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So today I am sharing my story.

In 2012, I got separated after 8.5 years of marriage and was away from my two young daughters for the first time.
Living alone and not being able to see my girls during the week was so much harder than I thought it would be and I soon fell into a very dark place.

Overwhelming sadness led to becoming apathetic towards most things and I chose to drown my sorrows in food, specifically fast food. I gorged myself nightly on Big Mac’s, apple pies, and 32 oz. Coke’s and anything else I could get a hold of and soon felt like a huge pile of crap.

And as much as I was abusing myself, it was my daughters who were suffering the most. I had always been a very active dad and still was but I wasn’t even close to being the best father I could be.

How could I be when I felt lousy all the time and could barely get out of bed some days?

And I might have continued along that path for longer had it not been for a friend stepping in and calling me out in a big way. And it was the wake up call I desperately needed. She challenged me. She pushed me. She told me straight up that I was failing my family and needed to get my shit together ASAP.

And I did.

It was the catalyst for the change I knew deep down I needed to make. And from that night on, I recommitted to myself getting better, for me and for my girls.

So I started exercising again. I started with jogging and although I could barely last 10 minutes before I was exhausted, I did the best I could. Just one foot in front of the other. Every single day.

I cleaned up my diet and adopted a Primal diet. I started reading more and watching less. I got out more and started engaging instead of withdrawing. And within six months, I had completely changed the person I was, inside and out.

I was a much better father and felt really good about myself for the first time in a long time.

Now, you don’t need to go through a divorce to make these changes and I honestly hope you never have to. But if you want to get better, you have to become better.

And one thing I learned and believe to be 100% true is that if you aren’t taking care of yourself first, you cannot take care of your family the best way possible. When you get better, everything in your life follows suit.

When we’re at our best, we become better fathers, husbands, friends, employees, and business owners. Taking care of yourself is NOT selfish. It’s the opposite.

It doesn’t happen overnight. It takes commitment. It takes patience. And it takes a lot of hard work. Take it from someone who has lived at his worst and at his best; make yourself a priority right now and be a better you.

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