133 Secure Investments for Fathers

What does it look like to build a family legacy?

What does it actually mean to be a good husband and father? 

Do we check the perfection box by being the financial provider? 

Far from it!

This article is not a way to make more money.  It’s about creating a legacy for our families.

Fatherhood requires leadership, intentionality, time investments, love, and nurturing of the home with our natural gifts.  When these values are in order, this provides a wealth of happiness, joy, and contentment that goes beyond the bank balance.

Though divorce rates have declined in the last 50 years, the numbers still state that we have an alarming problem.

To further reduce this issue of broken homes, it requires presence!  Being there not only physically and financially, but spiritually and emotionally.

It is easy to go on auto-pilot and find a place of complacency.  It’s one of my biggest struggles as a habitual person.  But there is hope and ways to reignite the passion of our homes through our daily decisions.

Before you read further, understand that we all fall short of being perfect.  Being a father is one of the hardest things we can ever do!  Only our Heavenly Father is perfect and through His resurrection, we are already redeemed of our flaws and faults. 

However, we are not to use that as an excuse but should use it as motivation to grow daily in our family leadership positions.

So as you go through this list, I encourage you to be inspired and decide to try something new to bring consistent harmony, peace, and joy to your home. 

1. Spend time with God and the bible every morning.
2. Journal daily.
3. Become a morning person without an alarm.
4. Consistently seek God’s will in your life.
5. Teach your kids about Jesus consistently.
6. Read devotions with your kids daily.
7. Memorize and recite scripture as a family.
8. Eat dinner as a family at least 4 times a week.
9. Take your family to church.
10. Practice working hard.
11. Practice sabbath – No work, no social.  Have fun and rest in the delight of the Lord.
12. Take a minimum of a 24-hour spiritual fast once a year.
13. Pray about all decisions in work and life.
14. Give praise consistently to God in good and bad circumstances.
15. Keep white space on the calendar every day.
16. Teach and model biblical forgiveness and grace.
17. Model being a person of integrity and keeping your promise.
18. Don’t freak out.
19. Exercise or run daily.
20. Go for a walk daily…alone.
21. Eat healthier starting with more vegetables and fewer carbs.
22. Get blood work done once a year and learn how to read your charts.
23. Read books to learn, not to escape.
24. Always make time for your unique hobbies.
25. Reduce and eliminate modes of escaping the family-like hiding behind your work.
26. Reduce and eliminate unhealthy dopamine hits like alcohol, TV, and social.
27. Reduce all toxic stress and laugh more.
28. Get at least 7 hours of quality sleep every night.
29. Take a 20-minute nap daily to boost energy and focus.
30. Identify idols sneaking into the home and continue to declutter.
31. Ask your kids how they are doing daily…keep asking if you only get a 1-word response.
32. Eliminate screens from the table.
33. Become the ‘Chief Dish Washer’ of your home.
34. Train your kids to never leave a kitchen dirty.
35. Become the ‘Chief Mood Officer’ of your home.
36. Read bedtime stories to your kids.
37. Make up fictional stories and role play with their stuffed animals.
38. Pray over your kids every night.
39. Surprise your kids once a week.
40. Create unique family traditions collaboratively with your wife.
41. Get comfortable with Dad jokes (clean).
42. When your children cry, comfort them.
43. Teach your kids abstinence until marriage.
44. Teach your kids to be courageous.
45. Teach your kids to be critical thinkers, not group thinkers.
46. Teach your kids the value of always being honest.
47. Teach your kids there are always lessons to be learned in failure.
48. Teach your kids about the consequences of every decision.
49. Remind your kids often that the world is not perfect and bad things happen.
50. Remind your kids about the perfection of heaven.
51. Cut the cable and remove mainstream news outlets for your sanity.
52. If circumstances allow, Homeschool your kids (not school from home).
53. Express consistently that being different and unique is a good thing.
54. When your kids make you angry, take a breath first instead of responding.
55. Discipline your kids fairly out of love, not anger.
56. Exercise patience with no words or non-verbal cues when everyone is late.
