In this blog post I am going to share with you my families values. What is important to us. This has not been a sit down conversation that my wife and I. Our family values have been established as a result of the way we are living our life. This is important to note… if you follow my content you’re aware that I am an ACTION first… figure it out later kind of guy. This is true for every single area of my life. If I could teach you anything it would be to adopt this mindset so you never procrastinate on meaningful things.
How we live
Over the years dozens of friends I’ve coached have moved to indy and or spent time with Ash and I in our home. This has always been important to me. I want people to see how I live and operate in my most intimate space. When I’m with my family and inside of my community. I believe this adds more depth and relatability to my coaching. Anyone can say they are anything… anyone can regurgitate information. It’s impossible to fake it in your home, over multiple days and years. People get to see the real me. Thats good. I want them to see
A Change in thinking
As I mentioned above this was not a white board conversation with my wife or multi year plan. This is how we have been living for the last decade. Let me explain this even more frank. You can say “our family values is this” or “our family prioritizes that” but if you’re not doing this or that IT’S NOT TRUE!! You are lying to yourself and your family. Values is just a word. (It should be) the verbal extension of your actions. So you can say “I value this” but if you don’t do “this” you don’t really value it. Are you following me? Words define your actions.
Our Family Values
In no particular order… This is how we live and what we’ve come to value.
Quality Time.
While I say this is no particular order… this one is ranking at the top. Ash and I are hypersensitive to how time is fleeting. We ruthlessly eliminate distractions in our life. We say “no” to opportunities far more than we say “yes” We value quality family time above (most) anything. We live this! My wife is a stay at home mom/wife. I work from home most days and pop in and out throughout the day everyday. We’ve said no to career advancement and growth so we could have more freedom of schedule. This is important to mention… Career opportunities is a top killer of quality family time. It’s also a top MAKER of quality family time. (I’m using the word quality here… quality doesn’t always mean MORE time. How I see it is… fully present and available time*) When it comes to career opportunities you will have to discern this for yourself. Every yes is multiple NO’s. Saying yes to the new gig may be saying NO to 1-2 hours a day with the family 5 days a week. 10 hours a week is 520 hours a year… or 21 days a year* This could be (MENTAL SPACE) Now your mind is on work when you’re home. How quality is this time you’re spending? You will need to really think if the opportunity aligns with your values. Low overhead* aligns with this as well. The more things you have, the more you have to pay for, the more in the rat race you are. Thats for another email..
Sports
Sports are important to us. But I can easily change this out for “peer activity” If Crew was part of the band or any other social group that would fit. Being involved in something that is bigger than him. Being around other kids who share the same passion. Theres a ton of lessons to be learned. I’ll say this… I think youth sports have gone mad and are WAY too much for kids to be involved in all year long. There’s plenty of data out about this and burn out. For me and how I see it… Too much time in sports short circuits learning and opportunities in other areas of life.
Adventure
This is very unique to me. Not everyone will have this as a family value but I am biased! Our family has the best conversations on daily walks. This is not a BIG ADVENTURE but a small one that we do almost everyday. We love to go hiking, slack lining, paddle boarding, and hanging at the park. This is a very normal thing for us in our week to week. (Especially spring-fall) A year and a half ago we bought an RV. We go out on RV adventures almost bi weekly spring-fall. This was the best investment I ever made for my family. Between adventure and quality time it is unparalleled the memories we are making in that thing! Adventure also leads to “mini” rites of passages for my boys. They get put in situations naturally that they will have to overcome. Thats very important to me
Eduction.
To be honest… traditional education means very little to me. (Hell, you read my emails you know I don’t even spell check) Crew is straight As and it comes naturally to him. Thats great! And he goes to school so he’s spending time there.. therefore it must be a value of ours. Ambrose will be homeschooled so we will be bringing him up with a different approach thats more organic to the season of life that we are in. When I think of education I think of… just above a basic: reading, writing, math level. I think more about the of ways of the world... Instilling the mindset to be curios and a life long learner. I think of sales, networking and communication. This is what has moved the needle in my life. I want to pass that knowledge down.
HEALTH
Last but certainly not least is health. For us this is: physically, spiritual and mental health. We eat clean and educate on nutrition (subtly, almost daily) We move our body’s by way of daily walks, adventures and the gym. We read our bibles, pray, attend church, listen to lots of worship music. Jesus is a most common name in our home. Mental health… we do things like sauna, breath work, read and ice bath. That can fit… but mental health is more of a combination of all the things I have said above.
With love
Zach
A couple years ago I was thinking “this family doesn’t represent my values.”
Then I got real. “It does reflect my leadership (or lack of) though”
Beautiful. Alignment of actions with values is imperative for fulfillment. Posts like this add so much credibility behind a creator’s content. Thank you brother 👊🏻