Guest post by Craig Kessler @dadadviceproject
At 31 years old I was offered the chance of a lifetime, to help lead Topgolf as it’s Chief Operating Officer. With the help of some incredible mentors I was flying high in business. It wasn’t until my wife and I had three children – all boys and all within four years, I realised I was clueless when it came to raising our kids.
Fast forward to May of 2019. Inspired by a letter that a mentor’s father had written to him, I asked a few friends to write me a note on how to be a good dad. Unsure what to expect, I received some remarkable responses.
The notes ranged from David Letterman-style top 10 lists that were funny yet thoughtful to letters my friends had written to their children. In total, the five or so notes that my friends created—along with an unproductive online search in pursuit of “dad tips”—helped me recognize a few things:
Mums have endless content on how to be better mums, but the content available for dads is thin. Parenting is a humbling journey, and while most dads begin their journey with the goal of being great, there’s no manual to help us get there. Most dads in my friend group agree that fatherhood is the ride of a lifetime, yet we often find ourselves flying blind with very little pattern recognition to help us navigate whatever comes our way.
As COVID hit in March of 2020 and turned normal life upside down, and as my wife and I—like so many other families—navigated parenting our 1-, 3-, and 5-year-old boys, the dad advice submissions began to pick up steam. Friends from different parts of my life found themselves more reflective than ever before and thankfully willing to put their thoughts about fatherhood down on paper. And so, The Dad Advice Project was born.
My hope is that this collection of stories and advice, all put together by real dads whom I am proud to call friends, will help you navigate fatherhood. And, if successful, perhaps these words of wisdom will help our kids live better lives.
If you’d like to purchase a copy of this book, which is out today, you can visit https://amzn.to/3fBOFEz (affiliate link).
For more information you can visit https://www.thedadadviceproject.com/.
