The Dad Experience: The Greatest Gifts of Fatherhood

[00:00:00] Recently, I was coming through the endless social scroll and found the channel. How to dad, besides being just great fun. It made me realize that in all the times I've talked about being a dad on the show. I've never actually focused on one of the greatest things about fatherhood. That is the simple joy of being called dad.

Today, we're delving into the amazing and life changing experience that shifts your outlook on life, love, and what truly matters. This episode, I'll share the surprising and inspiring joys and realizations I found as a dad from everyday moments of happiness to profound realizations. Join me as we explore the incredible aspects of fatherhood that you may not hear about until you experience them yourselves.

It's a lot of work to be a dad, but for all those soon to be dads, the joy is incomparable. Whether you're a seasoned dad or new parenthood, get ready to discover the unique joys and insights of being a father. Let's get into it. Here's the [00:01:00] million dollar question. How do men like us reach our full potential growing to the men we dream of becoming while taking care of our responsibilities, working, living, being good husbands, fathers, and still take care of ourselves.

Well, that's the big question. And in this podcast, we'll help you with those answers and more. My name is Brent and welcome to the Foundable Man Podcast. Now, if you haven't found the hilarious and refreshing channel, dad channel by the New Zealander, Jordan Watson, I'll link it down in the show notes or description, whatever platform you're on with I frequently focus on things like connecting with your kids, affirming them, communicating with them, discipline, and just being a good dad.

If you've heard me talk about some of it, then at least I hope you understood that I love being a dad. Part of that is Is the profound joy I experience as a father being a part of my children's journey through life. It also makes me have some real come to Jesus kind of moments with myself and some [00:02:00] deep introspection, which I'm sure all of us should probably have.

Uh, so, you know, that's good too, by the way. My name is Brent and welcome to the Valuable Man podcast. You're home for all things, man, big shout out to Valuable Nation. That's just our long time listeners. And you can be that just by hanging out more. A warm welcome to our first time listeners. I know there's a lot competing for your attention.

So thanks from the bottom of my heart for checking us out. Be sure and connect with me at the Valuable Man on most social media platforms. I'm most active on Instagram. Let me know what you thought of the show. And if you get something out of this, dads, Be sure and share it with another father who just needs to pick me up for the day.

Fair enough. In this episode, I wanted to share nine of the greatest things about being an involved and engaged father that I have found in my life so far. So strap in if fatherhood scares you. That's fine. Every new dad is nervous. Every dad who's been a dad for a little while is still nervous. We're all figuring it out, but let [00:03:00] me share with you these nine amazing things about being a dad that make it all worthwhile.

Number one, they think you're Superman. Dads are 10 feet tall and bulletproof in the eyes of their young children. They also think, you know, everything. There's nothing in the world like having someone who believes in you with the conviction of a child. You can do anything, or at least they think so. You may clean port a potties, build high rises, fight fires, or rock the boardroom, it doesn't matter to your child.

The word for God on a child's lip is daddy. It can feel daunting, humbling, no doubt, but you will crush yourself trying to live up with it, live up to it because that kind of faith inspires you to be better and inspires you Utterly amazing. Number two, you become self aware in a way that you have never been before.

All that faith in number one makes you [00:04:00] incredibly aware of all the work you have to do to try and live up to that. Let me tell you, you will never be Superman and that's okay, dad, but the pursuit is a worthwhile endeavor. It will however, make you reevaluate what's important, what matters, what doesn't and who you want to be.

Now you can pay a therapist for years to get that kind of information and you might never get there, but have a kid who calls you daddy and you will gain clarity pretty stinking fast. You'll come face to face with all of your bad habits because you don't want them to affect your children. I gave up smoking because I never wanted my children to carry that monkey on their back.

So I didn't want to set that example. You're no longer the center of your world and everything changes it because of the self awareness you gain when you become a dad. Number three, you see the world with fresh eyes. Now, [00:05:00] somewhere along the way, the realities of making a living piss all over our Cheerios.

We become oblivious to the wonders of this world. When my youngest was five, we went on a family vacation. My wife and I put the kids to bed in the evening in their car seats as we started the trip, and we drove through the night to get part of the miles out of the way in peace. I highly recommend this if you drive with young kids.

Now I had one goal on that first leg. I had somewhere to be at sunrise. Thankfully. We managed to get there. My wife and I team drove and managed to get exactly where I wanted to be. And I woke my five year old up just before dawn in the parking area of Antelope Island, Utah. It's a little Island on the great Salt Lake, just outside of Salt Lake city.

