In 2017, on May the 4th (Star Wars baby!) this little monkey was born.

Like all babies he is just absolutely wonderful and by far the greatest gift on planet earth.

Without knowing it, this 1ft little monkey has totally transformed the way I look at life (for the better!) and taught me a few things…

1) cherish every moment – 9 months ago Noah couldn’t do anything other than breathe and Poo! now he claps, rolls over, smiles and plays with toys for hours on end. It won’t be long before he’s walking, going to school and then before you know it ….leaving for university. Noah has taught me to enjoy each stage of life (not only his life but mine also).

2) life is about love – it’s one thing financing a baby, it’s not bloody cheap! But the most important thing is spending quality time with them, and showing them the love and attention they deserve. This not only applies to babies but to all people you come into contact with, treat all people with love and care because we all deserve it.

3) we were all once babies – whenever you come across a tramp on the street, or a drug addict, or some seriously negative, angry person who’s bitter at life….remember that they too were once innocent, little, vulnerable babies, but somewhere along the line they didn’t get the love and care they deserved. When you realise this any ill feelings or negative reactions towards them disperse and a deep sense of compassion arises.

4) Personal Development – I have plenty of flaws and having Noah has highlighted these, making me look deep within and inspiring me to embark on my own personal development journey – so I can iron out the creases and be a good role to my son.

If you want your kids to be happy, you’ve got to be happy, if you want your kids to be fit and healthy, you’ve got to be fit and healthy. As a parent you’ve got to lead by example and working on YOU is just as important.

5) it’s the small things that count – forget the fancy holidays, designer kids clothes and £300 squid (cough cough rip off!) children’s toys.

It’s all about the small things….

rolling about on the floor with them, pulling silly faces, playing peek-a-boo, watching cheesy kids programmes, playing on the swings in the park and eating ice cream on the beach.

It’s not about MONEY it’s about TIME, children want your TIME and LOVE, give them it and they will flourish.

6) All mums deserve a bloody medal – apart from popping the equivalent of a American football out at birth all mums deserve a huge amount of credit for what they have to go through during and after pregnancy. I don’t know what I would do without Sally, she is an amazing mum and beautiful lady (inside and out). It’s one of our duties as blokes to treat women well because they deserve it and if you misbehave you’ll get told off and maybe even slapped (trust me they hurt! lol!)

7) Go to work for your kids – everyday before I do my PT sessions and earn money for my family I go through my daily ‘intentions’, I basically think about the reasons for why I am getting up and going to work…

I focus on earning a good living so I can support Noah and Sally. I also want to buy Noah his first house before he is 25 and this focus drives me beyond anything else.

Remember that you are going to work to provide for your kids, to put food on the table, a school uniform on their back, and to provide opportunities for them to grow.

As parents we must give ourselves a pat on the back and realise what a positive impact we are having on their lives.

8) Babies never give up – if you just sit and watch your kids play, you’ll notice that they are incredibly persistent, they just focus on what they want and don’t give up.

The other day I sat and watched Noah attempt to crawl for about 30 minutes. He would get up on his knees but then…BOOM hit his head on the floor he kept doing this over and over again, without giving up and with no lesser enthusiasm.

As adults we can learn a lot from a child’s determination. We need to keep going, focus on what we want and to not stop until we get there.

Nick 🙂