Single Dad Reboot

Me personally, I've gotten derailed from a few goals I was striving for this year. I've really struggled with getting back on track. I'm not sure if it's the seasonal change, excitement from this past summer (which I go into), or something else. Either way, it's time to get back on track. I've been doing a lot of thinking about motivation and whether or not you can create it or if it just shows up randomly. Is there a quick way to develop it? Is it a passive "feeling"? Just some quick thoughts I had on it. 

As promised, Chad and I get DIRECTLY to the shits in this part of the interview. We talk about the concept behind his perfectly titled: There's Always a Girl Story and how that came about. We talk about the always interesting topic of dating as a single dad and the ever important question of, "What about bringing your child around your potential partner???". We actually do a lot of talking about relationship dynamics in general and what each of us thinks makes a relationship tick and what it takes to keep one going. Chad is also kind enough to share a snippet of one of the songs off of his album which I personally can't wait to hear all of. The concept and projects he has planned around it are brilliant in my opinion. Find Chad on all Instagram @imchadmilner.

This episode was recorded all the way back in late June 2021 with the homey Chad Milner. Chad is a multi-talented, well, human being. He is one of the original Dad Blogger/Dad Influencers. He’s a single dad, a writer, a musician, singer & rapper, videographer, and photographer and he EXCELS at all of those things. 

Chad and I ended up sitting and talking long enough that I had to break this interview up into 2 parts. In the first part we talk about his journey as a single dad and dealing with trauma and PTSD that came as a result of his Fiance passing away shortly after the birth of their daughter. We also talked about the ensuing court battle for custody that took place after between him and fiance’s family after her passing.

Honestly, I feel Chad and I really only scraped the surface of everything that took place, so for more details and information please check out the The Fatherhood is Lit Podcast Episode #24 from November 20, 2019. It’s a riveting story that really needs to be heard. You can find Chad on most social media platforms: @imchadmilner

3 single dads going through the same thing in 3 different places! Father's Day just passed and I thought, with a little prodding from my girlfriend (okay, it was solely her idea), that I should do a roundtable to catch up with Clinton and Flor. 2 of my OG friends from IG and the Dad space. We all met in person at the Dad 2.0 conference in Washington DC in February 2020 about 2-3 weeks before the world was thrown into a Covid19 panic. I thought it would be cool to get the 3 of us together and talk about what has gone on in our lives since we all met up. We sat down and talked about how the events (Covid19, social unrest, political unrest) have affected us, our children, our parenting, and the lessons we were able to teach our children along the way. We also talked about the things we learned about ourselves and where we're all headed from here. Always a great conversation with these guys. 

Part 2 of my amazing interview with Nick Diunte! This part of the interview is where we talk about personal finance and investing. Nick drops a lot of knowledge on where you can do research if you are just getting into the investing game as well as great resources if you are just starting to get your financial house in order. Both are extremely important for everyone, but especially to anyone going through divorce that has to figure out any kind of alimony and child support. I definitely didn't have my finances in order when I was going through my divorce and I had a difficult time as a result. You can find Nick Diunte on all social media platforms @examinebaseball and catch him at his website: www.baseballhappenings.net.

In case you weren't able to take notes, here are the references Nick and I discussed:

Bogleheads Wiki: https://www.bogleheads.org/wiki/Main_Page

Vanguard Funds: Total Market, ETI Index, VTSAX

Mr. Money Moustache: https://www.mrmoneymustache.com/blog/

John Bogle Book: The Little Book of Common Sense Investing: The Only Way to Guarantee Your Fair Share of Stock Market Returns (Little Books, Big Profits) https://www.amazon.com/dp/1119404509/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glt_fabc_2YTNHQ5MS11GA63TK0ZE

White coat investor website: https://www.whitecoatinvestor.com

White coat investor twitter: https://mobile.twitter.com/WCInvestor?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor

Every $ app: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/everydollar-budget-your-money/id942571931

Overall References: Dave Ramsey, Suze Orman (I highly recommend Dave Ramsey's Total Money Makeover as that is what I used when strategizing paying off my debts. https://www.amazon.com/Total-Money-Makeover-Classic-Financial-ebook/dp/B00DNBE8P6/ref=sr_1_3?crid=XQ3DQRPQQ8YY&dchild=1&keywords=dave+ramsey+total+money+makeover&qid=1623697932&sprefix=Dave+Ramsey%2Caps%2C184&sr=8-3

For this episode I sat down with my man Nick Diunte. What initially was what I thought was going to be a discussion about perseverance/hard work, and personal finance/investment, wound up turning into an old school phone call between teenagers that went on and on. Nick and I chopped it up on quite a few things. We did cover the aforementioned perseverance/hard work, as evidenced by his successfully walking on to 2 college baseball teams and the lessons he carried over into other parts of his life, but we also talked about how to support your children after tough performances or losses, how to nurture their loves and passions, the competitiveness, expense, and sometimes shadiness of the youth sports scene at the higher levels. Nick also dropped tons of information on how to get your financial house in order, where to gather info on investing and investing strategies, overall investment theories, good resources for beginners, and other topics in the investment realm that merit further research like tax implications, investor fees, etc. 

This interview was packed with so much info I had to break it into 2 parts. Part 1 covers the perseverance/hard work, parenting aspects and part 2 covers the finance. You don't want to miss either!

An episode that has nothing to do with baseball, but plenty do with crying... *vulnerability warning*. I hit one of my big 2021 goals this week and as I basked in the glory of accomplishing it, it brought up a lot of raw emotion and just overall revelations about things like self-confidence, goals, and how we view ourselves as humans. I thought some of of it might resonate, so I decided to share. Even the part where I cry. 

Life throws you some crazy curveballs. They're unavoidable, but when your kids are involved, as a man and a father, you step up and do what needs to be done. For the sake of your kids at the very least. 

This week I talk to my friend Rick from @dadlifeaccordingtorick (on IG and Youtube) and he shares his story. There are a lot of twists and turns in this one, but ultimately, Rick stepped up, and did what needed to be done. Trust me, you don't want to miss this one.  

Back after a long break! This week I discuss the importance of your time and what my biggest fear is. The passing of time and how we spend it has been on my mind a lot lately. I wanted to break down some things I've been meditating on that hopefully inspire you to think about your time as well. 

As I mentioned a few episodes back, my #1 goal this year is to get my health and fitness in check. I've been posting weekly progress check-ins on IG, but I wanted to provide a check-in for anyone not on IG and also delve a little deeper into what I've learned so far. It's been a crazy journey and I've learned so much about myself, my body, and what I'm capable of. I know a lot of people struggle with health and fitness, so I'm hoping my lessons learned might provide some perspective and maybe give anyone struggling a little push or open their mind to something new in terms of things to try. The accepted, conventional, popular wisdom isn't always right. Sometimes you have to do your own thing and see what works for you.