Shows / The Daily Dad
The Daily Dad
The audio companion to DailyDad.com’s daily email meditations on fatherhood, read by Ryan Holiday. Each daily reading will help you find the wisdom, inner strength, and good humor you need in order to be a great dad. Learn from historical figures and contemporary fathers how to do your most important job. Find more at dailydad.com. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Episodes
- The Daily Dad
This Is Your Warrant
"What gives you the right? What’s your purpose on this planet? Why do you work so hard, why do you fight for the causes you fight for, why do you put up with…
- The Daily Dad
Everything but This Is Temporary
"You’ve been working for this moment your whole life. To make it into the league. To sit behind the big desk. To command the squadron. To have the power. It…
- The Daily Dad
This Is the Enemy of Good Parenting
"There are so many sad examples: The father who can’t bear to be contradicted. The parents who refuse to admit when they are wrong. The mom who spends all her…
- The Daily Dad
Let Them See You in Your Element
"What do you think drew Steph Curry to basketball? It must have been many things, but chief among them has to have been the time he spent in arenas watching…
- The Daily Dad
What Do We Do In Times Like This?
"So much has happened and so much now remains uncertain. Do we go back to work? Do we let the kids go to the park? Do we stay inside? Do we start…
- The Daily Dad
You Gotta Take an Interest
"When Margaret Thatcher was in school as a young girl, she was assigned books like we all were. Some were boring. Some were exciting. Some were strange. But…
- The Daily Dad
These Are Magic Words
"When you hear these three words, there can be only one response. To drop everything and look. To engage. To be flattered and excited, to love every second and…
- The Daily Dad
This Is the Secret to Your Hardest Job
"It doesn’t matter if you’re the president, a doctor, or an internationally touring musician—they all agree that the hardest job is being a parent. Because…
- The Daily Dad
There Is No Party Line
"Should you let your kids have screen time when they’re younger? How young is too young to give them their first phone? What about sugar and processed foods?…
- The Daily Dad
Make Life More Promising When You’re Around
"F. Scott Fitzgerald lived a glamorous life and then he cracked up. All his talent. All his money. All the beauty and the passion evaporated. His wife, Zelda…
- The Daily Dad
It’s Hard to Be Them
"It would be nice if the world was nice. It would be nice if it was easy to be a kid. Unfortunately, it isn’t. It’s hard to be the smart kid. As Stefan Zweig…
- The Daily Dad
This Is the Tricky Balance
"School doesn’t matter. It just doesn’t. Have your grades from elementary school ever come up once in your life? Even a Harvard GPA is unnecessary on a resume…
- The Daily Dad
Your Bond Should Grow
"Every father is different, yet when we hear the descriptions, or see the portrayals of fathers on film, it can feel like we’re the only one who is different…
- The Daily Dad
There Are Better Forms of Motivation
"When you look at champions—in sports or politics or business—it’s hard not to detect a theme running through a lot of their motivations. Many of these…
- The Daily Dad
Show Them What You Love (But Don’t Make Them Love It)
"You have been looking forward to this for so long. The opportunity to turn them onto your favorite bands. To watch your favorite movies. To take them to your…
- The Daily Dad
This Is a Chance to Learn
"There is nothing that can prepare you for being a dad, as the cliche goes. No book. No class. No amount of seeing your own parents or siblings do it. So one…
- The Daily Dad
You Gotta Give Them Access
"We want to make sure our kids have opportunities in life. We want to make sure that they’re not excluded or kept out. We work hard—try to make money, try to…
- The Daily Dad
Try Not to Give Them Anything Extra
"We all have issues. We know that. Our goal as fathers, as we’ve said, is to not pass them on. To stop the cycle of dysfunction. It’s a low bar, to be sure…
- The Daily Dad
Look for the Double Opportunity
"The jogging stroller lets you exercise… while spending time with your kid. The drive to school, or to soccer tournaments… is a chance to have that…
- The Daily Dad
This Could Be That Day
"It was just another day on vacation for the Roosevelts in 1921. FDR spent the morning sailing around Campobello Island with Eleanor and his two older boys…
- The Daily Dad
You Guys Should Do This Together
"Each morning, Hugh Jackman and his wife Deborra-Lee Furness, get up early and, after they meditate, they read together. Actually, they read aloud to each…
- The Daily Dad
Remember the True Value of an Education
"You send them to great schools. You make sure they do their homework. You drill them on their flashcards. You are saving for college. You are not going to let…
- The Daily Dad
They Deserve to Be Sheltered (Somewhat!)
