No! Don't go in there! Daddy's working.
Jonathan: Yes, yes, y'all, you're listening to Daddy's Working, and this is going to be a little special edition, something kind of neat, something near and dear to my heart.
At the time I'm recording this, my man Mark Evans from the Making of a DM podcast—yes, yes, he is on the Podcast Factory network, so you can find them on our website. He's also a friend and a mentor—he gave us this project that I really enjoyed, and that's the reason why I'm recording this right now for you. It’s because I want you to take part in this as well. And here's what it was. Quite simply, he challenged us all to write a letter to ourselves 20 years ago. [01:05.0]
Twenty years ago, I would've been 22 years old, still in construction, I'm pretty sure. Yes, still in construction, and I think I was headed to Maryland with my flight attendant girlfriend. That was a train wreck, but it got me thinking, and not just about myself 20 years ago, but, well, what I want Huddy to know today and I really took it to heart and I wrote this letter to myself, and I want you guys to think about doing the same thing.
If you were a … I mean, if you're only 20, it'd be hard to write a letter to baby you, but this is the Daddy's Working podcast and I know a lot of you guys out there have children, and this is a great way to get clarity on the lessons that are important.
And, really, what I found out in doing this was I want to share way more lessons, so maybe this is just the first one, but I'm really excited to share this with you and maybe if there's something useful in here, maybe you can go ahead and share this with somebody or yutes, share this with the yutes that can use it. Yeah, my cousin Vinny reference, okay? [02:20.2]
So, I'm going to read you the letter and, like I said, this is just a little shorty, little episode I wanted to share with you, because this letter means a lot to me and that's really why I want to share it with you.
What up, player? You're going to find this hard to believe, but I'm you 20 years from now. I've come back from the future to help you live a better life with more joy and less pain.
Right now you think you know it all and here's what I want you to know: you don't know shit. Almost everything you think you know is 100% false, so allow me to set you straight. [03:00.3]
Number one, Mom is going to die soon. That's why you need to give her lots of love, kisses and hugs while she's still here. Enjoy every second you have with her, because when she dies, it changes everything for you. Instead of waiting for that to happen, here's what you need to know. Life is short. Live every day. Enjoy every moment and be the best version of you every single day.
Next, you're a cocky little fuck, and your friends might think it's funny, but I promise you that stupid ass attitude will get you nowhere in a hurry. It's time to learn the power of humility. Being humble is powerful and will get you way further in life.
Next, school blows. I know it, but educating yourself makes you powerful. Learn things. Do things and get better every single day. [04:03.2]
Next, you're a skinny little fuck right now and you know it. Get off your ass. Get to the gym. Start pumping iron and eating right, because one thing's for sure—you're never going to get a girl with that scrawny ass body. Plus, when you realize how you can change your life by changing your body, that's when you will realize how powerful you are.
Next, you are a slob. It's time to quit that shit. First thing you need to do when you get up in the morning is make your bed. Doing this one little thing will set you up for a path to success throughout your entire day. One small wind leads to another and another and another.
Next, you’ve got to treat Dad better. I know he can be a dick sometimes. What do you expect? He had you when he was a kid. Nobody taught him how to be a dad. He's doing the best he can with what he has and he'll always be there for you. You and he are good friends now, and that's because you learned humility and started showing him the respect he deserves. [05:17.7]
Next, Dad is a great guy, but he doesn't know shit about money. Throw away everything he ever told you about money and know this instead. Money is infinite. You could have as much of it as you want. You need only help. More people get what they want. When you do this, money will flow to you endlessly.
And speaking of money, don't spend every dime you have. Learn to save so you have a stockpile when you're ready to deploy it. Learn to invest so you keep growing it. Learn to love money and more of it will come to you. [06:00.0]
Last but not least, it took us many years to figure out our purpose in life and today we have a formula that guides us in everything we do. I don't want you to have to wait 20 years to figure this out, so here you go, little fella. Family, faith, fitness and finances. Those are the four pillars of purpose. Make all your decisions based on these four pillars and you will have everything you've ever dreamed of, I promise.
How do I know? I'm reading this to you from our half-million dollar condo in downtown Orlando. Yeah, that shit really happened, bro, and we're just getting started. We have a hot wife and a beautiful son. Remember that V8 full-size truck you always dreamed of? We’ve got that, too. We’ve got money in the bank and we're going all the way up to the penthouse. And you know what? No one can stop us. [07:03.5]
Oh yeah, one more thing. Don't listen to all those people who told you you'd never amount to shit. We're looking down at them from our apartment in the sky. Believe that. Love you, 20 years from now.
Yeah, so that was it and it got me thinking about the four pillars of purpose, which we talk about on this show all the time. It got me thinking about what other lessons I'd like to share with my younger self, and really I'm going to end up using these lessons for Huddy. You know that. But this exercise gives you power. It gives you clarity and it gives you a real focus on what's important, so I recommend you do this. Write a letter to yourself 20 years ago, sharing the lessons, the ups, the downs, whatever you want it to be. But do it. Do it in the next seven days. [08:02.3]
And when you do it, share it with me. I mean, if you want. I shared this letter with everybody because I think it's that important. Share it with me on IG @riverathan. Shoot me a DM. R-I-V-E-R-A-T-HA-N. I'll check it out. And if you want a copy of my letter to share with anybody, you can either share this episode or hit me up on IG @riverathan, R-I-V-E-R-A-T-HA-N, and I'll share a link to it because I posted it up on my blog.
So, that's it. I told you this was a shorty episode I just wanted to throw in there for you and I wanted to test out my new mic setup, so hopefully the sound is awesome on this new setup. I love you guys and I will talk to you soon. Daddy's out.
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