In this episode of Tactical Empire, Jeff Smith discusses the critical role of leadership in chaotic times, emphasizing the importance of personal responsibility, family dynamics, and emotional intelligence in parenting. He introduces the concept of the 4Fs (fitness, family, finances, freedom) as a framework for self-audit and personal growth. The conversation highlights the balance between presence and production, urging fathers to prioritize their relationships with their children while also managing their responsibilities. Ultimately, Jeff calls on fathers to recognize their legacy and the impact of their actions on the next generation.
In this episode of Tactical Empire, Jeff Smith discusses the critical role of leadership in chaotic times, emphasizing the importance of personal responsibility, family dynamics, and emotional intelligence in parenting. He introduces the concept of the 4Fs (fitness, family, finances, freedom) as a framework for self-audit and personal growth. The conversation highlights the balance between presence and production, urging fathers to prioritize their relationships with their children while also managing their responsibilities. Ultimately, Jeff calls on fathers to recognize their legacy and the impact of their actions on the next generation.
Chapters
00:00 The Importance of Leadership in Chaos
02:54 Personal Responsibility and the 4Fs
05:48 Presence vs. Production: Balancing Family and Work
09:05 Legacy and the Role of Fathers
12:10 Emotional Intelligence in Parenting
@realjeffsmith (00:01)
Welcome to another episode of the Tactical Empire. Today it is just me, folks, and we are coming off Father's Day weekend and I thought it would be timely to talk to others directly because that's who we generally work with in the Tactical Empire. Min, I want to speak to you about your responsibility. I hope you had a great weekend and I hope your family looked up to you and honored you and you spent the time however you wanted to.
Ultimately, the world is chaotic and as men, more than ever, we have a responsibility to lead and lead our families well. Ultimately, the ethos behind the tactical empire is it really truly is about leadership and freedom. And ultimately, it's leading yourself well through standards, standards you set for yourself, standards you hold yourself to.
And ⁓ then it is ⁓ taking control of your life so you can lead well in your family, lead well in your community, and as far out as you want those ripple effects to go. That is totally up to you, obviously. We all have different journeys that we want to go on, but ⁓ leading well in your house is the most important thing we can do.
Ultimately, it is my belief that that that is the root of all the chaos we're experiencing in the world and our country and everything else. I think if we had more fathers that took the responsibility ⁓ to lead in their household. Well, ⁓ I think I think we wouldn't have a lot of these problems, but ultimately it's it's the world that we live in currently. Right.
And there's a lot to that, though, correct? mean, it's that we have a general weight of the world on our shoulders, if you will. And this isn't to be a sympathetic episode. But I think innately, we're providers at the root of our beings. And that. Consequently, it's gotten more and more difficult over time, correct? Like over the last 50 years, you see the price of things.
going up and ⁓ it's not in line with wages and things like that. increasingly men are feeling more more helpless as far as like trying to stay ahead of that curve, if you will. And ultimately that's why we support men in the way that we do, lead and teach the way that we do. personal responsibility is the ultimate thing you should be seeking.
for yourself, right? mean, ultimately it starts and ends with you. And we do teach that as well. That's where the 4Fs come from. That's where we do 4Fs audits. We are on the back of doing a 4F audit as a group, closing out Q2. ⁓ So the 4Fs for those of you that are new are fitness, family, freedom, fitness, family, finances, and freedom. And you audit those based on how you're doing it in a given time, one to 10.
Right? So fitness means you are the asset and that includes your nutrition and how you're feeding your body, fueling your body and are you taking care of yourself? ⁓ And then your family is your relationships. And that was what was celebrated over this weekend. Right. Probably. And so it's, the relationships around you. how you're leading the people around you. And it doesn't have to be a big boisterous ⁓ leadership showing.
You don't have to be mouthy about it. It's more as caught than taught. What's more important to me than anything else is the next generation, what they're picking up, the skills that they're picking up, and are they prepared for the changes that are going on constantly? The world's moving at an incredible pace right now ⁓ with all the technological advances we have coming and everything else like that. ⁓ I think there's a lot of fear out there.
around those things and what life looks like for our kids. And ultimately at the end of the day, it's about the legacy that you're passing on to them. you expressing your values to your kids? Are you showing them through example of how to persevere? Are you showing them how to be curious about what's coming? Or are you hiding in a hole, worried about the next thing on the news?
And ultimately for us, it's important to be aware of that type of thing, right? Cause I mean, think capabilities are important. Being able to defend your family is very important and understanding that is important. ⁓ I think there's a level of necessity out of awareness for that. And it's something we talk about frequently, but it can't be something that consumes you just like anything else. Right? I mean, your vices and things like that. are, we are inundated with
⁓ the woe is me and also the like negative news on a regular basis. And you have to understand how to manage that mentally. ⁓ and how to process that and keep it in its rightful place, which is on the shelf, right? We have things to do. We're here a short time. I talk all the time about our kids and, ⁓ they're
lifespan with regards to being in our household, right? Like your kid is only going to be 12 today. They're only going to be this age today. And so if you miss it because you're consumed with these other things, these ancillary things, your business, trying to produce more money, trying to be stressed out about the next tax bill or whatever it is, ⁓ you have a possibility of missing that opportunity to be with them in their space.
