Becoming a Dad

Today our daughter Bo is five years old. Bo has been nearly five for a whole year now, so we are all super excited. Being a child is such a big adventure, and so too is being a parent. Below is a rough draft of a poem I wrote, called Becoming a Dad. Some poems are born all at once, and others become poems over time, just like children and parents become themselves over time.

You don’t just become a dad

once.

It happens many times over with

the same child.

When your child is born, you

become a dad.

And when you take your child home

for the first time, you really

become a dad.

When you rock your baby to sleep

in the early a.m. hours, you

become a dad.

When there is no one else to clean

up the sick, you really

become a dad.

And when she smiles at you,

not just with her lips, but with her

eyes and her heart, you are

anointed and blessed and you

become a dad.

Across the years, in every moment

that passes, you become a dad,

and you are given a chance to be

who you really are.

One day, as you sit there, waiting

for a business meeting to begin,

or something, it hits you. Really

hits you. Between the eyes. “I

am a dad.”

A real dad.

And as you smile to yourself, your

heart takes off, like a big balloon,

floating high into the sky.

Disappearing into Love

Happy Valentines to you. Here is a poem about love that encourages us to make every day of our life a celebration of love. I wrote it last week, and read it out for the first time at our Personal Best workshop in London last Friday. I hope you like it:

When they ask you what is your
religion, tell them that it is
love.

And if they ask you what is your
politics, tell them that it is
also love.

If they ask you what that means,
you can tell them your
philosophy is love.

If they want to know anything
else about you, tell them your
favourite occupation is
loving.

And don't forget to tell them
that your nationality is
love.

And that even your blood
group Is love.

Not everyone will stick around
to hear what you say next,
but fear not.

Family and friends may get busy
so as to pretend to forget what
you just said.

It’d drive them crazy now to know
that their blood group is also love,
that their nationality is love,
and that the real work of their
life is love.

One day they will give in, and then
their philosophy will be love,
their politics will be love,
and their religion will be love.

Love gets us all in the end.
We all of us disappear back into
love eventually.

Success in 144 Characters or Less!

Over the next five days I am co-presenting Coaching Success with Ben Renshaw. This program explores the essential principles and practices at the heart of the Success Intelligence project. The night before a workshop is always an interesting time. It’s as if the workshop has already begun. The effect of the next five days is already working on me. I feel excited, and nervous. I enjoy the anticipation, and I am anxious to get started. I notice a sense of curiosity, and also a knowing that the whole of my life is going to benefit because of what happens over the next five days.

In essence, Success Intelligence is a meditation on the question “what is success?” On Coaching Success we will look again at what true success means for each of us. One of my favourite exercises is creating definitions of success in 144 characters or less (where did I get 144 from?!). This exercise is quite a challenge. You have to be focused, clear, specific, and direct. Initially, you may draw a blank. Your first attempt may not be that great. Never mind. Keep going. One of the benefits of meditating on “what is success?” is that you will get clearer.

My success in 144 characters (or less): Success is being present in my life, living from my heart, thinking the thoughts of God, and allowing the grace of the soul to steer my course.

Your turn.