Brian Johnson tells how John Wooden received a poem about a father and son on a beach, illustrating that children absorb what they see, not what you say. Parents pass on both good and bad traits through their actions, making it the hardest work to live as the example you want them to follow.
Emphasizing the fact that your kids will listen to some of what you say, but they're going to watch all of what you do. It's a story about John Wooden. But imagine him nine years before he's hired by UCLA. He has his first child, and the friend of his sends him a picture with a poem celebrating the birth of his son. There's a picture of a dad walking on a beach with a little fellow following him and watching him. And then there's a poem that says a little fellow is watching you all day, every day. Our kids are watching us. They're going to embody the qualities that we have—the good and the. Not so good. Being worthy of being their father, embodying the qualities I hope they embody— never perfectly, but more and more consistently embodying those qualities— is my biggest challenge and my biggest commitment in my life. We can say all the things we want to say to our kids, and if they watch us doing something else, good luck. They're going to follow who we are, not what we say. Teach by example. That is lesson number 1.
