The most highly paid athletes in the world, the people who have practiced and trained their whole lives, the ones with every incentive and every predisposition necessary—what do they apparently need from their coaches? They need to be reminded over and over again of the basics. They need little mantras and mottos. They need encouragement. They need to hear the coach repeat the team values and rules over and over and over again.

But your kid? You just assume they should get it because “you already told them?”

C’mon.

If the pros need to hear it a thousand times, your kids probably need to hear it again. And by ‘it,’ we mean everything—every lesson, every rule, every instruction. And by ‘again,’ we mean essentially an infinite number of times.

Not just for sports, but for all the things you want them to understand, for all the things they do. They’re going to need to hear it explained, over and over and over. They’re going to need it simplified, boiled down to its essence. They’re going to need it put up on the wall. They’re going to need to hear it via stories and examples. They’re going to need it called out when it’s done well…and reviewed when it isn’t.

That’s the only way they’ll learn it. That’s the only way they—or anyone—can live up to it.

P.S. Parenting is the hardest and most important job you’ll ever have.

A supportive community of like-minded fathers can help make it easier.

That’s why we built the Daily Dad Society. It’s a group of parents trying to get better and do better every single day. It’s a group that shares the struggles, the wins, the challenges, and the advice to lift each other up, raise good humans, and break generational cycles.

If this sounds like something you’d like to be a part of, please join us. All parents (not just dads!) are welcome. Learn more and sign up at dailydad.com/society.