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 I hope this helps. What are you optimizing

for? Health matters, wealth matters. These things matter not just to us, but to our families.

You only have to look around and see people who don't optimize for these things and see the way that it ripples through not just their own life, but the lives of their children, children who see dad not taking care of themselves, mom who never quite realized her potential.

So it's good that you have your routine. It's good that you

work hard. It's good that you're disciplined about these things, that you won't accept excuses or

make exceptions. But that's what having kids is. It's unavoidable reality and endless exceptions.

As Peter Attia, author of Outlive, the science and art of longevity, and a very regimented person himself would explain in a recent New York Times interview, I'll tell you a personal example that happened today, he said.

My son in kindergarten had a thing at school. Parents come in, and from 9 to 9.30, the kids are going to read you a story that they wrote.

And he said, this poses a challenge for my schedule because from six until about 7.15, when my kids go to school, I'm with my wife and kids. And then the second my kids leave until about eight, I'm getting as much work done as I can before I jump in the gym. And then he said he works out until about 10.30. He says, then my day runs his schedule with 11 to 5. But not today, he says, because not only do I have

my thing, my son's thing at 9, but then I have my skin exam at 1030. And he goes on. He's talking about

how today was supposed to be this killer day with squats and deadlifts, but none of this happens.

He didn't get to do his blood flow restrictions, and he missed stuff he wanted to do. He says, but that's the tradeoff I wanted to make. We have to think about these things constantly. You know, he says, I could say, I'm going to spend this summer an abysa partying with my friends, never listing a finger, and boy, will have, I have fun. fun he said but the price I will pay for my

health later is too great so really what we're saying here is that we have to figure out what we're

optimizing for at the end of the day what is your most important goal are you trying to get one

percent stronger are you trying to be the parent you have committed to be are you trying to make

one more dollar or are you trying to really be parent you have committed to be? Are you trying to make one more dollar?

Or are you trying to really be there for them? And it's your call. You decide what's most important.

You decide what price you're willing to pay. Because this too, as we say in the February 6th entry of

the Daily Dad is its own form of discipline. And do check out The Daily Dad and get the book anywhere. You've got signed copies at The Painted Porch. And we've got Peter's book at the Painted Porch also. Check out, Outlive, the Science and Art of Longevity. It's a great book. And Peter is someone I've gotten to know. I've been on his podcast a couple times, and I'm hoping to have him on the Daily Stoic podcast soon also.

My routine lately has been I run in the afternoon and then in the sweltering Texas heat. I get in my cold plunge. I have it set to about 39 degrees. I try to do it for three minutes or so,

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