Welcome to the Daily Dad podcast, where we provide one lesson every single day to help you with your most important job, being a parent.

I'm Ryan Holiday, and I draw these lessons from ancient philosophy, modern psychology, practical wisdom, and insights from

parents just like you all over the world. Thank you for listening, and we hope this helps.

Give them an enormous kingdom.

Some parents can give their kids real power.

Think of Queen Elizabeth, who literally gives a kingdom to her children.

Some parents can give wealth.

Think of Warren Buffett's children.

Some parents can give talent and access.

Javari Smith, for instance, just helped his son enter the NBA at the top of the draft through a combination

of his genetics and understanding of the game. Maybe you're one of those parents, but chances

are you're not. We don't have huge properties or valuable networks to give our children. They can't

inherit our jobs or our reputation. That's all right. In the girl who would be free, my kid's book

about Epictetus, Epictetus's father reminds

Epictetus that a huge empire is right there between her ears, that our minds are priceless

kingdoms that very few people actually control.

The brain we give our children is an inheritance, not just from us, but from millions of years of evolution.

It contains the power to be rational, to be smart, to be creative, to have purpose, to do good,

to be happy. Yet how many people squander this legacy, how many people let it atrophy and fall into

disrepair or outright abuse it, be it through drugs or bad habits? Our job as parents is to raise

our kids to rule their own minds, to be competent and confident

to take over the grand estates they were born to.

...