Whether new to the dad guild or a veteran dad-lifer, blunt affirmations offer sharp relief.

Wielding daily mental reminders about the definition of fatherhood is like lifting weights for the soul.

Self-discipline, grace, and a great deal of well-honed mental toughness are all essential ingredients to mental well-ness.

Telling ourselves objective truths keeps us fit for the fight.

This is a vocation of the willing, the daring, and the humble.

A good word of encouragement applied in the right place, at the right time, can breathe the power of life into failure, hopelessness, or a world torn asunder.

Here are 50 blunt affirmations that can help you refocus, get a fresh perspective, and pour light into an otherwise dark space.

Family life:

1. I am a lighthouse to my family.
2. I am a gift to my children, and my children are a gift to me.
3. I can be replaced at work. I cannot be replaced at home.
4. I know that where I spend my time, there my heart is, so I choose to spend time with my family.
5. I will manage conflict as a means to build healthy relationships, not bring an end to them.
6. I am committed to quality outcomes, despite the outlook.
7. I am a problem-solver, not a problem-maker.
8. I am grateful for the gift of waking up this morning.
9. I choose to find something good in every day.
10. I have staying power.

Fatherhood:

1. I choose to be resilient.
2. Even if I’m alienated from my kids, I know my children love me.
3. Preparing my kids for life, will protect them for life.
4. Even if I was never taught, I am a
5. I am teachable.
6. Vigilance and vanguard are my middle names.
7. Daggy is another term for “I’m capable of laughing with others at myself.”
8. I am capable of changing the things I can change, giving over to God the things I cannot.
9. Dad-life is a verb.
10. I am a savvy dad because I can appreciate the cracks and glue.

Masculinity:

1. I am not “toxic.”
2. I am made in the image of God.
3. I may have failed, but I refuse to let that failure define me.
4. I am an authentic man, capable of raising authentic kids.
5. I will never apologise for being a father, provider; or for being born male.
6. Real dads are dragon slayers.
7. My past does not determine my future.
8. I am my family’s first line of defence.
9. I am a starter and a finisher.
10. Although I’m not perfect, I will allow perfection to be worked out through me.

Marriage:

1. Money matters, but my marriage matters more.
2. My response is my responsibility. Her response is hers.
3. Listening is the underdog of all communication.
4. I refuse to quit.
5. Love is a work in progress.
6. My grass is already bright green, I don’t need greener pastures.
7. I am well supplied.
8. I love my bride, and know she loves me until she says otherwise.
9. I am a man, and choose to put the ways of childhood behind me.
10. There are no excuses, only regrets.

Career:

1. I am content, knowing what I do now prepares me for what I will be doing next.
2. Making every dollar count, is more important than chasing the dollar.
3. Self-care is not a sin; self-love is.
4. There may be no “I” in team, but there is plenty in the word’s individual responsibility.
5. If I’m doing everything by myself, I’m doing it wrong.
6. I can, because I will learn to have what it takes to succeed.
7. I am salt and light.
8. I am accepted and welcome until others tell me I’m not.
9. Boundaries help define relationships, not hinder them.
10. I am confident in the impossible becoming possible, knowing that by believing I am capable, others will believe it too.

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Photo by Pavel Danilyuk.