Dot Connector Blog

Take time to reflect. Source: Richard0 / CC BY 2.0

5 Years ago, I lost my Dad.  He was an honest, caring man that led a life filled with great experiences.  These experiences turned into tons of colorful stories from the Great Depression, World War II, and the rest of his long life.

Through his stories, and whether he always knew it or not, he taught me many lessons about how to live my own life.  On this 5 year anniversary of his passing, here are 3 of my favorites.

1. Sometimes in life you have to sacrifice your interests to help others in need.

I was taught that I had to work hard for the things I wanted in life, but that sometimes your own interests need to be put aside to focus on something bigger than yourself.  Whether it was enlisting in World War II, or putting his own career on hold to care for his sister when she had terminal brain cancer, my Dad clearly demonstrated how to be selfless.

From when I was very young, my Dad was a stay-at-home Dad when doing so wasn’t popular.  He was completely dedicated to my Mom and me (I was an only child), and did anything and everything he could do to help us both.  He invested countless hours helping me with my homework, and teaching me to never quit – on myself or those around me.  He knew that your family matters more than anything else and investing your time with them is time well spent.

2.  Stick with an employer – or build a company – that cares about ideas.

My Dad only got to see my work at Quicken Loans for a short time, but was very happy to hear about the amazing place I had found.  He heard my stories about this new work environment where any good idea was greeted with “Great idea!  How fast can you get it done?”

Through his stories, my Dad painted pictures of different situations, where some of the employers he had were just not open to new ideas.  I spent 8 years learning for myself exactly what he meant, looking for an empowering, personal growth-focused company.  Those stories, and my experiences, taught me to be extremely thankful for the environment I work in now, because many, many people in this world are not as fortunate.

3. If you don’t have money, you don’t have anything.

I almost didn’t include this lesson because it seems superficial.  It’s not.  It’s comes from barely making it for several years, which left a lasting impression on my Dad.  You see, he was a product of the Great Depression, and survived some extremely hard times.  My grandparents, who owned a restaurant in Chicago at that time, lost everything.  The family then moved to Hart, Michigan, a small farm town to try to make a living with a new restaurant. My Dad’s stories of surviving on only milk and bread as a meal for days will stick with me forever.  And, because of that, I know that every dollar I earn is valuable.

Bonus: Tweet for ALS

Even though I didn’t lose my Dad to ALS  (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, also known as “Lou Gehrig’s Disease”), I know he would approve of what we are trying to do this Thursday, October 1, 2009.

Basically, I’m working on a project with our marketing team at Quicken Loans to raise $10,000 for ALS in 10 hours by asking everyone we know to donate $1.

We’re trying to use what we know (the Internet and social media) to help people with ALS.  You can read the full story here.

So, please consider donating $1 on 10/1/09. Check out www.tweetforals.com to learn more.

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Posted in: Personal Development