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.

Tell them they have this. Nobody would have wanted Joseph Kennedy to be their dad. He was an avaricious businessman. He cheated on his wife. He had his daughter lobotomized and sent away. He was controlling and manipulative. He saw his kids as extensions of himself. As we wrote recently, one of the only reasons Robert F. Kennedy turned out differently than his siblings is that he was mostly ignored and left

alone by his parents, saving him from the ordeals of some of his brothers. All that being said,

the elder Kennedy was a big believer in his kids. He turned them into war heroes and presidents

and senators and philanthropists. And there is one exchange between him and a young Jack Kennedy

that if removed from the

other baggage and flaws of the family, we would do well to emulate ourselves. Now Jack, he said to his son,

I don't want to give the impression that I am a nagger, for goodness knows that I think that is the

worst thing any parent can be. After long experience in sizing people up, he said,

I definitely know that you have the goods and can go a long way. Now, aren't you foolish not to get

all there is out of what God has given you, he asked. Now, of course, there are many things worse that a

parent can be than a nagger, and Joseph Kennedy was, in fact, many of those things.

But this idea of letting your kids know that they have the goods, that is such a big part of the job.

Imagine how you would have felt if your parents had managed to have a conversation like that with you.

Imagine if they had made you feel like you have that kind of potential. What might you have become?

And we all deserve this.

We deserve what Jim Volvano's father gave his son, as we've talked about so many times.

We deserve to be nagged about our potential, told we can go a long way. Most of all, your kids deserve this. There's a great line from Seneca where he says it's not just having a long number

at the end of your life, but about how you live that life.

And I think this is a big part of the discussions about longevity.

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