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 all the crap you have to put up with in this life?

You know why. It’s because of that sleeping 3-year-old in the other room. It’s because of that 17-year-old who just texted you. It’s because of those kids you brought into this world—those innocent, goodhearted boys and girls. The ones who are so much better than you, so kind, so decent, so deserving of a better future.

In Cormac McCarthy’s The Road, the unnamed father stares out over the wasteland that is his home. He watches the sun come up. He asks himself, why does he keep going? What is the point of all this? Where is the hope? “He knew only that the child was his warrant,” McCarthy writes. “He said: if he is not the word of God, God never spoke.”

You have that same warrant, in thankfully much less dire circumstances. But it still holds true. They are who you are carrying the fire for. This warrant comes with great responsibility. It’s not an excuse—it’s not a justification for dream hoarding or selfishness or hypocrisy or any other abuses. No, it’s a second chance. It’s what you were put on this planet to do.

So do it. Do it well. Do it like the future depends on it. Because it does.

This newsletter was originally published on November 10, 2023.

P.S. I’ve spoken a lot about the practice and benefits of journaling—it’s one important way we can reinforce “doing it well.” It’s a way to meditate on parenthood, and it’s also a way to carry that fire for your kids, remember their innocence, and preserve what’s fleeting: their current obsession, that funny thing they said, the small victory that made you proud.

While you write for yourself—for clarity, growth, and presence—you’re also creating something extraordinary for your children. Unlike tweets or posts that disappear into the digital void, journals can exist decades from now as tangible proof of your attention, your love, your presence during these irreplaceable years.

We’re excited to share that our new Daily Dad Five Year Reflection Journal, created for exactly this purpose, is available for preorder now (delivery begins January 1, 2026 on this limited run)! It brings the transformative practice of journaling to modern parenthood and offers a structured path to becoming the parent you aspire to be.

Each day in the Daily Dad Journal presents a single, thoughtful question about parenthood, family, and what matters most. You’ll write a brief response in the first of five entry slots. Next year on the same date, you’ll answer the same question in the second slot. By year five, you’ll have a remarkable record of growth, change, and continuity. As you return each year to the same questions, you’ll understand them differently. They’ll challenge you differently. Most importantly, you’ll parent differently—with more intention, patience, and wisdom.

The questions won’t change, but you will. Your children will. And five years from now, you’ll hold in your hands not just a journal, but a map of the journey—proof that during these overwhelming, exhausting, extraordinary years, you were present. You paid attention. You did the work.