This past weekend, my family and I celebrated my father's 70th birthday. For those of you who don't know me well, my parents are included in my Pantheon of heroes right next to the person who invented Twizzlers. So I thought that I would share some of the wisdom and gifts of my family over the next couple of blogs starting with my dad.

My father is one of the most disciplined, brightest, and moral men I have ever known.yes""> At 5 foot 8 inches, he towers over most other alpha males in a society where men have become milk-toast, frappuccino-breathed, shells that make Tim Gunn look like Kimbo Slice.

While I tend to have a Concorde mouth and paper airplane brain, my dad is quick to listen and slow to speak. Speaking of speaking, I wanted to share a trial-sized sampling of the instructions he has tried to tell me regarding success in life and business.

1. “If you have to tell people you are, you aren’t”

We all tend to lead with our biography from time to time, but dad always subscribed to the belief that your actions and results spoke louder than what was written under your name on a business card.

2. “Great minds talk about ideas, small minds talk about people.”

Just look at the magazine end cap display in the grocery line and you will realize that billions are spent in the pursuit of celebrity gossip. While social media has made digital Peeping Toms out of us, dad always believed that great ideas won the day and great gossip ends up more of a bad karma boomerang than Frisbee in the end.

3. “Make your boss look good.”

My dad was never ever one to suck up or hold back his opinion. That being said, he did understand that Newton may have come up with the idea of gravity by a falling apple, but the scientific proof came from the crap that rolled downhill when his boss caught him staring at apples all day instead of working. There is nothing sell-out, dishonorable, or wimpy about having a clear appreciation as to signs the paychecks and pink slips.

4. “Don’t write checks with your mouth that your butt can’t cash.”

Ok, I still work on this one, but stretched truth and sensational over-exaggerating can get you in big trouble. Your world will trust and take goodcare of you if you are a straight shooter and a person of your word.

5. "Not much good is going on after 10pm"

The invention of the DVR has made it easy for us to get to bed earlier. One of the
best gifts you can give your craft is being well rested and getting up early. Just ask any police officer and they will tell you that a majority of problems start after 10pm. My dad was early to bed and early to rise -first in the office. As the Navy S.E.A.L.s say, "it pays to be first."

Now that I am thinking about it, I wish I had been first in typing class so that I could share more of my father's wisdom, but my Jimmy Dean sausage fingers just can't seem to type fast enough to catalogueall of his proverbs. Plus, dad would want me to get back to work.

Happy birthday, dad! Try to enjoy this tribute in spite of my grammar.