"How much should we shelter our kids from the scariness of the world? How much should we protect them from knowing about the day-to-day events of the world…
- The Daily Dad
Don’t Teach Them What to Think, Teach Them How
"It’s tempting to tell them exactly what they can and can’t do. It’s tempting to tell them what you expect them to do, or explain how the world works. But…
- The Daily Dad
You Are Being Reminded
"It’s been a rough couple weeks. You watched your retirement accounts lose as much as 30% of their value. You’re watching businesses disappear left and right…
- The Daily Dad
See If They Can Understand This
"You probably heard the story of the ugly duckling growing up. Or perhaps you remember the story of Solon and Croesus. Both stories—one about a duckling and…
- The Daily Dad
Keep Their Life Normal
"We’ve talked before about how children born into privilege or power or a well-known family can easily become spoiled. Marcus Aurelius was an exception to this…
- The Daily Dad
This Is How To Get What You Want
"We’ve talked about so many things in this email over the last year, so many goals we have as parents. We talked about treating fatherhood as a second chance…
- The Daily Dad
They Shouldn’t Have To Earn This
In today's Daily Dad Podcast, Ryan tells the story of a young Lyndon Johnson and how his mother's adulation would turn into something worse, something that we…
- The Daily Dad
Don’t Force Your Interests On Them
You had all these ideas about what being a father would be. You looked forward to fixing cars together. Or watching your favorite movies. Or taking them to all…
- The Daily Dad
You Have to Take Care of Yourself, Too
"We’ve talked before of the crossfire hurricane that is becoming a father. When you first become a dad, your whole life gets turned upside down. As you…
- The Daily Dad
They Are Meant For This
"Maybe you remember when your kids were really young—or maybe they still are really young so you know this even better—what you could do to magically calm them…
- The Daily Dad
You Must Give Them This Gift
"Theodore Roosevelt lived an incredible life. He was an author. A naturalist. A rancher. A police chief. A cowboy. A hunter. A governor. A soldier. A…
- The Daily Dad
Seldom Should Be Heard a Discouraging Word
"If you’re not paying attention, it’s easy to slip into a habit of almost invariable negativity: Stop doing that. Don’t touch this. No, you can’t watch TV…
- The Daily Dad
Be Spartan With Your Wealth
"The emperor Hadrian never had a son so he devised a very specific succession plan. He adopted a fifty-one-year-old man named Antoninus Pius on the condition…
- The Daily Dad
What Are Your Rules?
"You’re a parent, so you have rules. What are they? No, not rules for them. Rules for you."Ryan talks about the most important rules that a parent can set, and…
- The Daily Dad
It’s An Honor to Do This
"They say that the reason people have long shaken hands with their right hands was to signal that we came in peace and we’re not dangerous. They say that when…
- The Daily Dad
Show Them Their Hometown
"Maybe you don’t love where you live. Maybe if you had more money or a different job, you’d live elsewhere. Maybe it is too liberal or too conservative or too…
- The Daily Dad
This Should Be What You Teach Them
"If you haven’t watched the TV series Friday Night Lights since you’ve become a father, you should watch it again. There’s a reason that Coach Taylor is so…
- The Daily Dad
It’s Wrong to Ignore What You Know Is Wrong
"There is so much on your plate. So much you have to worry about as a parent... So it’s understandable if you’ve been distracted, and you’ve missed an…
- The Daily Dad
Here’s How to Tie Your Family Together
"You want them to listen. You want them to respect your rules. You want them to do what they’re supposed to do, the things that will make them successful. So…
- The Daily Dad
You Are On The Front Lines of This Fight
"One of the most insidious and toxic forces in the world is the belief that some races are naturally better than others, or that one sex is inferior to…
- The Daily Dad
Be A Towering Example
"Cato didn’t write any books. He never taught classes. He never gave interviews. He liked to say that he only spoke when he was certain that what he’d say…
- The Daily Dad
Can You Accept You’re Not In Control Anymore?
