we do champion the spirit of those who have influenced us. And as far as our “calling,” I truly believe it is 100 percent dependent on the effort we are willing to put into something and the passion that we have for it.
Obviously, I have taken many of my Dad’s messages and shared them in the book and continue to share them within the Daily Hustle, but as similar as my Dad and I were, we were also very different. So I have never really felt as if I was “channeling” my Dad but rather I’ve always looked at it like I was celebrating a plethora of great messages and life lessons that were shared with me…
Then, I thought about it a bit more, and after a day of marinating on the impact of my Dad’s influence, I came to the conclusion she was right… Very right.
To know this you would have had to known my Dad… To put it simply, he was the ultimate people’s person… My Mom used to call him “the people collector” because he would show up at the house with a shit ton of people of all types and at all times. To say he had a big heart is probably a massive understatement. This dude literally would give a total stranger the shirt off his back…
As nice of a guy that my Dad was, make no mistake about it, the dude could turn on a dime and become an absolute SAVAGE… Yet, you would have no idea he was a 4th degree black belt in Kenpo Karate and sword & nunchuck expert until you are turned into a pretzel as he made you swallow your own adam’s apple…
That said, 95 percent of the time he was a softy and happened to be a tremendous public speaker. He spent much of his time reading life enhancing materials and doing his best to positively motivate himself and the people closest to him in his life…
Even though I really enjoyed the mental training throughout the course of my professional baseball career, never in a million years did I believe I would delve into the motivational speaking arena predicated on mental performance mastery…
So apparently, my Dad’s influence was much heavier than I thought. 🤷♂️
When he passed, I vowed to do everything in my power to carry on his amazing ability to influence and give… In the years since, I have done certain things with my Dad in mind, but for the most part, I pretty much thought that I have simply been living my life…
Now, reflecting on the past 8 years and thinking about the man I was and the man I have now become, there is no doubt my Dad has impacted just about EVERYTHING that I have done and continue to do in my life.
In our lives, we are constantly molded and guided by those who have impacted our lives. Oftentimes, we will make conscious decisions with these influencers in mind… Yet, not shockingly, the sub-conscience influenced decisions that are made on a daily basis are usually the actual ones that change the entire game and have the greatest impact on our lives. These are influenced decisions that are ingrained through an entire lifetime of instruction…
As Father’s Day passed last month, I was reminded by The Daily Stoic of a CLASSIC Epictetus quote…
“Be careful to leave your sons well instructed rather than rich, for the hopes of the instructed are better than the wealth of the ignorant.”
Appreciate that lifetime of instruction Dad. 👊
-EB