The Daily Dad
Episodes
Where Is All That Now?
24 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Those white shoes your parents told you to keep off the grass, the khakis they wanted you to keep clean on Easter. The car they didn’t let you eat i...
These Things Don’t Matter
23 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
However much they seem to be prioritized by other parents, by certain cultures, perhaps by your own parents, or your instincts, in the end, it doesn’...
This Will Haunt You
22 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
We parents are collectors. We have the photos from the day they were born. We have the first drawing they did. Their first pair of shoes, the tickets ...
Ryan Holiday And CBS Morning Talk Daily Dad Book Release and Garbage Time
20 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
On this weekend episode of the Daily Dad, Ryan talks to CBS Morning in depth on applying stoicism, Garbage Time versus Quality Time & unforgetta...
You Don’t Have To Be Perfect. You Do Have To Do This.
19 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
None of us will be perfect parents. Our children will not agree with and understand with every choice we make–now or later. We are going to make ...
Only Later Will You See This
18 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
“Only later,” Joan Didion wrote of her daughter, “did I see that I had been raising her as a doll.” Grieving, heart broken over the sudden and...
It’s You You Know
17 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
They are so like you. So like their mother. They have the same affect. They have the same bad habits. The same hopes, the same fears you did when you ...
Now’s The Time To Get It Together
16 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Look, when you were young, you could get away with it. You could spend more than you had–knowing you’d figure things out later. You could be selfi...
The Kind of Marriage You Need To Build
15 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
There is a famous line we have posted many times here at Daily Dad, one that’s always popular on Instagram whenever it goes up. The most important t...
Daily Dad And Wife Samantha Holiday Talk parenting and Better Safe Than Sorry
13 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
On this weekend episode of the Daily Dad, Ryan talks to his wife Samantha about what their learning as parents and when to enforce the better safe t...
Teach Them This Grand Tradition
12 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
For thousands of years, humans have been expressing wisdom to each other through fables. Whether it’s Aesop or the Bible or Leonardo da Vinci or Han...
It’s Yourself You Should Be Worried About
11 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
There seems to be this concern, particularly on the right and from older generations, that kids are just way too soft these days. Everyone is sensitiv...
Quality Time Is The Easy Way Out
10 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
No vacation, no special experience, not even a family outing, just happens on its own. There is planning. There is time off work. There is the expense...
Don’t Be So Nice That…
09 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Nobody likes confrontation. Nobody likes having to enforce our boundaries. Nobody likes having to have an awkward conversation with their parents. Or ...
A Real Way To Be Happy
08 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
We talked recently about the fleetingness of happiness. The way that happiness changes and evolves, the way that it tends to ensue rather than exist a...
Daily Dad On Connecting With Our Kids Through The Obstacles Of Life
07 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
On this episode of The Daily Dad Podcast, Ryan talks in depth about empire, philosophy, and natural feelings when it comes to our kids, as well as the...
This Makes The Disruptions Worth It
05 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
These kids have changed your life. There are so many things you used to do that you no longer can. Traveling with no notice. Staying out all night. Sl...
Show Them How To Use That Energy
04 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Joan Didion was bored. She was four or five. She was bothering her mother. She was asking for something to do.Her mother could have sent her away. Tol...
If It Works, Do It Again
03 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
We parents are like field goal kickers. Just like if a certain shirt or a pair of socks brings a kicker luck, Were always looking for something, Any...
Like All Things, It’s A Process
02 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Sure, you become a parent when you have a kid. It’s a biological thing. It’s a legal status. It’s codified on a piece of paper. But we all know ...
You Can’t Do This For Them?
01 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Think of all the things you’ve pretended to be interested in on a date. Think of all the hours you’ve spent at the office, what you’ve committed...
Daily Dad And Scott Hershovitz On How Certain Parenting Behaviors Affect Our Children
29 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Ryan talks to Scott Hershovitz about the Adventures in Philosophy with Kids, the common misconceptions about philosophy, how to apply philosophy to ...
Do You Really Care?
28 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Do You Really Care?“A key point to bear in mind…You’re better off not giving the small things more time than they deserve.-Marcus AureliusIt see...
Let This Keep You Going
27 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Ryan Holiday’s latest book, The Daily Dad comes out May 2. Preorder your signed and numbered first edition before they sell out! There are going to ...
