Hello Misfit Nation! Welcome to another edition of "Lessons for Hannah!" Many years ago, I introduced a new format that alongside our regular episodes called “Lessons for Hannah.” Hannah is my daughter and one of the main inspirations for the Misfit Entrepreneur. I wanted to have a place where she could go and learn from her daddy and his Misfit friends throughout her life….even after I am gone. If you haven’t listened to the first episode of "Lessons for Hannah," I urge you to as it gives some more background and tells the amazing story of how Hannah came to be in our lives.
Lessons for Hannah are short, very useful, and sometimes comical lessons, that I want to share with you and give to Hannah to help in your lives. Because I want Hannah to have these for her life, I’m going to speak as though I am talking directly to her. These episodes are a lot of fun and if you think there is a lesson that we should include in these episodes, please don’t hesitate to send it over to us at support@misfitentrepreneur.com. We’d love to share it.
This week’s Lesson for Hannah
Hannah,
It’s fitting that I start out the New Year with a Lessons for Hannah episode. It truly is amazing how fast time flies. You’ll be turning 11 years old in 2023 and heading off the 5th grade in the fall. It has been incredible to watch you grow and become the amazing daughter that you are. In this episode, I wanted to give you some of what I call “Dadisms.” These are little nuggets of life wisdom that I hope you remember and put to work for you throughout your life. You’ve heard me say some of these many, many times and hopefully they have stuck with you.
In this episode, I want to share 11 of my favorite “Dadisms” with you. Here they are.
1. How you do anything is how you do everything.
This one has become more and more important to me as I have aged. Your habits and ways of doing things affect all areas of your life. When you don’t give your best effort in one area, it affects other areas. And many times when you do something at a level that isn’t your best, you end up having to do it again or multiple times. I am not talking about pride with this as much as I talking about the discipline to do things well in all aspects of your life. In committing to do so, you will find yourself playing at a higher level.
2. The most important time to do something is when you don’t want to do it.
This one goes with the last in that the times when we are most at risk for sacrifice doing our best, are those times when we don’t want to something. Maybe we are tired, worn out, emotionally drained, etc. We know we need to do something but find an excuse not to or put it off. These are the times we need to push though and do it. A great example since we are at the beginning of the year, is when someone wants to lose weight. They get all excited and for a short time, maybe a couple weeks, they go to the gym. But anyone who has worked out for a while knows, that after the first few weeks in January, many of those new people at the gym are no longer there. Why? Because when they didn’t see results after just a couple weeks, they got discouraged, and even though they knew they needed to keep at it to see real results, they found excuses not to keep going and nothing changes for them. You see, for those people, the most important time to keep going is when they hit that first wall after a few weeks. If they can push through that and keep at it, they will more than likely stick with it and see real results and also build the habit that sticks.
3. The best things require great effort and time to achieve because they are meaningful.
This one builds on the last two. The things really worth doing and that have meaning in life take great effort and time to achieve. For example, building a habit of taking care of your health and regular exercise. All the work you did for several years to get your blackbelt was worth it and you now have skills you will use the rest of your life.
4. No dead raccoons.
And while we are talking about doing things right and taking the time, etc. I will remind of you of my no dead raccoons story. The moral of the story is that when you see something that needs done, don’t wait, do it and take care of it. Otherwise, it could end up messy for you.
5. What you focus on expands in your life and what you believe becomes your reality.
This is one of my favorites because it is wisdom that has literally been passed down throughout human history even from the bible where it states “What you gaze upon you become.” It is very simple what you put your time into will become dominant in your life and what you believe about yourself and your reality will be just that. If you are negative about yourself and think only bad things happen to you, guess what will happen – bad things because that is what you are focused on and what you believe. Conversely if believe you can overcome adversity and are focused on doing great, meaningful things, guess what will happen? You will find and achieve them. (Car example)
6. God, family, country in that order.
This one is straight forward. Your chances of being alive at 1 in 4 trillion, praise God for this gift daily. Your family will always be there for you through everything, treat them with respect, love, and never take them for granted. And lastly, country. You are fortunate to live in the greatest country in the history of the world because it was the first to put freedom ahead of power. Learn it’s history and understand the fundamental principles that created it and embody them as you go through life.
7. Cherish every day. This life is a gift and goes by fast. Give thanks every day when you wake up.
We never know when we will be gone. Life is a blink of an eye in the grand scheme of things. Every day is a gift to cherish and make the most of. Don’t waste your days.
8. Choose your friends carefully. You will have many friends in your life, but only few real ones.
This is important because friends can have a great impact on your life. You will have many friends at different times in your life, but only a few will truly last and only a few will truly be there for you and you for them through the ups and downs of life. Choose them carefully.
9. Be careful not to prejudge others.
Along with choosing your friends carefully, also be careful not to prejudge others. I’ve learned this the hard way in life in that when I was younger I used to make a judgement about someone without really knowing them. Many times, I was proven wrong and finally got the message. Seek to know and understand others before forming an opinion on them. Keep an open mind.
10. Speak the truth and don’t be afraid.
In today’s world, speaking the truth is harder than it used to be. People are scorned, mocked, even physically threatened for speaking and sticking to the truth. And there is only one truth when it comes to things – not your truth or someone else’s. The truth is an absolute, so it is important to be sure you can back it up with evidence when you state it. If you can do that, then do not be afraid to speak it and stand by it.
11. Choose right over easy.
In today’s world where people to have everything instantly, it is hard not to take the easy way on many things. But taking the easy way does not mean it is the right way. Choose to do things the right way. This probably goes with the first Dadism of how you do anything is how you do everything, but it is a choice to do things right. Every day we go through a series of choices in our lives, do your best to chose wisely and choose right over easy.
Hannah, you know I could probably put a hundred of these in this episode and in future episodes I will give more, but it’s best not to eat the elephant all at once, but one bite at a time (ha, there’s another one). I hope you can learn from these and use them in your life to have them help guide you.
I love you,
Dad
Best Quote: I hope you can learn from these "Dadisms" and use them in your life to have them help guide you.
Misfit 3:
Use the "Dadisms" to help you in your life.
Do your best to learn from those around you and gain wisdom, instead of learning the "hard way."
Remember, you have a 1 in 4 Trillion chance of being alive. Cherish this gift every day.
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