Friday, July 8, 2011

The Makings of a Warrior ... know your battle!

*** WARNING = BORING $H!T AHEAD (But a good place to start ) ***

        Awhile back I came to a point in my life that I decided to start a self improvement project for myself. I had come to realize that the strong, knowledgeable, ready-for-anything, do anything dad that I had visualized myself to become; was far from the current reality. I had gone from being athletic, in shape, energetic, constantly training, and of general good morale. To being slow, overweight, tired, outdated, and in general not living as happy of a life as I wanted. So I took a deep look into myself and saw this one shinning truth:

THIS IS NOT WHO I WANTED TO BE AS A FATHER, A HUSBAND, OR AS A PERSON IN GENERAL. I MUST CHANGE ...

        Once I found this truth about myself, I was set in motion. So I embarked on a venture to personalize a program of "personal improvement". Actually, less of a program really, but rather more of a philosophy or road map; to become the individual I wanted to be. For example, let try a little written exercise. Get out a pen and paper (No really, I mean you. Do it!) and I want you to write down what comes to your mind as the ideal dad, husband, boyfriend, or whatever you would categorize yourself as. What qualities, skills, traits, and so on would that "ideal person" embody? Go nuts! Maybe it's running a mile in 10mins or less, building muscles, good with cars, knows foreign languages, good with a guns, skinny, easy-going, etc. I want you to really put some thought into this list. Better yet start a list, then set it down and come back to it a few days later and read it through. Then make any revisions or additions you feel are needed. What you now end up with is a personalized list of what qualities and skills you feel are most important in an individual. Now here comes the hard part ...


        Now going to make a second list ... I want you take a real hard look at yourself and ask this question. What list items would an ENEMY of mine say that I have? (Sounds kind of messed up right!) If your enemy (yes we all have these, but that's another post) would be willing to give you the credit; then that means that the list item in question is not just a "hobby" or an "at-my-convenient" item. WRITE DOWN THESE ITEMS ON THIS LIST. It is all to easy for us to justify credit where it may not be do. Even with the "enemy view" approach you still may embellish a little. But in the true sense of things you only hurt yourself. If you hold yourself to be true and honorable, too cheat yourself by indulging in a premeditated lie will only hinder your "tactical" development.


        Now with your both of your lists complete; I want you to compare the two and create a "action list" with the items that are lacking or absent from the compared lists. I call it an "action list" because that what it is, an "you action plan for improvement". Now that you have done this comes the hard part. I want you to take some time with this. I want you to take the "action list" and rank the items in order of what importance "YOU" place on them. NOT WHAT YOU THINK OTHERS WOULD PERCEIVE AS IMPORTANT. You want a list that goes from most important to least important. When you do this; some thinks that you may wish to keep in mind may be:


  • Do you need to complete other list items first to complete others. (For example, being able to run a 5k probably would be easier if say you lost 15 lbs)
  • Financially can I at least partially fund this list item or will I be forced to skimp on it unless I save up enough before I start it. (For example, taking martial arts lessons but dropping out after a month because you can't afford the extra expense in your budget {you do have a budget right?})
  • Physically, am I able to complete or participate in the list item (For example, participation in a Spartan Race may not be a good idea if you just had a knee injury.) {Check out the link- Get pumped}
  • Do you have the patience to persevere through menial or boring tasks (For example, are you really okay sitting is a class room for hours so you can get a "basic" knowledge of a foreign language.)
        These are just a few things that you may want to consider in ranking these action items. Lets try this ... make your "action list" and I want you to put it next to your bed, or next to the coffee pot, or hell put it on the back or the toilet; after you have made the initial list. Once each day when you pass the list I want you to take a look an see if you would change anything. I want you to do this for a week say Sunday to Sunday. At the end of the weekend on Sunday give it one last go through and then I want you to sign the bottom of the list. (Yes, I said sign it) THIS IS YOUR CONTACT TO YOURSELF. YOU CAN NO LONGER CHANGE IT. DON'T DO IT. Now I want you to circle or highlight the Top 5 items on the list. THESE ARE YOU GOALS FOR THE NEXT MONTH, NEXT YEAR, NEXT DECADE, ETC. You WILL complete these items first before you can or will be able to move on to the others. THERE ARE NO EXCEPTIONS.  NO BULLSHIT HERE BROTHERS. Time to man up or pack up your balls. (Sorry ladies if you read that).

       In the next article we will discuss how the resources to come and articles that will become the building blocks of "The Tactical Dad Project" will help you to further your endeavours. "The Tactical Dad Project" is for a better term "all about you". I DO NOT HAVE ALL THE ANSWER, but we can all help each other to find them. In the up coming months I hope to add a resource page and a forum for this matter. Once again thank you for joining us here at "The Tactical Dad Project" and I sincerely hope that you will visit us again. Until then; stay safe; and never stop building the better you.