Do Not Concede The Narrative
26 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Ryan Holiday’s latest book, The Daily Dad comes out May 2. Preorder your signed and numbered first edition before they sell out![COUNTDOWN CLOCK]Non...
There Is No Time For This Anymore
25 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Parenting doesn’t have to change a person. As we said recently, plenty of people remain the same selfish, immature, irresponsible people they were b...
This Is What Happiness Is
24 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Too many of us have the wrong idea about what happiness is. We confuse it with pleasure or fun. We confuse it with some sort of permanent state or an ...
Daily Dad And Wife Samantha Holiday On Parenting Is A Trip
22 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
On this weekend episode of the Daily Dad, Ryan talks to his wife Samantha about what their learning as parents, and the importance of making time fo...
You Will Want A Crowded Table
21 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
You Will Want A Crowded Table“What a great spectacle it is when a husband or wife with many children are seen with these children crowded around the...
You Can’t Lose Track
20 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Nothing takes up space in a parent’s head (or heart) quite like a kid who is struggling. “You’re only as happy as your unhappiest child,” the ...
Melt Those Negative Feelings Away With This
19 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
You’re upset because you just blew it in that meeting. You’re kicking yourself because you meant to get up early and ended up sleeping through you...
The Garage Is The Graveyard
18 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
You notice it one day–the garage is full. Of strollers no longer used–first the single, then the double and the jogger. The chair you and your spo...
Give Them This Grace
17 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
It’s important to remember that everyone was a kid once…and that no child is perfect. For instance, as a child Gandhi once stole some money from h...
Daily Dad And Daniel Lubetzky On The Steps To Being Successful
16 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
On this weekend episode of the Daily Dad, Ryan talks to KIND Snacks Founder Daniel Lubetzky about the importance of being kind, culture and values i...
You Must Seed This Habit
14 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In one of F. Scott Fitzerald’s funniest short stories, “Head and Shoulders,” a certifiable genius falls in love with a showgirl. The plot and mo...
Their Needs Are So Modest
13 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
“Your kids are not keeping score on your career. They just want a parent who’s emotionally present and supportive of them.”-Ben StillerDavid Let...
This Is A Tricky Balance
12 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
There is a joke about a kid who, not liking the ‘No’ he got from one parent, asked the other, in order to get a ‘Yes.’ “Never come between y...
This is Who to Study
11 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
We spend a lot of time looking at the absolute worst parents. Not just because so many leaders and celebrities and artists seem to put their families ...
Do You Know? Do They?
10 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Of course, this parenting thing is hard. It’s expensive. It’s an enormous amount of work and responsibility. And yet, we are the luckiest people i...
Daily Dad And Amy Morin On Overcoming Mentally Challenging Situations
08 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
On this weekend episode of the Daily Dad, Ryan sits down with author Amy Morin in talks on how to find agency in your everyday life, overcoming ment...
Here Is Love
07 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Relationships are tricky. Especially the ones we have built the modern world around. Monogamous. Long term. An equal partner in parenting and in profe...
Work with Them to Find Their Lane
06 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
“As we bring up our children, we have to remember that we are caretakers of the future. By improving their education, we improve the future of manki...
Why Would You Do Anything To Undermine This?
05 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
We all know that confidence is important. Most of us wish we had more of it. We spend a lot of time trying to build it up in our kids. By encouraging ...
What You’d Actually Do Anything For
04 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
We say we’d do anything for our family. We’d like to think if we were tested, if we had to make some terrible choice, if it really was a matter of...
The Words To Notice
03 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
As a society, we have very attuned ears for what words are offensive. There are words that religious people find offensive. There are the words that c...
Daily Dad on Offering Dignity & Empathy While Finishing His Book
01 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Ryan talks about being role models to our kids by showing respect, dignity and empathy for others aside from our personal opinions.✉️ Sign up for ...
Give Yourself Some Credit
31 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
It can be easy to question your parenting. To feel like you’re not doing good enough, that you’re not nearly enough. You see what other parents ar...
You Are So Lucky
30 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The odds of any of this happening is literally incomprehensible. Some scientists have estimated that the chances of any one person being born are some...
It Should Change You
29 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Everyone says that becoming a parent changes you. The responsibility. The stress. The unconditional love. The cuteness. This is big stuff.But as the c...