Five years old, eight years old, 10 years old, 12 years old, those are the ages of my kids. And so I am extremely focused on making sure that we're experiencing those things now with them. Because I understand at the detriment of trying to grow what I want and provide the way I want to provide, I can't get consumed by that either. ⁓ There's an endless number of tasks.
right? Your to do list is never going to end. If you're a business owner, you understand this. Well, you should understand this or you need to reconcile this is that ⁓ this is a never ending game, an infinite game. As Simon Sinek says, right? ⁓ We are not going to reach the finish line. We are never going to get that ever moving goalpost of our goals and things like that. ⁓ So I want you to understand
that presence versus production is a constant struggle for all men. Like, I should be working in this situation instead of paying attention to my little league game, whatever it is. Just be aware of that and give yourself some grace, but also focus on what's important to you. Your kids are with you a short time. You can produce for decades.
You and your wife will be empty nesters before you know it and you'll have the ability if you've taken care of the first F in your fitness and managing your body in a healthy manner, you'll be able to have decades of production ahead of you. And then you'll have sacrificed that time when they're in the house. So don't make that mistake. Right. I have been guilty of making that mistake in the past and that is kind of.
One of the hallmarks of the creation of the tactical empire, ultimately, is ⁓ I was so focused on production because that's how I thought I was going to solve my perceived problems, if you will. ⁓ But ultimately, was a lot of ⁓ reconciliation of mental work and things like that, ⁓ understanding that you could slow down. I'm throttled pretty high. I want things right now, all the time. ⁓
So understand that because you every day are building a legacy within your household. ⁓ If you were gone tomorrow, what stories would they tell about you? ⁓ What values would you have instilled on them? Think about things like that and understand that what's important is today and make sure that having 10-year visions and targets and things like that that are massive is super important. I mean, we're high achievers.
and we understand the value of pursuit, but also there's a balance to be struck there with regards to ⁓ presence in today and enjoying today, being happy with today. Somebody dropped a comment in one of our groups the other day about their focus regarding family was spending more time being fun dad. And so ⁓ that really resonated.
with a lot of guys. And so I'm sure it does with a lot of people too. We're highly focused, highly driven individuals. And so it is hard to.
Take that step back to be fun, Dad. It's hard to be, let go of that armor and kind of relax. And so ⁓ as you head into the next year ⁓ and Q3, things like that, set your goals for your family. Like what do you wanna be? What's your theme? How are you gonna show up in your household? And ⁓ how do you wanna represent yourself with regards to your legacy?
Right? So our kids need us more than ever. They need strong presences. They need someone to talk to them about all the things going on. They need to understand how to operate in this world. And that's our responsibility. It's no one else's responsibility. You don't want them picking that up from TikTok or some other ⁓ technology. Right? So as you go out there this week, congratulations.
It's never too late to redeem yourself if you feel like you're failing. mean, most of us feel like we're failing most of the time, but ultimately ⁓ we can always do better. And it's one day at a time. It's a representation of how we carry ourselves on a regular basis. You don't want to show your kids, like I don't want to show my son how to be a tightly wound, highly driven individual that does not have relationships with his kids, right?
So ultimately to me, I have to recognize that he's going to pattern himself after anything that I'm doing. So any chinks in my arm or any flaws that I have or that I am expressing on a regular basis, I need to be careful about that. He's going to treat women exactly how I treat his mom. The same could be said for my daughters.
they're gonna look for someone. What they're normalizing is how I treat my wife in our relationship. How I speak to her on a regular basis, how I show up on a regular basis. All these things need to be considered and processed by you. so dads, go out there and kick ass. ⁓ We need you more than ever. Be strong, be fit, be capable. ⁓ But understand the weight you carry in your words more than anything. Language is super important, tone is important.
Understand all that and it's a huge responsibility, but you're you're built for it and The production part is easy I tell that to everyone I talk to the production part the money part the success part. It's easy You can do that That's just a map to follow the hard part is how you lead at home Because that's your emotional IQ. That's your EQ and now how you
how you handle tough situations, how you handle the Richter scale of emotions with kids and things like that. it's, I say, more important than your production, but ⁓ you're capable of doing it. So happy Father's Day to all of you. As a elated Father's Day, you're incredibly important. If you guys want to talk more about this, reach out to us. You can reach me on Instagram anytime. I'm happy to speak about it.
that I'm passionate about. ⁓ Join us on the Facebook community, The Tactical Empire. ⁓ Follow us on any platforms. ⁓ Like and subscribe to our Facebook channel. We put a lot of work into this, ⁓ But as I said, men, this episode's for you. Happy Father's Day. And go out there and be the best dad you can possibly be. It's most impactful thing you can do on this planet, I would guess. So see ya. Have a great week. Kick ass.