Being a parent has taught me a lot of things. And in no way do I have it figured out and I don’t pretend to. I am taking it one day at a time.

I’m extremely thankful for the experience, and I’ve tried to attack parenting with the same mindset I have with a lot of things in life. I want to get better at it. I want to learn. I want to be the best dad I can possibly be.

I’ve mentioned before how important I think work ethic is. And in a sense, work ethic has taught me something about parenting too.

Parenting is like anything else. If you work at it, put effort into it, learn from your mistakes, and try to get a little better every day, you will improve. It is not easy! You also need to take it one day at a time.

So, like anything else, my goal is to be the best I can be.

I was on the treadmill the other day, which is where I gather a lot of my thoughts, and one came to me that I haven’t been able to stop thinking about.

Your kids are watching you. They look up to you. They watch what you do. They pay attention to how you act, probably even when you don’t realize they’re paying attention.

And if we truly want what’s best for our kids, I think one of the best things we can do is lead by example.

Think about something as simple as health.

I would imagine just about every parent wants their kids to grow up healthy and take care of themselves.

Well, that starts with us.

If our kids see us working out, moving our bodies, going for walks, running, lifting weights, or simply making physical activity part of our lives, there is a pretty good chance they’re going to view that as normal.

The same goes for food. If they see us eating the things we’re supposed to eat and enjoying the things that aren’t necessarily the best for us in moderation, that’s the example we’re setting.

And this goes way beyond health. Think back to your own childhood.

Hopefully, you had a parent, grandparent, coach, teacher, or someone else you really looked up to.

I bet if you think about that person, you can identify traits you have today that came directly from them.

Maybe it’s your work ethic. Maybe it’s how you treat people. Maybe it’s your faith.

There are probably things they taught you without ever actually sitting you down and teaching you. You learned simply by watching them.

But if we’re being truthful with ourselves, there may be some bad habits we picked up along the way too.

That’s OK to recognize.

Because now, as adults and young adults, we have the power. We have the power to take all of the great things that were passed down to us and continue them. We also have the power to identify the things we don’t want to pass down and stop them.

Keep the good. Learn from the bad. Then add some good of your own.

That’s how I think we continue to get better from one generation to the next.

And if our kids really are watching us as closely as I think they are, then we need to ask ourselves a pretty simple question: Are we living the way we hope they someday live?

“In everything set them an example by doing what is good.” — Titus 2:7