Tony Robbins said, “It is in your moments of decision that your destiny is shaped.” We all make a life by the decisions we make. A great man I once knew said to me, “Life is a decision.” So how do you make the right decisions in life, both for yourself and for your family? The simple reality is that you must have a basis for your decisions. Think of it ...

“As iron sharpens iron so does the face of a man’s friend,” is a saying from the book of Proverbs. It really sums up the mysterious masculine healing power that is released when men gather together for a noble purpose. I have experienced this mysterious force in men’s gatherings at so many different levels and in so many different ways, for the last 40 years. I just love it when men ...

Today, Chris and Guy answer the question: what is really involved in being a father in a child’s world? Episode #31 of Real Talk 4 Real Men. When you became a daddy, did you think that being a father was something just so natural, you didn’t really need to think very much about it? That was Chris’ experience more than four decades ago, but he had to learn the hard way ...

Some days, being a mother is just plain hard. Today was one of those days. I promised to take my boys to play mini golf. Secretly, I was looking forward to it more than they were! I’d been wanting to try out this place for months and finally the day had arrived but… My youngest was in a bad mood all morning; he threw a tantrum because there wasn’t enough honey ...

We all get a bit of shock pretty early on in married life. For some, it is day 1: “This isn’t what I expected!” At some point, you will probably find yourself asking yourself the question: Is marriage worth it? Are you married?  How has it been going for you lately?  You wouldn’t be the first person to stop and ask yourself that question. Most of us men enter into marriage ...

What is worse than death of a partner in a relationship? For those who have been through it, finding your partner has cheated on you brings pain that can seem to be impossible to deal with. How will your relationship survive? How will you survive? What about the kids? In this blogpost and podcast, Phil will give you hope and a pathway forward that works. Help! My Partner Has Had An ...

Mother, according to a well-known online encyclopedia, is: “A female parent of a child. Mothers are women who inhabit or perform the role of bearing some relation to their children, who may or may not be their biological offspring.” A mother, from the point of view of Wikipedia, sounds so perfectly neat and precise in definition. If only there was a textbook that was as neat and precise that could explain ...

Arguably, the most intelligent thing any real man should be doing is caring for his wife. In this short post, Guy outlines 7 easy things you can do today to love your wife and improve your life. I’ve heard it said that a man’s wife is his glory.  Another version often stated is “happy wife, happy life”. Proverbs 12:4a outlines it a slightly different way: “A virtuous [or in some translations: ...

A mother makes a father, and a father makes a mother. Parenthood happens in unison. So, it goes without saying that Mums are incredibly priceless and vital, just as Dads are. So why don’t we value mothers more than we do? Studies and anecdotal evidence show that mothers generally feel very under-appreciated. As men we must change that. Check out Dads4Kids‘ contribution to that change in the new “Love You Mum” ...

Some time ago, I was busy minding my own business in my office, when I heard my wife talking in the next office to a stranger. I opened my door to shake hands with Bill, who was inspecting our fire services in our office on behalf of the landlord. Bill, realising he was in the offices of Dads4Kids, started to ply me with questions about parenting. He asked, “How should I ...

Valentine’s Day is next Sunday, 14 February. It is a date worthy of celebration. It just so happens that it is one of our bi-weekly date nights, so it won’t be hard to celebrate. Getting a restaurant with a free table will be the hard part. You have heard me say it before, and if you hang around with us for any length of time, you will hear it again and ...

Ian ‘Watto’ Watson said, “I have never seen a bloke go backwards with encouragement.” Ian Watson spoke at the very first Men’s Leadership Summit at Paluma Range, north of Townsville, in 2013. Sadly, Ian passed away in 2019. The good news is that he left a massive legacy of encouragement for men the world over.   Rhonda McKenzie, Ian Watson’s niece, said this about him at his memorial service in a ...

Byrd Bagget says, “Work hard, do your best, live the truth, trust yourself, have some fun… and you will have no regrets.” Only twelve more sleeps till Christmas. All the more reason to live life with no regrets. Warwick, why are you talking about no regrets, twelve days out from Christmas? I thought you would never ask! Recently, my wife and I were invited to speak together at a church by ...

Several years ago, on International Men’s Day, Canberra’s ABC radio station rang me up and wanted to do an interview in Drive Time. I was happy to do it, until I found out my interviewer was a lady. Not that I have anything against the ladies, but ABC women (and many of the men) are noted for their bias against the male of the species. However, I am always up for ...

The team at Dads4Kids is so thankful to the three daring dads who featured in the Decorate Dad Challenge video. One of those amazing dads is Ashton Reed. Last Thursday, Ashton and his three beautiful children agreed to be featured in the TV story about why he took the Decorate Dad Challenge so seriously. To the joy of his children, they had the opportunity to decorate Dad all over again for ...

The science shows that families who play together stay together, for more reasons than one. Jim Burns, in his article “Families that Play Together Stay Together”, said, “Playing together is an essential trait of happy, healthy families. Certainly, our children need to do their chores, and of course they need discipline with consistency, but what they also need desperately from their parents is a rousing game of hide-and-seek or a monthly ...

Robert Falzon, a good friend of mine in the men’s movement, asked me to contribute a chapter to his new book called Raising Fathers: Fathering from the Frontline — 12 Men’s Stories. Here is an excerpt from my contribution. It was a fine weather Sunday in this small resort town. The café was full of people having their lunch. No one seemed to recall seeing the young man with blonde hair ...

“In family life, be completely present,” is a saying of Lao Tzu from 600 BC. Here we are now, 2600 years later, and we are still struggling to learn this simple but profound piece of advice. This advice is all the more critical for fathers, and even more critical for fathers living in the twenty-first century. Dr Justin Coulson has written a book on parenting titled: “What your child needs from ...

“Love is a many-splendored thing” is the title of a popular song from the fifties. Many people would argue the sanity of that song and concur instead with Shakespeare who said, “Many a good hanging prevents a bad marriage”! Nobody would disagree with you if you said that our world is in the middle of a marriage crisis. In Australia, one in every three marriages ends in divorce. In America, it ...

John Eldredge said in his bestselling book, Wild at Heart, “A hesitant man is the last thing in the world a woman needs. She needs a lover and a warrior.” I am sure that Chantelle, Mark Rapley’s wife, would agree with John’s prescient quote. This article in the Port Macquarie News tells the story well: Husband’s actions saved her life: woman recovers after shark attack at Shelly Beach. “A woman is ...