🧘‍♂️5-Minute Habit = Calmer Dad

This week, I traded five minutes of scrolling for five minutes of stillness—and somehow, I felt like I unlocked a cheat code for fatherhood.

1️⃣ For Me (Improve Yourself)

5 Minutes of Daily Meditation
Yeah, I know—it sounds like some monk-on-a-mountain type thing. But hear me out: five minutes of intentional stillness every morning actually made me less reactive, more present, and weirdly...more productive.

Try this:

• Set a timer for 5 minutes

• Sit somewhere quiet

• Close your eyes and just breathe. Seriously, set a timer in case you fall asleep. (Speaking from experience 😂 )

Thoughts will come up—let them. Then let them go. No judgment.

The goal isn't “clearing your mind.” It's practicing being okay with whatever shows up. And as a dad, isn’t that kinda the whole game? Guided chaos.

YOU are your family’s guide through the chaos. The one they look to for a response to every situation. If you remain calm, they remain calm. At least calm-er than when you’re losing your sh*t.  

This 5 minute meditation can be drinking coffee, tea, or water. Just do it without a screen, or any other input aside from the natural sounds of your environment. Just be still for 5 minutes and breathe.

2️⃣ For ‘We’ (Improve your relationship)

Write a love note. Not a text. Not an emoji. A real, written note.
I left one on her lunchbox in the fridge. It said: “You are still my favorite hello and my hardest goodbye”…

jk, that’s super poetic and I might use that sometime in the future, but our love hits different. What I left was a sticky note on the bathroom mirror that said, “Thanks for going to work for us” with a heart drawn on it. Like a lot of Moms, she loves her family and often dreads going to work, not because of the work itself, but because she misses her kids. 

She didn’t text back. She showed up, having bumped up 4 spots on the Mood Meter. (If you don’t know about the Mood Meter, check it out here and use it daily)

It doesn’t have to be poetry. Just be real.
A sticky note on the bathroom mirror. A napkin in the lunchbox. A card in the glove compartment.

When she finds it, you’ve just bought yourself about 3 emotional backrubs worth of goodwill (maybe a bit more, if you’re lucky 😉 ). But don’t expect anything in return. Just give. It’s worth more. Don’t trust me on this, test it out for yourself.

3️⃣ For ‘WEEEEEEE!’ (Improve your relationship with the kids)

Backyard or Living Room Picnic
You don’t need a park pass to make memories.
Lay out a blanket. Make some sandwiches. Bonus points for silly hats or theme music.

Let the kids “host” and plan it—they’ll take it seriously in the best way.
Let go of perfection and lean into presence. Lead with your heart. Because when you show up fully—without a phone, without an agenda—they remember that forever.

And if you’re away from home? Host a virtual “picnic” over FaceTime. Eat the same snack. Talk about the weather. Laugh. Stay connected. That’s the real meal.

🔥 Quote of the Week:
 "It is not flesh and blood but the heart which makes us fathers and sons."
—Johann Friedrich von Schiller

📩 Want to Be Featured?
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✅ TL;DR Summary – Take Action Fast
🧘‍♂️ Meditate for 5 minutes daily
💌 Write your partner a handwritten love note
🥪 Have a backyard or living room picnic with your kids

Fatherly Reminder: these are ideas to save you time from having to search, sift through or conjure up life-improving actions to take on your own. Try one thing out, keep what you like, forget the rest. Use what works for your family. Even 1 action taken to be a better dad is enough to change the trajectory you are leading your family on. This is not the “Hero Dad” or “Perfect Dad” Bulletin. Just keep getting better.

—
For the Family,
Anthony
Founder, Dynamic Daddy & Better Dad Bulletin