Sunday 1st of September was Father’s Day. I had a great weekend away with my two girls and wife to celebrate. As a parent and as a father I often think about the impact I am having on my girls, try my best and pray that I am leaving a positive imprint on their life.
This led me to thinking what life lessons had I learnt from my Dad? No doubt I have taken his impact for granted (particularly as a child, teenager and young adult) and hopefully to lesser extent as an adult but I though I would write a quick blog to consider some of the lessons he has imparted over the years.
So, in no particular order, how has my own Dad impacted my approach to life? Here are my quick 10 lessons.
1) Success starts with getting up early! Ever since I can remember my Dad has got out of bed at 4:30am to start his day and to train. Even as a retiree he can still be found training in the early hours of the morning before anyone is awake. I haven’t adopted 4:30am – that is too keen! But I and do rise at 5am to both train and work through my morning routine.
2) Hardwork = results. There are no shortcuts in life. If you are not getting the results work smarter harder! My Dad was an incredible hard worker, something I took for granted until we began working together as I got older. His work ethic has shaped the person I have become today.
3) Play the ball and not the man. I’ve always had an aggressive approach to life, sport and work. My Dad supported this throughout my childhood. He always supported me going ‘all in’ but expected me to play hard but fair. I remember as a young child he would say to me – go as hard as you possibly can but only have eyes for the ball. Never your opponent.
4) You are always accountable. Even to this day my Dad holds me accountable for results. Any of my goals that he is aware of he will follow up on. We catch up each week and he always ask. How is the team going at work? Are you achieving results? How’s your training going? How’s your weight and body fat?
5) Your word is everything – if you say you are going to do something you do it. No ifs, buts or maybes. Your word is who you are.
6) Never give up - my Dad was a marathon runner. He believed in never giving up and having mental toughness and resilience. We have talked about this on many occasions. It probably feeds my slight fascination in pushing outside of my limits. I like to get outside of my comfort zone to stretch my mental toughness, resilience as well as physical boundaries.
7) Anything you set your mind to you can do. This is probably a common thing that parents of my Dads generation said. He made this clear to us but also backed it up with but not without hard work, dedication and effort!
8) Honesty & Trust – my Dad believed in honesty 100% of the time. In fact, we would get in less trouble if we just owned and were responsible for our actions. He also trusted us implicitly. As a teenager I spent most of my time with the wrong crowd. My Dad knew this but trusted me to follow his rules around drugs, alcohol etc. He also made the consequences very clear if I was to ever break any of these rules but also spoke about the impact of wrong choices in these areas would have on my life, goals and future. It didn’t change the people I hung out with at the time but it did ensure that my actions didn’t mirror theirs.
9) Always be humble – I like to win. I am super competitive but one of the things my Dad taught me was to stay humble in victory as well as defeat.
10) You do everything for your family – my Dad sets this example everyday of his life. There is nothing that he wouldn’t do for any of the family. In fact, his life is a testament to it. He is always there for us all.
Was my Dad perfect growing up? Of course not! Did he do everything in his power to raise my brothers and I right? Yes. Did he set a positive example for us? Yes. Did he set an example of how to treat others and our wives? Yes. Did he give us a better foundation and starting point from the generation before? Of course!
There are many other lessons, conflicts, stories and conversations I could share over the years that have shaped me as a man; He is a big part of my success in life. There will also be many more to share over the years as I am blessed to have my Dad alive, active and involved in my life. Whether it is joining me at boxing on a Monday night, sitting on the sideline at basketball (when my brothers and I start up again next season) or our family lunch on a Saturday.
Thanks Dad for everything.
What life lessons have you learnt from your Dad? Share your comments and thoughts below.
This article is originally published at www.matthewcossens.com/blog/
Subscribe to our newsletter and regular updates at www.matthewcossens.com/
Follow me and engage on LinkedIn at
Comments