57. Spend 1-on-1 time with each one of your kids consistently.
58. Observe your kids and document and nurture their gifts.
59. Take your kids to the library routinely.
60. Teach and model respect by requiring  “yes mam” and “yes sir” to all adults.
61. Practice being fair when rewarding and disciplining your children.
62. Practice serving your community.
63. Practice writing handwritten letters and thank yous.
64. Participate in family activities like craft time, play dough, or tea parties.
65. When your kids speak, look them in the eye and listen (put the phone down).
66. Practice saying yes over saying no to your kid’s request.
67. Play with your kids in their reality.
68. Make fun competition with kids when exercising.
69. Make fun competition with kids when doing chores.
70. Assign specific chores to each child that they can learn to perfect.
71. Play your kid’s favorite music constantly.
72. Hug your kids.
73. Keep consistent bedtimes for all the kids.
74. Don’t overcommit your kids to every activity, keep their schedules simple.
75. Teach your kids to share and to let go of saying “mine”.
76. Teach your kids how to be gentle with their words, thoughts, and hands.
77. When your children argue, have them work their 1-2-3 before adult intervention.
78. Keep all bedrooms as “screen-free” zones.
79. Declutter the home consistently.
80. Give toys and books away to the needy or Goodwill.
81. Spend more time outdoors and in nature as a family.
82. Observe your wife daily.
83. Be faithful to your wife.
84. Verbally affirm your wife without prompts.
85. Serve your wife and take on more household chores.
86. Be an active listener to your wife without trying to “fix it”.
87. Never hold back intimacy from your wife.
88. Find at least 1 hobby your wife and you can enjoy together.
89. Create healthy boundaries of opposite-sex friendships.
90. Cook for your wife at least once a week.
91. Take your wife on a date at least twice a month.
92. Buy flowers for your wife on non-traditional holidays.
93. Say “I love you” to your wife often.
94. Leave spontaneous love notes for your wife.
95. Say “I love you” to your kids often.
96. Write letters to your kids.
97. Prepare your kids for adults by having rites of passage or graduating to a new skill at home.
98. Teach your kids how to love unconditionally.
99. Go on family sabbaticals once a year.
100. Go on a planning retreat with your wife at the beginning of the year.
101. Send your wife on a solo – “just her” retreat quarterly.
102. Love your in-laws unconditionally.
103. Don’t ever seek revenge and model praying for your enemies.
104. Be the mouthpiece to your set of parents to prevent in-law conflict.
105. Become the Chief Financial Officer of the home by budgeting, saving, blessing, and paying the bills.
106. Set up a 1-year emergency fund as soon as possible.
107. Give generously to those in need.
108. Budget for splurging every once in a while.
109. Invest money wisely.
110. Invest time even more wisely.
111. Create multiple streams of revenue if possible.
112. Practice hospitality by teaching your kids to be gracious hosts.
113. Never pursue more money for happiness.
114. If you have the opportunity to own a business, take it.
115. Use all of your PTO when possible.
116. Shop from the sales rack.
117. If you see “cracks” in your physical home or your family, repair them right away.
118. Get your ‘”end of life” affairs in order starting with your will.
119. Mentor someone.
120. Have at least 5 friends that you can call mentors.
121. Facilitate weekly planning meetings as a family.
122. Create a family mission statement that includes purposes, themes, and values.
123. Plant and grow a garden as a family.
124. Teach your children about history.
125. Teach your children about their family history.
126. Protect your family at all costs.
127. Though unpredictable, have safety and security plans for disaster.
128. Do not fear change, but be sure it’s in God’s will.
129. Roll with the punches of life and model faithful flexibility.
130. Never be afraid to admit when you are wrong.
131. Practice humility.
132. Be intentional about growth.
133. Practice thankfulness and contentment.

Yes, this list is overwhelming!  It’s a wish list that no one can ever perfect!  However, we should always be challenged to grow as individuals and to grow deep roots in our families.

Forming new habits and routines can be hard, so start here to make sure you are setting yourself and your family up for success.

Being a good father is not about being perfect, it’s about being faithful!