The Skill That Matters Above The Others
28 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
There’s so much we have to teach our kids. How to tie their shoes. How to drive. How to do math. How to throw a football and hit a baseball. How to ...
This Is More Important Than Winning
27 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
It’s good that your kids participate in sports. It gives them confidence. It keeps them active. It shows them the value of teamwork. It gives them t...
Daily Dad on Being Grateful For The Time We Have
25 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Ryan talks about the highs and lows of parenting and how to remain grateful for the time that you have with your kids.✉️ Sign up for the Daily Dad...
They Heard It From You
24 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Have you ever heard your kids say something that just stops you cold? One of those remarks that instinctually makes you do a double take? It can be an...
You Have To Recognize This
23 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Eva Amurri had a privileged childhood. Her mother is movie star Susan Sarandon, and her father is Italian director Franco Amurri. She spent her early ...
Infuse This Into Your DNA
22 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Early in his career, the neuroscientist Andrew Huberman worked mostly in isolation. In his lab, he kept a list of the scientists he loved and admired....
Always Keep Your Eye Out
21 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
One of the great things about kids is that they keep you on your toes. Not just because you have to worry about them all the time, but because they gi...
There Is A Last Time To All Of It
20 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
There’s a meme that features the characters from the movie The Sandlot that says “At some point in your childhood, you and your friends went outsi...
Daily Dad on Pointless Power Struggles
18 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Ryan talks to his friend and writing partner Nils Parker about the fine line between setting boundaries and getting upset about trivial things.✉️ ...
If You Don’t Believe In Them, Who Will?
17 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In 1982-83, Jim Valvano coached the North Carolina State basketball team to a National Championship title. The Wolfpack was a mid-ranked team that ent...
Are You Sharing This?
16 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
We’ve talked before about Jimmy Carter’s father. James Sr. was a flawed man, to be sure. He was strict and stern, often unaware of the way he loom...
You Can Be Safe Without Being Crazy
15 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Sure, it’s a trend these days that parents are overprotective. We’ve got helicopter parents and snowplow parents and risk averse, paranoid parents...
Don’t Let Them Be Alone With This
14 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In the classic novel, Bright Lights Big City by Jay McInerney the narrator flashes back to the scene of his mother’s deathbed. Battling cancer, awar...
This Is The Greatest Form Of Love
13 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
You do many things for your children because you love them. You work hard to provide for them. You manage their education. You teach them the things t...
Daily Dad On Keeping Your Kids Safe
11 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Ryan talks about the stresses of parenting and how to remain grateful for the time that you have with your kids.✉️ Sign up for the Daily Dad email...
This Changes How They See The World
10 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
This is just my personality, we say. I just don’t have any energy when I get home from work, we complain. I’m in a bad mood today, that’s all. M...
Remember Who Sets The Curve
09 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
It can seem like parenting is a rather perilous thing, right? The statistics come at you like daggers to your heart–how many kids die each year in t...
Why Do We Chase This?
08 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
It’s pretty widely agreed that too much of anything spoils a person. We read the cautionary tales of the rich families whose inheritance wrecks gene...
It’s A Bad Look
07 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
It never looks good when it comes to us via an ESPN headline or a viral tweet. Ja Morant’s dad getting into a fight at one of his son’s games. OBJ...
We Are All Unprepared
06 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In 1929, William Alexander Percy’s favorite cousin died. Then just a few years later, he lost his mother. Then his cousin’s wife died and he lost ...
Daily Dad On Saying No And Valuing Your Time
04 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Ryan talks to his friend and writing partner Nils Parker about why it's important to say no to things that you don't need to do, how important the tim...
The Only Thing To Get Put Out By
03 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Jimmy Carter was a pretty buttoned up guy. He was known, even under the stress of the Oval Office, to be remarkably poised. The angriest an aide ever ...
Don’t Get Caught Hanging Your Head
02 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
It’s one of the most beautiful and haunting songs ever recorded. The version written and recorded by Sting is pretty good, but the Johnny Cash versi...
Beware The Power You Wield
01 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The things we say to our kids matter. The tone we use, the rules we enforce, the standards we hold them to–they feel it. They feel it profoundly. Ki...
Why This Is So Terrifying
28 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
As we said recently, the wonderful thing about parenting is that it opens you up. It expands your heart to a new capacity, a level you didn’t think ...
