Why I Like Being a Dad

After clocking so much time in the corporate world, I’ve come to learn that I should not define myself by a job title — an arbitrary label assigned by someone else, and which carries more meaning and utility to an organization, than to me.

I’m just a person who happens to share many of the same hopes, dreams, and fears as others who are trying to do interesting work, earn enough to pay the bills, and, hopefully, save up a few extra dollars for my kids’ looming college bills and the inevitable rainy day when things don’t always go according to plan.

I’m a person with skills and talents in some areas, weaknesses and flaws in others. 

I’m a product of my parents, and their parents, and the countless generations that came before them. And, I’m a guy who has co-created his own family — not unlike launching a startup, I like to imagine — and now I bear the responsibility for supporting them and taking care of them, and not just materially, but also intellectually, emotionally, and, with some effort, spiritually. 

My favorite “job title” — if I could call it that — comprises a word that encapsulates everything in my life that brings me the greatest joy, that challenges me to be a better person, and that gets me out of bed each and every morning.

The title?

“Dad”.

The “job description”?

Changing diapers in the middle of the night — or in a cramped bathroom on a 13-hour trans-continental flight.

Watching my son take his first steps.

Teaching my son how to ride a bike.

Teaching my daughter how to walk.

Teaching my son how to read.

Teaching my daughter how to swim.

Watching (and worrying) about my son in the hospital as he recovers from a bacterial infection in his foot.

Staying near my infant daughter as she recovers in the hospital from a bacterial infection. 

Watching my daughter perform her first cello recital.

Helping my son memorize words for a spelling competition at school (and consoling him when he doesn’t win).

Comforting my daughter after a difficult day at school.

Letting my daughter gleefully pick-out as many books as she wants in the book store, for her birthday.

Watching my son clear the high bar at his high school track and field meet.

Helping my daughter with her homework. 

…and much, much more.

I don’t put any of these items on my resume or my LinkedIn profile. You can’t “endorse” me for these “skills".

But just ask me what role I play which has allowed me to have the biggest impact on my world, and the one I enjoy the most, and I’ll tell you, very simply, it’s being a dad.

Because this is the best “job title” I could possibly have.

For all you dads out there: Happy Father’s Day (I know, I’m a little early on this one, but hey). 

What do you enjoy about being a dad? Please share your thoughts in the comments.

Thanks for reading! To learn how to become a better writer, check out my podcast, Write With Impact, and subscribe on iTunes here.