She was groggy. She was chilled by the pre dawn air. So she clung to my leg and I got wrapped her in a blanket, but as the [00:06:00] sun crested the Rocky mountains from the East and morning broke across the West and vibrant flood of fiery dawn. I heard the awe escape her lips as my five year old exclaimed, wow.

And guys, I've seen this view myself many times and guess what? I lost that all, but seeing the world through their eyes. It's amazing. You can't wait to show them everything just to see them experience it. New things that you stopped paying attention to years ago. The world is amazing. Again, when you see it through the eyes of your children for the first time, number four, you get to rediscover your youth.

Do you believe in fairies? How about autonomous robots that can only be stopped with elaborate booby traps made out of Legos, which you will learn to love to hate. Have you ever sat under your bed covers and pretended you were floating in outer space? Or had an in depth [00:07:00] discussion about candy with stuffed bears?

If you're a dad, you've probably done at least a few of those things or something pretty close. I've had tea parties, lightsaber fights, and duels with wands made out of whatever we could find. I've done combat roles, dodged nerf darts, and traversed some playgrounds. You would have thought I was a professional free runner trying to play tag with my kids.

One of my dad power moves. I built a two story play toy in my living room right before my second child was born. So my oldest had something to do while my wife nursed our news born. That was in my living room for over a decade. And my kids were still mad when I took it down, even though they'd outgrown it for the most part, you will get to rediscover that kid in you and tap into your imagination that you probably forgot about somewhere along the trip through life.

Number five, coming home from work is the best thing ever. As a dad, I used to get some grief [00:08:00] about not going out after work with coworkers to go drink or whatever coworkers do. And honestly, I never really wanted to, even before I had kids, just not my scene, not something I enjoy doing. After I became a dad coming home after work is the most magical thing ever.

The sounds of the shrieks of daddy, as you come through the door is better than any kind of high you will ever have. Your dog is not as happy to see you as your children, which is impressive because your dog likes you more than pretty much anybody else on the earth. The smile on their faces is incredible and cuddles become the power currency because it's daddy cuddles.

tackles, roughhousing, and then cuddling. It's amazing. Doesn't matter if you have boys or girls, it works the same way. And it becomes one of the most magical times of days as a father. Number six, sharing all your geeky [00:09:00] obsessions. Now, a lot of you probably don't know. I used to be a power gamer. No kidding.

Like, I used to play with professional streamers. My oldest brother, actually the more reasonable one in the family a lot of times, even legitimately recommended me starting a Twitch channel when gaming online for an audience became a thing. Long before I became a men's YouTuber, I was actually encouraged to become a gaming YouTuber because I was really good at it.

I quit because it took up too much of my time and it became unhealthy for me. No one forced me to. I just realized I was spending a lot of time on my time on the game, not accomplishing things I wanted to in my life. It became a problem for me. I'm not saying this problem for everybody. My wife was also never into games.

So when I was gaming, I had fun with some friends, but I was losing time with my wife and my wife has priority for me and it's not something she was into. So I wasn't spending time with her that way with two daughters. I don't [00:10:00] game like I used to, but guess what? We play X Box. We watch movies like Lord of the Rings.

Yeah. Godzilla, the Meg, Pacific Rim. Yes. My two daughters like Pacific Rim. It's a truly guy movie, but they love it. We geek out on Harry Potter. My Angus is currently riding a high because she killed me in perfect dark zero for the first time the other day. And she's super excited about that. They love to watch the nightmare before Christmas with me, which I saw when it came out in theaters six times as a kid.

And I watch it probably 10 times a year. It's my favorite movie of all time. They love to watch that with me. And guess what I mentioned already? Nerf fights like my kids geek out on all the fun things that I love to do that are quote unquote childish. Guess what? You know what? That's kind of handy when you're sharing all those geeky obsessions with them and it's awesomeness.

My daughter was walking with me. Some of you know, we just wrapped up a fundraiser. We're doing, you know, ruck marching [00:11:00] and my daughter is reading this Japanese anime book series that her cousin started her on and she was telling me all about it. I know all about it, except what the name of the thing is, but I can tell you all about the characters.

We were geeking out together. It was amazing. Number seven, watching them become great at something that you never did or could do. It might be. A clumsy, but beautiful ballet when they're five are hitting that first home run in a youth league baseball game. But when they have that moment doing something you either never tried or never did that perfectly as a kid, it can make you dizzy with pride.

