“Back in my day…” Nah.. How about TODAY?
“I learned a lot from my parents words.
But I learned a hell of a lot more from the tangible example they set.
They never gave me the ‘back in my day’ stuff.
They led by example in MY day.
Our kids struggles today stem from a lack of real, tangible, leadership by example.”
-Ray Zingler on Twitter
I watched my dad, every single day, lead by example.
With everything he did.
The way he ran his business.
The way he talked and interacted with people at Church.
The way he busted his ass training.
The way he followed through on what he said he was going to do.
He handled the highs and lows with true grace and understood that, “this too shall pass”.
I’m sure he screwed up plenty, but looking back on it I can’t give you an example of when he wasn’t leading me by example.
He was and to this day is a True Pro.
I really think, well hell I don’t think, but know, he has a lot to do with my success, today.
He obviously doesn’t do the work for me, but as I travel through the day-to-day in my life, hell bent on my mission, I often reflect on “how” I am able to do this, everyday?
And I’ve come to learn that it has so much to do with the environment I grew up in.
I was around parents who lived the code that I value so much, today.
I literally don’t know any different.
Of course it wasn’t perfection, but to put it to you straight, my parents (who were “clueless” at the time, according to me) lived the shit they talked about. They lived it.
And I saw it. Everyday. And as a byproduct of my environment, that code bled into my psyche.
Sure, dad may have not been able to run the sprints as hard in his 40’s and 50’s but when he told me to, I trusted him because I watched him bust his ass and give his very best in his current state, right beside me. He wasn’t hollering from the cheap seats.
There was no “back in my day” bullshit. He was a savage in my day and is today, too.
I can say the same about mom. I can still hear her 90’s country music thumping from her workout room as I was trying to sleep in.
This forces me to beg the question..
Is it “kids these days don’t want to…” or is it “adults these days don’t lead by example?”
I’m about damn near positive it’s the ladder most of the time.
