Dads As Life Coaches

Newt Gingrich has a new book out just in time for Father’s Day, and this time he’s not talking politics, but life coaching. “Five Principles for a Successful Life” delves not into Gingrich’s time as Speaker of the House, but rather into his ongoing role as coach to his daughter and grandkids.

“We hope people understand that there are principles that lead to success, that life has its ups and downs, but if you live by these five principles, you can live life successfully,” Gingrich’s daughter Jackie Cushman told US News.

The five principles–dream big, work hard, learn every day, enjoy life, and be true to yourself–have apparently been a part of life growing up Gingrich for decades, and the book was inspired by Cushman’s desire to pass the life coaching on to her own kids. “It was important to me that they understand it took him years of dreaming big, working hard, and learning every day,” she told US News’ Peter Roff.

It does make you wonder about those of us lucky enough to have grown up with good coaching from our earliest days, and to value the coaches who have stepped in when fathers weren’t there. Terry Chapman’s a retired father of two daughters in Pasadena, California. But he’ll split his time Sunday between his girls and his boys–young men who live in a California youth home who Chapman’s been mentoring for years.

“I’m coaching life skills,” Chapman told EGPNews.com. Chapman found that instead of sitting at a table talking to boys who’d often grown up with fathers, he could convey life lessons in a more natural way by taking them horseback riding.

Chapman told EGPNews’ Paul Aranda about the simple pleasure of witnessing a disadvantaged young man finally feeling safe enough to talk. “While riding through Griffith Park, the young man has opened up about his troubled past and his current situation,” said Chapman. When he expressed anxiety over an upcoming probation hearing, Chapman was there to offer advice on how he should present himself in court.”

So on Sunday, take a page from the blogger AverageBro: “There’s really no point to all this rambling, other than to say, if you’ve got a Father, be appreciative. Screw a comment, pick up the phone right now and tell the Old Man you love him, just on GP*, like I wish I could.

If yours is still alive but you don’t have a relationship, assuming you’re emotionally capable, seek to build one. If you never knew your Dad, honor the men (Uncles, Grandpas, Big Brothers, Mentors, Coaches) in your life this Sunday with something more than a bottle of Old Spice and The Big Piece Of Chicken.

Tell these men you love them, and why.”

*GP is slang for “general purpose” and means “on principle.”