My oldest has started doodling frequently and drawing. Now I've watched as she went from, you know, the little kid drawings that every dad sees to actually painstakingly. Sitting there in her notebook in drawing hands over and over and over our eyes over and over and over again to teach [00:12:00] herself to do it right.

Looking up how to draw them, watching YouTube videos, how to draw them, and then practicing over and over again because she likes to draw. If you listen to the channel for any length of time, you know, if I had any drawing skills or art skills, I would have been a tattoo artist. A long time ago, but I make stick figures look bad.

Just not my thing, but watching my daughter teach herself. This has been amazing. Both of my children have better handwriting than I do teaching them things as amazing as a dad. And I love it more than I could ever say, but watching them take it on themselves to learn, to do things that I can't, that I don't have any skills in it's incredible to watch them grow into their own person and become amazing at things.

You just never thought of doing number eight. Children give you true perspective, which for some people that might be terrifying, but it's absolutely amazing. Children teach you to value things that matter. You learn to appreciate small [00:13:00] things, things that you've stopped appreciating a long time ago, or start taking for granted.

You learn to value your health. Because you never want to leave them. And a lot of us are really prone to let our health go until that point where it's like, Oh, if my health isn't taken care of, I'm leaving somebody behind. You learn some things that you thought. You wanted as a dad aren't going to happen, but you're strangely okay with it.

All of us have preconceived notions about parenting and this is how it's going to go. And my kids are going to do this and then they want nothing to do with it. And you're like, yeah, that's cool. Don't worry about it. You learn every battle isn't worth fighting and winning. Every battle isn't always winning.

You have a new appreciation for your parents and learn that slowing things down is not just okay, but worthwhile. You find out you can be braver than you ever thought possible. I terrified of spiders always have [00:14:00] been. I am the spider killing King in my house, man, because my kids don't like spiders. Like most little kids.

Don't never thought I could be that brave. Guess what can be. You also learn there's a great deal of value to be had in having conversations. With children that you might've laughed at when you were younger, but make perfect sense and are some of the best conversations you have. Children give you this proof perspective that nothing else really does.

Now I can continue on and on and on. This really is just the tip of the iceberg. I love talking about being a dad. Your children make you a better person than you ever imagined you could be. Life is full of surprises and thrilling moments. You'll laugh as a father and cry, you'll scream and you'll smile until your face hurts.

It's truly one of the greatest adventures you'll ever take on, and it's a lot of work, but it's worth every ounce of effort [00:15:00] because the return is far richer than you can imagine. As we land this plane on today's episode, reflecting on the incredible journey of fatherhood, I'm reminded of a quote by American author Elizabeth Stone, Making the decision to have a child is momentous.

It is decided it is to decide forever to have your heart go walking around outside of your body. Being a dad. Isn't just about moments. We've covered today, the laughter, the learning, the awe inspiring experiences. It's about a fundamental shift in perspectives and purpose. It's about finding joy in every day and the smallest victories and discovering and discoveries of our kids.

It's about growing alongside them and learning from them as much as they learn from us or as we can teach them. So to all dads out there, whether you're just starting this journey or you've been on it for years, I encourage you to cherish every daddy shouted across the room, as you come through the door.

Every bedtime story, every [00:16:00] shared moment of wonder, because in the end, these are the threads that weave the tapestry of fatherhood and the tapestry. That colors the lives we live the love the laughter the indescribable pride of being called dad guys Thanks for hanging out with me on this episode of the fallible, man Remember being a dad is not just a role.

It's a privilege It's an honor and it's an adventure that continues to unfold with every passing day And if you're looking to grow as a father check out our personal development for men kaizen Our holistic six week program combines the power of group coaching The customized individual transformational plan, delivering a comprehensive and impactful experience.

This is an opportunity to build the foundations. You need to pursue your best life and to be the best person you can be, which is how you become the best dad. You can be, if you haven't checked out how to dad by Jordan Watson. I highly recommend it. There's a link below. Trust me, you won't regret it. I laughed and laughed and laughed.

He's been on YouTube longer than I have. And [00:17:00] guys, it's just hilarious. Uh, the guy's funny and took laughter into fatherhood way farther than I could. Be better tomorrow because of what you do today, and we'll see you on the next one. This has been the Fallible Man podcast. Your home for everything man, husband, and father.

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