Underline This Podcast

Have you heard the parable of the wise man who built his house upon rock? It goes something like this. Two men are choosing where to build their homes. One man (the fool) decides to build his home on sand while another man chooses rock. When storms and the floods came, the foolish man’s house was destroyed.

The core message and meaning of this metaphor is about foundations. This is a simple example, but the personal application comes down to the values we set for ourselves. Values are our defense, our foundation, and the guardrails for when we’re hit by the storms of adversity.

Recently I was reading John C. Maxwell’s book Relationships 101 and he brought up the importance of having clearly defined family values. Some of the values he shared inspired me in forming my own. For example, if he has a work opportunity to visit somewhere exotic and adventurous he brings his family so they can share that experience together. Maxwell and his wife credit their family’s success and healthy relationships by the values they established. When they come across new opportunities or scenarios they’re unified in their response. After reading this book I asked myself these questions.

1. What are my family values?

2. Are they the same as my wife’s?

3. What values would have the greatest impact on our relationship?

When I feel a call to action, I have a To Do List where I’ll put reminders of high priority tasks. That weekend I put a note in my list, “Review and create family values with wife.” To clarify, we discussed values before getting married. Even after 3 years of marriage it’s still good to revisit and clearly define these.

The same weekend I finished Maxwell’s book we had had our discussion. It was early Sunday evening and we were driving back from an evening at Sunny Isle’s beach and a stomach full of refreshing açaí. In this enlightened and happy state of mind I brought up what I had read. I asked my wife about creating and writing out OUR family values together. Lucky for us we were stuck in Miami traffic and my Mazda i3 provided the perfect setting for cultivating an intellectual and life transforming discussion. Here’s what we came up with:

1. Independent in All Things 🔨

2. Freedom – Financially and Flexibility 🧘‍♂️ 💴

3. Lifelong Learning 📚

4. Commitment: to family, marriage, values, betterment. 💍 💪

As you can see, we identified 4 (because it seemed like a good even number). We chose independence because we want to be thinkers, strategists, planners, and prepared for all scenarios. Recently we had narrowly escaped Hurricane Ian. Seeing how quickly life can change we became determined to be prepared and look for ways to prepare for all scenarios the future might bring.

Next was freedom, but we needed to define what that meant. We decided that being financially strong and smart is important. Flexibility was included because we have family spread all over the world. We live in Miami and everyone else is spread out in the US and South America. Working remote has been rewarding and we can enjoy the freedom to visit family as we please.

Lifelong learning is a core virtue that my wife and I share from our results after taking the Clifton Strengths Assessment. We want to be adaptive to change, finding ways to improve ourselves, and teach this value to our children. One of the reasons why I married my wife was seeing firsthand how she’s always looking to learn. Whether it’s improving her English, strengthening her resume, or pursuing higher education she’s looking for opportunities to level up. She inherited this trait from her Dad who’s a practicing cardiologist for over 20+ years. He attends conferences, reads books related to his field, and is committed to updating his knowledge.

The final virtue is commitment. I was inspired by the book “The Four Agreements.” Two of the Tolmec virtues is be impeccable with your word and do your best in all things. These principles resonated with us and we decided to outline examples of where we want to invest our commitment. We chose family, our marriage, values and bettering ourselves.

This was a powerful exercise. I invite everyone reading this to do the same. Whether you’re clarifying values for yourself, with your family, or an organization.

What are your core values? If you’d like to share them with me please reach out via one of my social media accounts. Enjoy! 🧠 💥

Want wisdom that sticks? Follow this blog and the Underline This Podcast on YouTube and social media for short, impactful articles and videos that get straight to the point. Plus, explore curated tools, books, and resources on the Recommendations page—everything that’s brought real value to me, shared so it can do the same for you.