Subscribe
Share
Share
Embed
There is no strength like dad strength. It is quiet, patient, and persistent. Some would say stubborn, dammit. Dad strength rarely makes the highlight reel. It exists in the in-between spaces....The times when nobody—except maybe your kid—is watching.
The Dad Strength Podcast was created to support and encourage the best in dads like you. Authors, entrepreneurs, artists, and experts from all over share their wisdom with us. We discuss 360º health, doing work that matters, and—of course—fatherhood. These conversations are fun, informative, and always emphasize action and understanding.
The Dad Strength Podcast is hosted by Geoff Girvitz. Geoff is a father, fitness expert, and curious fellow. Based in Toronto, he has been featured in Vice, GQ, and multiple exercise publications. He is known for innovation and real-world success in the fitness industry. Now, Geoff is pointing a wide-angle lens at health and parenthood. Workouts and nutrition are just part of the program. He will be looking at relationships, critical thinking, motivation, and discipline. In short, anything you need to earn the mug that says “*World’s Greatest Dad.”*
“I want to be Mr. Rogers for men over 30,” says Geoff. “There is so much noise and confusion out there.” We *all* need a community devoted to the best we have inside of us. The Dad Strength Podcast is here to make the world a better place through our roles as fathers and as men.
Welcome to Dad Strength, helping you earn the mug that says world's greatest dad. My name is Jeff Gervitz. I am your host. I am a dad. And today I'm going upstream of anger.
Speaker 1:Also in today's edition, finding your parenting quadrant, one weird old trick. Wait. One weird new trick for reducing cold symptoms. And, of course, a book, a quote, and a dad joke. Let's get into it.
Speaker 1:What is your parenting quadrant? In his book, 10 to 25, the science of motivating young people, author and academic, David Yeager, breaks things down into 4 dominant parenting styles. And I want you to imagine this as a 2 by 2 matrix. On the vertical axis, we have standards which range from low to high, and on the horizontal axis, we have support which also ranges from low to high. Low standards, high support, that's your protector, someone who guards you from feelings of failure.
Speaker 1:High standards, low support, that's your enforcer, someone who demands a lot, but does not help you along the way. When we combine high standards with high support, you create the mentor persona, and this is, in many ways, thought of as the gold standard. As for low standards and low supports, if you're listening to this, you're not that guy, pal. One key takeaway from Jaeger is that parents and mentors might not always handle things correctly, but you have the opportunity for do overs. So if you ever feel like you've dropped the ball on a support or standards conversation, it's okay.
Speaker 1:Nobody bats a 1,000. Take a breath. Call your kid over. Tell them that you didn't deliver the way you wanted, and take another swing. Your mere willingness to do this says a lot.
Speaker 1:Coming up on the next Dad Strength call, that's Tuesday at 3 PM EST, how are you going to make this story great? There's a sign up link in the newsletter at newsletter.dadstrength.com. Okay. Let's talk about health. As we approach cold and flu season, zinc deserves a shout out.
Speaker 1:Doses greater than 75 milligrams of zinc acetate have been shown to reduce the duration and severity of common colds. The effects aren't huge, but listen. We'll take what we can get. It is also worth mentioning that for upper respiratory tract infections, zinc lozenges seem to be the most effective since they deliver the zinc right to the infected site. Now I am not a big supplement guy, but zinc is relatively inexpensive, and 20% of kids, also 8% of adults in affluent countries are estimated to be zinc deficient.
Speaker 1:This information was sourced from examine.com, which aggregates research on supplements without any brand affiliations. I find it pretty useful. All right. Let's talk mindfulness. You know, the feeling, your anger has you right on the edge and then boom, you explode and find yourself standing in the crater, looking around at all the debris.
Speaker 1:There's a framework that we can borrow from addiction recovery halt. So before you yell or criticize or otherwise react, you ask yourself, am I hungry, angry, lonely, or tired? In other words, your reaction will probably be less dramatic if all of your fundamental needs are met. Of course, though, it's much easier to manage your mood upstream than in these intense moments. So if you lose it in the moment, repair what you can, be gentle with yourself, and acknowledge that you may not have set yourself up for success this time.
Speaker 1:Then go upstream by attending to your sleep, your movement, your meaningful connection, and exercise. On that note, I am gonna host a free health and fitness discussion. You can register right in the newsletter. Again, that's newsletter.dadstrength.com. Today's book is A Way of Being by Carl Rogers.
Speaker 1:Let me share a quote from that book. Stop trying to use your speech to get what you want. You don't necessarily know what you want. Instead, try to articulate what you believe to be true as carefully as possible, then accept the outcome. Assume that your truth is lived and spoken will produce the best possible outcome.
Speaker 1:It's an act of faith, but so is every other way of being. I've got another quote for you today, and this comes from Chip and Dan Heath who wrote The Power of Moments, which is a great book for anyone with an experiential service or who is trying to create a really memorable event. There's a lot of wisdom in there. You're gonna figure out quite quickly why this one felt topical today. It's a quote I think about all the time, and they say, often it's other people who prod us to stretch.
Speaker 1:You hire a personal trainer because you know she's going to push you beyond your comfort zone, and this is the same quality we value about our mentors. They bring out the best in us. You'll never hear someone say, yeah. The best coach I ever had was coach Martin. He had no expectations whatsoever and let us do whatever we wanted.
Speaker 1:He was a great man. Alright. Let's get to our dad joke. I've brought in a ringer.
Speaker 2:What's the difference between Iron Man and Aluminum Man? Iron Man stops the bad guys, and Aluminum Man just foils their plans.
Speaker 1:Finally, some clarity on that superhero question. Thanks for hanging out with us today. We're back with more dad strength next week. This has been the dad strength weekly edition. Title music by Daniel Ross, additional music by Mike Ford.
Speaker 1:Take care of yourself, man.