"The first thing becoming a parent teaches you, as we’ve talked about before, is that idea of “unavoidable reality.” Each new father, David Brooks once…
- The Daily Dad
This Is How They Will Learn
"It was said for all the genius that Socrates possessed, Plato, and Aristotle, and all the sages who learned from him 'derived more benefit from the character…
- The Daily Dad
We Have To Care. We Have To Care.
Ryan discusses an issue that we as fathers cannot ignore, on today's Daily Dad Podcast.***If you enjoyed this week’s podcast, we’d love for you to leave a…
- The Daily Dad
Teach Them to See the Big Picture
"Most of us are old enough to remember coming down to find our father at the breakfast table reading the newspaper. It was simply part of the routine, as it…
- The Daily Dad
This Is the Kind of Coach You Have to Be
"A father is a provider, a protector, a rule-setter, a friend. They are an educator and exemplar. They are also—whether their kids play sports or not—a coach…
- The Daily Dad
Teach Them These Four Virtues
"Aristotle worshipped them. The Christians and Stoics too. Four simple words. Four essential tenets for living:Courage. Moderation.Justice. Wisdom."Learn more…
- The Daily Dad
This Is What We Are Fighting For
"Because of the fiery trial of the Civil War and what it came to represent, Abraham Lincoln is, to most of us, a figure of moral guidance. This naturally…
- The Daily Dad
This Is How To Teach Them to Be Understanding
"One of the wonderful benefits of reading fiction, studies have begun to show, is that it helps cultivate empathy... It also happens that fiction—the best…
- The Daily Dad
A Dad Must Ask For Help
"If your kid was struggling, you’d want them to tell you, right? If they didn’t understand something in class, you’d want them to ask the teacher. If your…
- The Daily Dad
Leave It At The Door
"All day at work you experience stress. You witness other people’s stupidity. You are the victim of their moods and emotions. Your phone pings constantly with…
- The Daily Dad
It’s Time To Tap Into Their Energy
"If you talk to any of your friends right now, you’ll hear stress. You’ll hear fear. You’ll hear anger. You’ll hear the fatigue in their voice, the wondering…
- The Daily Dad
You Have to Let Them Struggle
"No father wants to see their kids suffer. It’s almost more painful for you than it is for them to watch them trip over their words, to scratch their heads in…
- The Daily Dad
Show Them What’s What and Who’s Who
"Richard Feynman’s father took pains to show his son—usually by their photo in the newspaper—who was worthy of respect or not. He didn’t want his son to be…
- The Daily Dad
Don’t Let Them Dislike Themselves
"One of the more vulnerable moments of Pete Buttigieg’s pioneering campaign for president (as a front-running, openly gay man) came in South Carolina. At a…
- The Daily Dad
Here’s How To Calm Your Kids Down
"Why are your kids so crazy? Why is everything so stressful? Why aren’t they doing better in school? Better at listening? Better at focusing?"Find out how to…
- The Daily Dad
Pain Is a Part of Life
"Oh how you wish you could make sure they never suffered. Oh how you wish you could have prevented these last couple weeks. You don’t want them to be scared…
- The Daily Dad
You Have to Face Your Flaws
"Each of us picked things up in childhood. Because of how our own parents were. Because of the experiences we had. Because of things we did... or didn’t…