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Fathers significantly serve as an example to their children and inevitably affect our lives. Here is some superb advice that successful people have received from their dad that influenced the course of their lives for the better.

 

1. Begin With The End In Mind

“To begin with the end in mind means to start with a clear understanding of your destination. It means to know where you’re going so that you better understand where you are now and so that the steps you take are always in the right direction.”

— Stephen R. Covey

 

One of the greatest lessons I learned from Stephen Covey is to visualize the end of my life, the people around me, and the things I would be proud of in my death bed. Then from there, work back to the present. When we visualize the end in mind, we have clarity on which road to take and the brick to lay to our goal’s foundation.

2. Character Is Important

“As I have said, the first thing is, to be honest with yourself. You can never have an impact on society if you have not changed yourself. Great peacemakers are all people of integrity, of honesty, but humility.”

— Nelson Mandela

 

Like most great dads, my dad emphasized that character and integrity are critical to success. I grew up in a religious culture, but goodness is the character trait we all must cultivate, even if we are not religious. There were plenty of churchgoers that were unethical after all. However, we are successful if we know that we do the right thing. As Oprah once said: “Real integrity is doing the right thing, knowing that nobody’s going to know whether you did it or not.” Our godhood aligns with our highest self and that we are proud of our actions, and that starts with always doing the right thing.

3. Do The Work, Be Industrious

“You don’t try to build a wall. You don’t set out to build a wall. You don’t say ‘I’m going to build the biggest, baddest, greatest wall that’s ever been built.’ You don’t start there. You say ‘I’m gonna lay this brick as perfectly as a brick can be laid,’ and you do that every single day, and soon you have a wall.”

— Will Smith on advice from his father

Fathers impart the wisdom they learn from their experience to their kids to ensure they learn from them, especially true is if our father came from tough childhoods. One of the biggest lessons I learned from my father is to strive to build a better life by using your talents and being industrious, whether that includes overcoming my fears of failure or taking a chance in an opportunity that I thought was beyond my reach. I learned that we are not owed anything in this life, but we must create our opportunities by using our talents to create value. This advice that Will Smith learned from his father is a great one. We must focus on hard work, creating value, and producing high-quality outputs one step at a time.

Fathers become great role models to their sons and daughters. With that in mind, time to reflect on what you think was the best advice your dad ever told you. Please feel free to share in the comment section.