They Learned This Lesson For You
27 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The comedian and actor Rob Delaney’s son Henry was healthy and beautiful, but then he got sick. Delaney and his wife Leah didn’t know what to do, ...
Daily Dad and David Rubenstein on Raising Happy and Healthy Kids
25 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
David M. Rubenstein is a successful entrepreneur and an innovative philanthropist.He is the co-founder and co-chairman of The Carlyle Group and host o...
Meet Them While There Is Still Time
24 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In his book, The Vanishing American Adult, then-U.S. Senator Ben Sasse pondered what might strike a person from the distant past as odd about our mode...
Maybe You Were Saved
23 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
If you’re one of those kids who didn’t get everything you needed from your parents–and let’s face it, pretty much everyone is–you probably c...
Teach Them Real Class
22 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Of course, we want our kids to have class. That is to say: A strong sense of decency and taste, restraint and grace, with a set of values that have be...
You Must Make Time For This
21 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
When we have to go to the doctor, we make the time. If the check engine light comes on in our car, we get it to the shop. When we have some lucrative ...
We Must Show Them That We Mean It
20 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
When she was 68 years old, Jimmy Carter’s mother joined the Peace Corps. She asked to be sent somewhere far away where they could use a nurse’s he...
Daily Dad on the Winter Storms and the Obligations of Success
18 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
On today's episode Ryan talks about a recent winter storm that came through Texas, how him and his family thought about it, how success changes your o...
Try To Be All In
17 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Have you ever watched someone sit and play with a little kid for hours? Like totally engrossed, never checking a phone, never rushing, never getting b...
Do You Want To Lose This?
16 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
We talked recently about the costs of selfishness. Ego, narcissism, self-centeredness–it’s not only a recipe for inevitably overreaching in the pr...
Never, Ever Forget This
15 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Maybe you had a rough day with the kids. Or a tough day at the office. It’s in one of those moments you doubt whether you’re doing enough of this ...
This Is Better Than I Love You
14 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Of course, we try to tell our children we love them. Sometimes they receive it. Sometimes they roll their eyes. Sometimes–depending on how we grew u...
This Is What Is Making You So Stressed
13 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Parenting and stress seem to just go together. Anxiety, concern, they follow too. There’s always something we are tracking, something we’re worrie...
Daily Dad On 'The Last Time'
11 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
On this weekend episode of the Daily Dad Ryan talks about how as parents we can get so caught up in raising the kids we forget to appreciate the lit...
They Must Learn Through Trail And Error
10 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
You can’t prevent your kids from making mistakes. Nor, honestly, should you really want to. You have to let them learn on their own. And you have to...
Point Them Towards What They Can Change
09 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
We’d love to give our kids everything they want. We’d love to fulfill every wish and eliminate every inadequacy. We can’t. So we must focus on w...
What Are You Teaching Them?
08 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
We can tell them now, we can tell them early, that we’d rather them develop themselves as people, find their project, find their people, than optimi...
It's Still Hard For Them
07 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The good thing is that our kids are smarter and more resilient than we think. With time, they’ll come to understand that hey, we struggled with our ...
So Little Is Left Over
06 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Even when our kids get up early, we have, at most, a couple hours with them before school and work. Then after school or sports and work, we have what...
Daily Dad And Scott Hershovitz On Being A Model Parent
04 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
On this weekend episode of the Daily Dad, Ryan sits down with Scott Hershovitz to discuss how we can become model parents. Rather than getting angry w...
This Is All That Matters
03 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
We need to deliberately let all the craziness and mundane tasks of life to fall away. Because all of those things that we allow to stick around, even ...
They Already Doubt Themselves Enough
02 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
It’s not that you don’t think they’re great or talented. You’re a big fan. You always have been. You know they can do it. You just worry. You ...
Be More Than A Hero
01 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
From the outside, we can admire people. We can acknowledge and be inspired by their heroism, but we must still strive to learn from their failure to b...
You're Stretched To A New Capactity
31 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
There’s no question that becoming a parent has stretched you beyond limits you ever thought possible. You are busier now than you ever were in your ...
How Have We Gotten So Far From This?
30 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Remember: A little fellow follows you. Your kids are always watching. They’re the ones you should want to impress. They’re the ones you should nev...
Daily Dad On Delegating Time For A Successful Home Life
28 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
On this weekend episode of the Daily Dad, Ryan sits down with writing partner Nils to talk about the work life time management and how to balance thei...