Could Motivation be the Secret to Life of Dad?

Donovan Grant
August 29, 2012

Donovan Grant

Lives in: London
From: London
Occupation: IT Business Analyst, Performance & Youth Coach
Web: http://www.donovangrant.com
Twitter: @donovangrant
Facebook: donovan.grant.10
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Friends can ask you interesting questions… “What keeps you motivated to write so regularly?”

“Excuse me for laughing” I replied “but I have to motivate myself every time I write… and luckily for me, my motivation turns on for me at about 6am every week day!”

The thing is motivation doesn’t just show up on demand like a taxi on Broadway; there is no magical genie in a lamp. It takes effort, it takes focus and it takes commitment to get there.

Just have a think about all those athletes who recently performed at the 2012 Olympics.

They were definitely over the moon to be taking part in London. However, I can bet you every pound in my wallet that they have not been easily motivated to train for hours every day for the past four years.

Those athletes had to find a way to turn the motivation on; a way to keep moving forward after setbacks.

Bottom line: They had to be able to turn up for training even when they did not feel like it! Yes, that’s right. There’s no insider secret, it’s simply rolling up your sleeves and doing the work.

The life of dads (and of course mums too) is quite similar to that of an Olympian. There’s an end goal (raising a happy family), you work at it every day and there are going to be ups and downs along the way. Not an easy job by any stretch of the imagination, but definitely the most important that any man can have.

So dads we have to have a way to get motivated.

Now I don’t know about you, but some days being a dad takes the energy right out of you. You wake up with a plan for the day and someone or something happens to change that. A few challenging examples that come to mind are the kids wake up in a bad mood, the kids take too long over breakfast or a real toughie, the kids start fighting over who has the remote control. The life of dad is no joke; it really demands us to train like Olympians.

I took Nathan to play in his first ever golf match on Monday. There I was the proud dad, caddying for my son in the Beckenham versus Thamesview Juniors match play. Its days like this that makes all the years of ‘life of dad training’ worthwhile. I had visions of me and Nathan having the Grant Match Play in years to come… then it happened on the 4^th hole; he hit a shot into the trees from the middle of the fairway. I looked at him; he looked at me and then I was given my orders “dad don’t say a word, I don’t need your advice!”

Just like that I was shut down; reduced to being a bag carrier and club cleaner. One of those moments when you have to stand back and let your children find their own way.

This little episode got me thinking, it really pays to be a motivated dad. Not just a cheer leader, more of a dad that can be flexible, put in a gold medal performance and be quiet when you need to be! Dad’s like this need to train like Olympians by having a regular routine to keep them on the ‘life of dad track.’

What do Olympians do daily? They may run, stretch and the do the all-important mind set training.

What do dads need to do daily? Get motivated to do dad stuff.

Here’s a sneak peek at my morning motivation formula:

Music plus Exercise plus Grounding = Motivated Dad

So what does my morning motivation typically look like?

Favourite music track at the moment is Black Eyed Peas – I got a feeling…

Favourite exercise is doing press ups until exhaustion…

Grounding activity is to write in my journal or just meditate on all the things that I’m grateful for in my life right now.

This little routine takes no more than 20 minutes and believe me, once it’s done I am fired up and ready for the day.

The morning motivation routine is priceless and every dad should have one!

Let’s stay motivated to be the best dad we can be!

Donovan

So what do you think? Have you got a secret morning motivation routine? Do you like or dislike it? Please share your comments below.

Ps. What keeps me motivated to write so regularly? Simple, I practice writing something every day.

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