What did you bring to 2021?

---

Fathers, what did you bring to 2021? I brought more mindful time with my family, daily investments in my mental, physical, and spiritual health, an intense dedication to my work, and a strong belief system consistent with success. This month, I began practices that I will carry with me throughout the year.

I am ambitious but far from flawless. Sometimes, my work occupies nearly every second of my day and interferes with my attention at home. The struggle to leave work at work is why I need to make mindful time at home with family a priority this year.

How about you? What is one of your challenges? Do you experience difficulties with creating work boundaries or following your diet and exercise plans?

From Sunday through Friday afternoons in 2021, I am keeping a tight hold on my health and fitness routines. As a reward for maintaining healthy food choices and a robust workout schedule, I will enjoy guiltless Friday evening's pizza, fries, and dessert meal. On Saturday mornings, I will train capoeira to warm-up before jogging a minimum of 5 miles before returning to eat a healthy breakfast.

Injuries or illness will serve as the only exceptions to my exercise goals. I nursed a sore hip this week due to overtraining. Surprised?!

What sacrifices will you make in 2021 to become the better version of yourself as a father, spouse, employee, or business person? As I share in my forthcoming book, Dear Brother: 82 Powerful Poems to Guide Your Journey to Healthy Black Masculinity, every day provides us with an opportunity to improve. Perfection is a myth, but greatness is doable.

On New Year’s Day, I do what has become a ritual. On the first of January, I make time for an intense workout, writing, prayer, meditation, and a family meal. I do my best to do a little of all the things I want to do in the new year.

Yesterday, I uploaded the January vlog episode to share footage from my New Year’s Day routine, holiday captures from 2020, and a family hiking experience to a secluded beach.

How do you store family memories? Do you use social media to share content about you and your family’s life? What would you do if Facebook, Instagram, or another platform deleted your account? It happens. Do you have a backup?

In 2016, when we moved to Mexico, I started the La Vida Lindsay vlog on YouTube to document my family’s transition to life abroad and inspire others to live bolder lives. Each meaningful episode remains on external hard drives to guarantee that I have copies of the content. Capturing and editing the footage for these videos is a tedious process, but I am grateful for these skills and hopeful they will influence other fathers.

As you begin to think about your family goals for this year, choose exciting, educational, and fun activities. Your options may not involve international travel or building a life abroad, but there’s plenty that you can do in your neighborhood. Try morning conversations with your spouse, reading afternoons with your children, or weekly movie nights with the entire family. Aim to do something together every week.

Below is the footage of this month's vlog episode. Please share it with one father in need of inspiration to get in shape and spend more time with his family.

---