This post may have little to do with business or everything to do with business depending on how you look at.
You see, I’m sitting here in my office on Father’s Day. And I started to think about what are all the things that I’m grateful for on Father’s Day. Because I realized that even though I’m sitting in the office, the office is in my home. And I thought what could I do for you on Father’s Day to help you feel exactly how I feel today, grateful.
One of the first lessons that I learned on my journey from the person I didn’t want to be to the person I am today is to be grateful for where I was at. Many people try to gauge their success based on where they want to get not where they’ve come from. That’s like trying to walk to the horizon, you’ll never get there.
So what might be the first thing you could do to learn to be grateful? In my case, all I had to do was look how far I’d come. I had learned plenty about what not to do, what to avoid, who to do business with, and who not to.
Then as soon as I could feel grateful I could then have the next thought which allowed me to create a life in which there might be even more gratitude. And today as I look back on myself and my team’s accomplishments over the past four years I think to myself that’s what a good father would do.
A good father would provide, seek out opportunities, lead by example, help as many people as possible, under-promise and over-deliver.
And as I set out on my new path to abundance just a few short years ago I made a promise to my son. I promised him that I would do my very best to provide for him and help him learn what it means to provide for others. My son’s accomplishments as a student, violinist, trumpet player, grass cutter, and video game fanatic make me proud.
Do you want to feel proud? Do you want others to speak well of you? Do you want your son to be proud of you? Do you want to provide for…?
I look at the picture in this blog post and I see a couple of things. I see a father who took his son surfing in Hawaii. Oh yes, I learned how to surf. As difficult as that may seem it’s really not that difficult at all you just need to have the heart of a father. When you have a 14-year-old who is go go go you have to go go go.
I see a very happy 14-year-old. And actually, if you really look beneath the surface you can see a man who doesn’t feel nearly as old as he actually is. Partly because I’m not afraid to learn how to surf and partly because I’m not afraid to learn how to take on responsibility and trust myself to always under-promise and over-deliver.
And so on this Father’s Day 2011, I encourage you to be a little bit more grateful, a little bit better fathers and a little bit better force in the universe. Why? Because, not only could the universe use some more leaders but, the sons who grow up to be fathers should learn how to be real fathers before they get there.
Paul Tobey