The DAD4 Masterclass 2

Read the Transcript

Today I’m going to teach you exactly how to use DAD4. Because it’s not just an idea, but a system, and in my Dad Formula and Dad Hustle courses, I don’t just tell you about things – or even teach you how to do things – but I give you the EXACT blueprint to follow.

It’s the only way.

Like I told you earlier, I took this system and finessed it for myself when I was struggling with too much chaos and garbage in my life. Not enough time… being frazzled.

Let’s recap:

The DAD4 are the key areas in your life where you’re going to always be working.

They are:

Faith

Family

Fitness

Finances

Now, this sounds pretty vanilla and plain at this point. I just gave you four areas to work with. But it’s HOW you do it. I’m overlaying processes on top of categories and finding the sweet spots that build habits. It’s really powerful.

Ready for the plan? Here goes.

We’re splitting this up into 3 sets of actions.

Daily Tasks

Weekly Tasks

Quarterly Goals

Each one is worked in a different process. It’s not just about overlaying the four areas onto the timeframes. I’ll get to some really interesting specifics on this in the next two lessons – over the next two days.

I’ll run through each one.

Daily Tasks – This is the Daily DAD4.

These are 4 simple things you do every day. They’re small. They can be miniscule. But they should be mostly unplanned and spur of the moment. Each of these four things will fit into one of the DAD4 categories.

For example:

Do one thing each day to build your Faith – your mind. If you’re spiritual, stop for 2 minutes to speak to God. Pull up something on the internet to learn, to better yourself, so that when you speak to your kids at dinner you can tell them something cool. Sit for 5 minutes and think of something that inspires you – an exciting plan for the future maybe. Read a page in a book before falling asleep – something that inspires you or teaches you. I love to read Walden Pond or a Sand County Almanac when the weather is bleak and I’m starting to miss the warmer weather. This task could also be just sitting in the sunshine for a few minutes and letting yourself recharge – just taking a break from work. It doesn’t have to be about learning, it can be more in the area of “me” time. Then the next day, maybe bring it back to something that’s more learning or Faith oriented.

Next, do one thing each day to build your Family – your relationships. I have 10 kids, so I try to single out one each day to say something nice to. Hopefully I’m doing it more often than that, but this helps me at least keep the bare minimum. Do a kind act for your wife – help her out with something you don’t normally do. Say something encouraging to a friend or coworker. You can even extend this to strangers, by saying something nice to someone working the checkout in a store. Like – “You really have a nice smile. I appreciate you doing that. It really made my day.” When you start to do one of these things each day, before long, you’ll be doing it easily ten times per day without even trying!

Do one thing each day to build your Fitness – your body. Now, many of you already have healthy habits that you do daily – drinking a healthy smoothie, hitting the gym, going for a run. But I’m talking about one extra small thing. This could be getting down and pounding out a measly 10 pushups. This could be getting up from your desk and taking a 2 minute walk. This could also be something fun that you enjoy – calling up the guys to shoot some hoops, or running around the yard with your kids.

Do one thing each day to build your Finances – your business. This is NOT your day job or anything related to it. This is something on the side, a venture or just a small way to earn some extra cash. This is also about working on your finances – not paying your bills, but working towards your future or retirement. Setting life goals fits into this area too.

Now, my members use this time to work on the Dad Hustle – they pick one thing to hit for that day. What’s the Dad Hustle? It’s a proven plan for stay at home dads, or work from home dads, or working dads to quickly launch a successful online business. So this is where they may do something as simple as watching one of my videos. Or map out some ideas for their online business. Research the competitors. Sit and think, plan, dream. These are small things. When I was building out the Dad Formula and the Dad Hustle courses, I wrote one lesson each day. Or… as another example, when my business was small and I didn’t have much help, I would get behind on the tedious task of sending out invoices to my clients for the work I had done. So I’d send out an invoice each day until I was caught back up. It really helped keep the money flowing, and it was just one per day.

So start thinking of things in each of these categories, and pretty soon you’ll have 20-30 solid ideas. Use the guide on this page to help you get started.

But the key here is to never write these ideas down – they should be done when the moment hits you.

And add it up – if you do 4 small tasks each day that you didn’t normally do before, that’s 4 times 365 = 1,460 new things each year! And this is only the daily part – wait until we get to the weekly and quarterly actions!

There’s also another point I want to make about the Daily DAD4. Too many people fall into the trap of, “Okay, I can skip one of these areas because I’m already doing that.” For example, if you’re already going to the gym, then you don’t need to do one thing each day for Fitness.

WRONG – this is about mindfulness. The reason we do these extra small things is to train ourselves to be aware that we are doing them, that we are doing something extra. How pleased is your wife when you’re a decent, solid husband to her all the time. She’s pleased. But how pleased is your wife when you do something extra? She’s on fire! How pleased is God when you attend church regularly. Pleased. But how pleased is God when you take some time to talk to Him? You’re really ultimately doing these things for yourself – so go the extra mile and add these 4 extra things on each day.

Okay, let’s get negative here. Sometimes – often actually – you’re not going to hit these things. Life gets in the way, you get tired, you’re sick, whatever. It’s okay.

I have a lesson in The Dad Formula called Dad Hacks, where I go into productivity days in more detail, but for now I’ll cover it in light of the DAD4. Some days you just don’t get it done. I call these “Drifting Days”. You’re a Driftin’ Dad.

That’s okay. Life happens. It’s better to focus on the things that need your immediate attention – your job, your kids, a medical emergency…. than to focus on the extras. The Daily DAD4 isn’t essential, but it WILL get you on track to building a better, more meaningful, and more productive life.

The key is to get back to the Daily DAD4 as soon as you can.

Got it? Okay, in the next lesson, we’re going to look at your Weekly DAD4.