I Finally Know My Why
Through everything I've worked on, been a part of, every ambitious project I've taken on, every late night and early morning, I've always had this quiet question sitting in the back of my mind: what is my why? Why am I doing all this? Why are these pharaonic seeming projects appealing to me? Why can I just go and taking something easier? Why this? Why that? I used to think that maybe it was the impact I'd have on people I'd never meet, the legacy (if blessed with one) that I'd probably leave behind, hopefully the people I'd love to inspire one day. Those things still matter to me deeply, but today something shifted.
It's the day before Father's Day and my oldest daughter sent me a message that I honestly wasn't prepared for. She told me I was a wonderful dad, that words couldn't explain it, that she was grateful not just for what I do for her but for her sisters too. She told me to never give up because my daughters have faith in me and will always be there for me. Even though this is something I've always convinced myself about, it hit me in a completely different way, reading it from her.
I had to put my phone down after reading it.
There's something about being seen by your own child, really seen, that no milestone or business win can come close to. You can build something that reaches thousands, millions of people and still wonder if any of it truly matters, I am sure people that have done so can relate. But when your daughter tells you she notices, that she's watching and she believes in you, that lands in a completely different place.
I've always carried the weight of my ambitions with a kind of quiet seriousness, knowing what I'm working toward but rarely stopped to ask who I'm really doing it for. And I think for a long time I had a version of the answer that was true but somewhat incomplete. The legacy, the impact, the inspiration, those are real, but they always felt a little abstract, to be frank. What my daughter's message did today, was make it concrete and personal in a way nothing else has and i think ever will.
My why is them. It has always been them. Everything I'm doing, working on, building, every risk I'm taking, every moment of doubt I push through, it's so that my daughters grow up watching their father refuse to quit, so that they inherit not just whatever I manage to create and leave behind, but the belief that hard things are worth doing and that showing up fully for the people you love is never wasted.
If you've been grinding and wondering what it's all for, I hope you have a moment like this one. Not a big announcement or a public win, not some external validation, just a quiet message from someone who loves you that reminds you exactly why you started.
Happy Father's Day to every father out there who is doing the work, even when no one is watching.
Your kids are watching.
They always are.
✌🏾