{End Note: I apologize for the grammar and spell issues at times.  I make ever attempt to read and read the article before they are post. But sometimes they get by. What can I say ... IT'S ON MY LIST!}

Wednesday, June 29, 2011

On the move ... Coming soon!

Welcome back to The Tactical Dad Project. Over the recent week I have received numerous feedback from readers and have decided that the current site will just not do. For that reason we are moving ... The new site will be up and running in the next few weeks with a whole new look and design, but with the same message and content. I would like to take the time to thank Michael Vigilio of MV Design for his excellent work on designing our new logo and media designs. His work is high quality at an affordable price.

I will continue to post new articles to our current site for the next few months as we transition over to the new site. Some of the new features up and coming are:

  • Gear Reviews
  • Youtube Videos
  • Gear Store
  • Resource Section
  • Newletter
  • "The Tactical Dad Project" Podcast
Thank you again for you continued interested in The Tactical Dad Project. As always; please feel free to drop me a email with an questions, comments, or suggestions. Until next time ... stay safe and live free.

Saturday, June 25, 2011

Why you are here and what does the Tactical Dad have to offer

Greetings. My name is Dave and I would like to welcome you to The Tactical Dad Blog. Through this blog I hope to inform, inspire,and motivate others to take a more active role in the outcome and quality of their lives  and the of their families. While this blog is mainly targeted toward fathers and husbands, I feel that everyone in active participation in a freedom based lifestyle can benefit from the information provided here. With that being said, let us start this blog off with some very basic ideals.

I started this blog not to make money or make myself famous. I simply could not find a reliable resource for information and articles to help me to continue to further my goal to better myself as a father and head of my household. The Tactical Dad blog is an attempt to do just that. I wanted to provide "you" the reader with the tools to make intelligent informed decisions to help mold your family and lifestyle to how you see fit. If you came here looking for someone to show you how to become a super dad, better husband, a commando, or anything else; well I may have mislead you. I will however provide you with tools, resources, personal experiences, and training that you can use to further yourself in that goal. So with no further ado' here are some of the things I will discuss and information you will find:
  • Safety for you and your family (At home, in the car, at the beach, etc)
  • General Preparedness and Mental Preparedness
  • Quality of Life Issues / Betterment of Life, Liberty, & Freedom
  • Education & Training of Various Sorts / Sources
  • Information health and moral
  • Select current events & upcoming events of possible concern (While attempting to steer clear of tin-foil-hat stories, conspiracy theories, and fringe news)
  • Links to other helpful resources and article (No, I'm not the end-all-be-all for info = go find out)
Now while this list of ideas may not be complete and will be embellished upon from time to time; there are area that I will attempt to steer clear of and/or that I do not wish to touch on. These may include:
  • Conspiracy theories & fringe news
  • Religious dialogs and the like
  • Illegal Substances, "Unlawful Acts", and anything that would get me sued or arrested.
  • Discriminator or hateful topics
  • Antitrust, legal advice, medical advice, financial advice, or an other advice beyond a lay mans understanding.
  • Production, sale, use, etc; of illegal weapons, explosives, drugs, etc
This list is not exhaustive; but I believe that you get my drift. Avoiding these topics should not be all that difficult since my main goal is to take a positive stance for improvement and precautionary measures that can be applied in an every day manner. To take a script from one of my own personal favorite podcast "Helping You Live the Life You Want, If Times Get Tough, Or Even If They Don't" (Jack Sperko). If you get a chance to listen to his podcast I highly suggest it. Some people may criticise the content base of the name of the podcast, but rest assured that if you are unable to look past it; you are passing up a wealth of knowledge delivered directly to your ears daily for no money (unless you join the TSP which I also recommend).

I hope to bring you my first article sometime in the next week or so perhaps, so please stop back an check out the blog or better yet take a moment and follow us. We also have a Facebook page and twitter account that is up and running as well. I do regularly post updated on to twitter on a daily basis. If you have a topic or article that you would like to discuss feel free to drop me a email. Once again; thank you for joining me and until my next post, stay safe and live life to it's fullest.

Thursday, June 23, 2011

Welcome to "The Tactical Dad" blog ...

First off I would like to thank you for stopping in to see what the blog has to offer. I'm currently researching more content at this time and will be posting hopefully weekly at the minimum. In the upcoming post I will address why I started "The Tactical Dad" blog and what the mission is that I hope for it to impart. I'm always open to suggestions for interesting topics and articles; so please feel free to drop me an e-mail. I sincerely hope that you will come back and join our blog each week. Thank you once again for stopping by the blog and we hope to see you again soon.

TacticalDad