The D.A.D. Code: How to Create the Good Life on Your Terms

Some lessons don’t come with a manual.

Sometimes they show up in the rearview mirror—quiet, steady, and a little weathered from time.

And sometimes… they wear work boots, smell like coffee, and answer to “Dad.”

Today, I want to share something that’s not just a lesson—it’s a framework. A trifecta. A code.
We’ll call it the D.A.D. Code:
Define. Act. Decide.

DEFINE

You can’t hit a target you haven’t set.

Before you can build the good life—your version, not someone else’s—you’ve got to define what it means to live well. Not in hashtags or someone else’s highlight reel, but in your own plain language. What does success feel like? What does peace look like?

Define your mission. Your core. Your reason for waking up before the alarm. Write it down. Say it out loud. Defend it like it’s sacred—because it is.

Without a clear definition of your purpose, you’ll drift like a leaf on the wind.
But with it? You become the wind.

ACT

Once you define it, do something about it.

It doesn’t have to be perfect. It doesn’t have to be big.
But it does have to be intentional.

Every action you take is either moving you toward your mission… or pulling you away from it.

When you act with alignment, you feel it. It’s electric. Even if it’s tough.
Especially when it’s tough.

Because the good life isn’t soft. It’s solid.

It’s built one small, intentional, uncomfortable action at a time.

DECIDE

Here’s where the rubber meets the road.

Every single day, we are faced with decisions. Some are quiet—what to eat, what to read, what to say. Some are thunderous—what job to take, what to leave behind, who to become.

And each decision is an opportunity.

Ask yourself:

“Does this move me toward my definition?”
“Is this in harmony with the action I took yesterday?”
“Will this help build the life I’ve imagined—or tear it down brick by brick?”

The D.A.D. Code is not about being perfect. It’s about being principled.

It’s about living life on purpose—not by default.

It’s about waking up one day—five, ten, twenty years from now—and recognizing the life you built as your own.

Not borrowed. Not inherited. Not filtered.
Yours.

And whether you are a dad, had a dad, or simply want to lead your own life like one—
this code works.

Define. Act. Decide.

Live it.
Share it.
Pass it on.