Jon Finkel - The Life of Dad: Reflections on Fatherhood from Todays Leaders, Icons, and Legendary Dads

Praise for The Life of Dad

When I found out I was going to be a dad I thought, Can I handle it? Would I hopefully be like my dad? What would my kids be like? Then I felt pride and love. It was terrifying and amazing. Just like it is for every new dad. Reading The Life of Dad will help you relax and know that its worked out for all these amazing dads, and itll work out for you.

Mark Cuban, entrepreneur, Dallas Mavericks owner, Shark Tank star

Becoming a dad doesnt come with an instruction book. Or at least it never did before now. Jon Finkel and Art Eddy have packed these 256 pages with wit and wisdom from world-class superdads and distilled their real-world experience into actionable, easily digestible advice. Whenever new dads ask what to expect, the hardest part is figuring out where even to begin. Now I can point them toward a copy of The Life of Dad .

Robert Irvine, celebrity chef, philanthropist, father of two

I was happy to chat with the crew here at Life of Dad a while back and share all sides of fatherhood with them. There is a saying that it takes a village to raise a child. With this book you can use the wisdom from all of these dads to help you raise your children. If you put in the time and love your children, it will come back tenfold. Fatherhood is a rewarding journey that I can say I am proud to be on. Make sure you keep on living that Life of Dad!

Jim Kelly, Pro Football Hall of Fame quarterback

Dads dont stop for directions, read assembly instructions, or consult the owners manual. But everything a dad needs to know is in here. The Life of Dad contains the collected wisdom, knowledge, and love of countless fathers. If you are a dad, have a dad, or ever hope to be a dad, read this book.

Steve Rushin, bestselling author, National Sportswriter of the Year winner

During my career I was fortunate to be surrounded by so many people I considered to be high-character, high-integrity people, like Steelers head coach Chuck Noll. The Life of Dad is filled cover-to-cover with the same types of men offering excellent thoughts and stories about fatherhood. Its a great playbook for dads.

Mean Joe Greene, NFL and College Football Hall of Famer, four-time Super Bowl champion

When my kids were younger, we would sit down for dinner and I would ask them, Tell me one thing you did for your brain and one thing you did for your body today? I wanted to be aware of how they took care of themselves mentally and physically, and to never take it for granted. I felt that if they had to articulate it, that would make them more aware, more present. I think brain-and-body balance is key. One thing you can do for your brain as a father is to read The Life of Dad , absorb the knowledge of all the great dads inside, and work on being better every day. And then you can do some push-ups, crunches, and squats.

Gunnar Peterson, Los Angeles Lakers director of strength and endurance, top Beverly Hills trainer, entrepreneur

There has been nothing else in my life that has given me the utter satisfaction and joy that raising my daughters with my amazing wife has given me. Its a lot of fun to learn from others how they have managed to deal with raising kids in somewhat unique situations that were caused by the career paths and success of the fathers. And its even more fun to see that no matter who you are, you can have a lot of the same joys, hurdles, frustrations, and failures that every dad goes through. The Life of Dad should be a must-read for any dad whos been through it all or is about to get started on this wonderful journey that is fatherhood.

James Blake, former professional tennis player, New York Times bestselling author, proud husband and father, founder of The James Blake Foundation

My two passions in this world are being a dad and basketball. Just like having a coach helps you get better on the court, reading The Life of Dad will help you learn new things about being a better father. I know I did.

Nate Robinson, BIG3 star, three-time NBA Slam Dunk champion

Back when this book was just a twinkle in our eyes, we started gathering parenting advice in our My Life of Dad column on the Life of Dad website, which eventually became The Life of Dad Show podcast.

Our very first installment was with The Fonz himself, Henry Winkler, who is featured in this book. While Winkler was the most famous TV actor of his generation, he is also famous in Hollywood for two other things: being an extraordinarily nice guy and being a family mantwo traits we can absolutely get behind here at LOD.

Since that interview, weve recorded more than three hundred episodes of The Life of Dad Show with as many leaders, luminaries, and legendary dads that we could find. Along the way, our online community of fathers has grown to over two million strong and has become a home for dads to connect, comment, laugh, and share their thoughts on parenting. With each new interview and conversation, our collective knowledge grew to the point where we felt the next natural step was to put it all in one place, which leads to the book in your hands.

There are many kinds of success in life worth having.But for unflagging interest and enjoyment, a household of children, if things go reasonably well, certainly makes all other forms of success and achievement lose their importance by comparison.

Theodore Roosevelt, Father of Six

And just remember, the best thing about kidsis making them!

Thornton Melon (Rodney Dangerfield), Back to School

W e dont know you personally, but we know this: You want to be an awesome dad. Well, heres a hint, if you want to be an awesome dad, then you likely already are. In fact, reading this book is proof. Youve opened your mind to getting better at the most important responsibility you have in this world and for that we applaud you. Were also here to help.

For the better part of the last decade, weve built up the Life of Dad community from a starting point of zero to over two million fans on Facebook and our signature The Life of Dad Show podcast, with more than 600k downloads. During this time, weve interviewed more than one hundred leaders, icons, and legendary fathers from the worlds of business, sports, entertainment, literature, the military, and many more. In essence, weve created a veritable Google for dads. Alas, we dont have the luxury of a search bar and timely doodles, so weve divided The Life of Dad into three parts, each representing a different facet of fatherhood.

Part I is titled Tools and this section focuses on a series of core traits (positive mindset, character, work ethic, humility, values, and wisdom) that dads try to instill in their children, along with advice on how to do so from NFL Hall of Famers, Grammy winners, Emmy winners, champions, business owners, and a fighter pilot, among others.

The second section of the book, titled Talk, turns the attention from children to fathers, offering advice, strategies, tips, and tactics that you can use to improve everything from work/life balance to your marriage, to handling serious health challenges or even more difficult, health problems with your children. The Talk segment combines actionable advice with stories and plenty of lessons learned from fathers who have built Fortune 500 companies, started brewing empires, served in the Navy, founded major fitness brands and accomplished much more as fathers and men.