Week 645 AZ - 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens

Zach - Dad how much will you bribe me to read this crap? Igor - 10$ a habit, but you must finish in 2 weeks. Deal! … I like to say 7 habits of highly effective people is my bible, and they have a teen version. For the low price of 70$ I got Zach to read 7 habits of highly effective teens, and that book, along with becoming VP of Tops has begun his journey as a highly effective teen!

This has been an amazing summer, and one of the top reasons is really get to watch Zach flourish, here are some of the ways he’s really grown! And, as I like to say Zach is no longer a halfling, he’s now a 3/4 ling.

D and D

Ever since Zach’s been a kid, he’s always enjoyed being a story teller, and making the rules that others followed.

This year, Zach got to do D&D class at school, and he did a D&D class with Tori.

He loves D&D, and is working on his campaign for when he takes his next D&D game.

I’m asking Zach to tell me about his next campaign, but he tells me it’s “Top Secret, Hush, Hush”, and that I should just keep writing D&D to up the word count, so he can get away.

School Politics - Zach the VP

This year Zach won the election for VP, totally based on his speech - check it out!

Biking, exercise and Diet

Exercise and Diet are thing I’ve found challenging my whole life, and being very much like me, Zach has as well. This summer he decided to lean into his healht and do something about it. He’s looking at how to eat a healthier diet, and got an exercise bike so he can build his strength while enjoying YouTube on TV - I’m super proud of you for this kid. It’s a tough journey, but it’s critical.

Kayaking

On July 9th 2022 Zach was going stir crazy (the Wi-Fi was off) so I offered to take him Kayaking. With the choices of kayaking or stairing at the wall he chose Kayking. Zach not only enjoyed it, but he had a real knack for it. So we went Kayking again, and he was like a fish to water ( maybe a viking to a row boat?). So we bought a crappy inflatable boat, and we went, and went, so then we bought a better one, and a better one. Now Zach’s always on the water.

We go in a tandem boat, and Zach doesn’t want me to paddle, so I just sit in the back getting to talk to one of my favorite of people on earth. As we paddle about, Dads on passing boats always scream out “Hey Kid, your Dad is a dead beat, he’s just sitting there while you do all the work”, I always smile and wave. With Zach’s sense of humor, I imagine he’ll start yelling back “If you think that’s bad, he doesn’t pay his alimony either”. Luckily, he’s still a touch shy with strangers so isn’t ready to say that (don’t be confused I’m happily married).

I’m getting comfortable to have Zach take his friends out too, and he went kayaking with Kai! I’m not comfortable to not be in a chase boat though, so I’m getting another boat to follow.

On a particularly awesome day, Zach decided we’d do a Kayak picnick. He packed awesome sandwiches into our Kayak cooler (Yes, of course i have lots of Kayak accoutraments”), and we headed down to SLU to launch. We paddled to gas works, and pulled our boat out and reached for our sandwiches. As we were enjoying our roast beef sandwich, I looked behind us and realized we’d “docked” right in front of a nice couple’s romantic date. Well, I guess lesson learned, don’t have dates in front of the dock.

The morning bike ride and coffee

This week, Zach had camp at Seattle center so I biked him there on the back of my bike. We’d often get there early to be able to hang out enjoying a coffee for me and an iced tea for him. Because Zach was reding the 7 habits, we had a lot of shared things to discuss.

One thing we discussed was eulogies, and my roles. He basically was able to guess my role, and it was an incredible honor to be able to share my eulogy with him. We then talked about lots of topics and I was able to show him the things on my blog that represented that. We talked about the different jobs I’ve had during my career - again what an honor to get to talk about this stuff.

We also talked a lot about the personal bank account in which investments in yourself (like waking up early, and exercising) add up, and where breaking commitments make tough withdrawls.

Patreon

Long ago I setup a patreon for Zach but I couldn’t remember the password or the account so I forgot about it. That morning while talking about eulogys Zach mentioned he had a mail from Patreon and we were able to log into his account. Turns out he has 277$!! My friends and I support him. As a result we talked about how to monetize content, ads vs content, merch etc.

So fulfilling having these conversations.

Some cute Amelia pictures

And even though today’s post is all about Zach, Amelia is amazing as well:

Self fullfilling prophecies vs chosing our own desitny

Zach went to Kindergarden at a Waldorf school (outdoor hippy school). We had a lot of respect for the teacher who told us “For some kids, their body brings them a lot of pleasure, Zach not as much”. I accepted that as fact, and maybe that influenced Zach. I accepted it as I had a similar experience as a kid. But, in the last few months Zach has chosen to shrug off this self limiting script, and has begun writing his own positive scripts. He’s starting the journey of physical health - building his muscles through kayking, his endurance through biking, and improving his health through diet.

Fantastic work Zach, and if I think about myself, when I’ve been in bad shape my body brought me little pleasure, but as I get into great shape, my body is starting to bring me pleasure, and more and more pleasure as I get stronger and healthier.

I’ll tell you, the journey is a lot of work: diet, strength, endurance is hard, but it’s worth it. Oh, and some more advice, it’s very easy to fall off the path, and lose your way, but don’t worry when ever you choose to get back on the path, you always can. And on the path, or off the path, you’ve got our full support.

Something you may not know - When you were born I was in terrible shape. I realized if I continued I wouldn’t be able to enjoy you (and 4 years later your sister) and so I got into the best shape of my life. In the last few years my healthiness has really declined again, and I decided to push hard to get healthy again. This time, I’m focued on enjoying you, but also setting a good example in hopes I might motivate you.

Have a great day and remember: When your kid becomes an effective teen, you want to voice “I’M SO PROUD OF YOU” in a scream - ZiaT