[antifragile 4 🔥] on stressing out, everything stops, Arnold on complaining, the best part about having small kids

#36: a weekly 4-item newsletter created to inspire dads to use the challenges of fatherhood as fuel for building an incredible life & an antifragile mind.

Welcome to the 36th edition of the antifragile 4 🔥.

It’s a weekly 4-item newsletter created to inspire dads to use the challenges of fatherhood as fuel for building an incredible life & an antifragile mind. Some weeks will have a theme, others will meander. Expect it every Friday.

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Here is this week’s antifragile 4 🔥:

1. a reminder 🐘 about stressing out

2. a comment 🛑 to remind you how everything stops

3. Arnold Schwarzenegger 😩 on complaining

4. the best part 🗣️ about having small kids

+ AI Image of the Week 🤖 🎨

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1.) a reminder 🐘 about stressing out

My days have been running into each other recently. Sick kids, busy work, training, trying to fit in all the normal “stuff” has me regularly looking at the calendar and asking, “How the f*&$ is it [Insert day/month here] already??”

Our time is limited. And it’s easy to get tricked into thinking we have to spend that time in a certain way. Namely, stressed out and rushed.

Sometimes, for me anyway, it’s helpful to be reminded that stressing out about things doesn’t help at all. In fact, it just makes time move faster and less enjoyably.

Do I want my business to succeed? Sure. Do I want my family to be financially secure? Sure. Do I want to be in great shape? Sure. Do I want to cultivate my creativity? Sure.

But do I need to stress about it? Wouldn’t pursuing them with a lighter grip - with more sunsets, music & laughter - lead to an exponentially more enjoyable daily experience?

I think so.

2.) a comment 🛑 to remind you how everything stops

Isaac Saul, editor of Tangle News (which I’ve mentioned previously), wrote a post on recently becoming a father. Towards the end, he solicited advice from the parenting veterans among his readers.

This was my favorite:

One day, they stop.

One day, they stop crying and screaming. One day, they stop spitting up. One day, they stop being cross-eyed, floppy potatoes. One day, they stop waking up at 3am.

One day, they stop holding your hand that way. One day, they stop reaching for your face. One day, they stop kicking their feet when they see you. One day, they stop trying to pick your nose. One day, they stop making the noise you know means "Dad." One day, they stop struggling to stand.

One day, they stop fighting vegetables. One day, they stop asking for that one lullaby. One day, they stop running to you when you come home. One day, they stop being a baby, a toddler, a pre-teen, etc. One day, they stop.

May it be encouragement through the bad, but a reminder of the good.

3.) Arnold Schwarzenegger 😩 on complaining

Nothing like a good Arnold quote every once in a while.

But more importantly, I have a rule: no complaining about a situation unless you’re prepared to do something to make it better. If you see a problem and you don’t come to the table with a potential solution, I don’t want to hear your whining about how bad it is. It couldn’t be that bad if it hasn’t motivated you to try to fix it.

Arnold Schwarzenegger

4.) the best part 🗣️ about having small kids

The best random part about having small kids is how they mispronounce things and it’s so adorable that you not only don’t correct them, you start adopting it yourself.

During Covid, our daughter couldn’t say “hand sanitizer” correctly. Three years later and we all still call it “hanzatizer.”

When my son was two, he had a toy Elmo guitar that he called his “kintar.” My wife and I only stopped pronouncing it like that once he started real kintar lessons and we sounded dumb in front of the teacher.

Our toddler is two and she calls her backpack a “pack pack.” Now the other kids talk about getting their pack packs ready for school every day.

We’re having pasghetti for dinner tonight.

It probably sounds stupid, but it’s little things like this that make parenthood—despite all the challenges—an irreplaceable joy.

AI Image of the Week 🤖 🎨

Arnold holding court with kids about not complaining 😂

Two last things for you this week:

1. Enjoy a quiet moment. Step outside the rush.

2. Be fire and wish for the wind 🔥

With love,
Chris

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