Tips for becoming more reliable, more responsible?

1) If you say you’re going to to do something, do it. No excuses.

2) If something needs to be done, do it, preferably at that moment if possible.

3) Don’t lie.

4) Go to work everyday.

5) Do the best that you can do. Give it everything you have.

In my books, this is a great question and shows you are already building the traits of a responsible man worthy of becoming a husband and father.

Now, the first thing you have to start doing in your bachelor pad is to start putting the toilet seat and lid down after using it. ;-)

Seriously, take care of your personal space. That’s the advice I have. Keep it clean and tidy. Do the things around your living area that you would expect a cleaning person to do for you. Picking up and cleaning up after yourself is a good sign of someone who has good self worth.

I’m invisible.

Buying a calendar (yes, I use the paper kind – not a computer) and writing all of my appointments in it has really helped. I even put in reminders for when I should do my laundry!

You’re funny, that’s the most important trait of a good husband to me anyway.
Life without humor is tough for everyone. :)

SELF DISCIPLINE is the key to achieving goals.
BE REALISTIC in setting goals.

Practice putting other persons needs before your own. Not in everything but in things that really matter to others and you are generally indifferent too. When a person gets married you have to put aside selfish behavior. You don’t want to cater to others all the time because that will just make you feel worthless and you will end up resenting them but practice coming to compromises that will make everyone happy. At times it won’t be possible and that is when sacrifices has to be made.
For instance. Your wife has stayed home from work the last 3 times with a sick kid and now the kid has the flu. She ask that you sacrifice some of your sick days. You only have 5 left and she has 10. The kid will be sick for 5 work days. She however has some really important meetings all week and you won’t be missed from work. So what do you do?

1.Send the sick kid to daycare anyway and play stupid.
2. Let your wife risk her job. After all she is the mom and her day job isn’t as important as yours.
3. Lose all your sick days and care for your child.
4. Take the sick days and send the kid to daycare. Sick kids are a handy excuse to skip work. Oh, and don’t answer the phone when the sitter calls to complain.

Oh man, be that guy? I don’t think he exists. That said make sure first and foremost that you are happy doing so. That’s the secret to it. No person I know is completely selfless. Don’t give everything you have, give most of what you have and keep some personal things to yourself like a hobby or you’ll burn out, get depressed and generally fail. A MAN gets energized from providing love and security to the important people in his life. This must be reciprocated in the form of love/respect/appreciation for a man to be happy. If you can’t get that back from your significant other then find another or be miserable.

Tip One: If you are not seeking to be responsible for you first, it will never work for anyone else. You have to want to do it because you feel it is the right thing to do, be it mows the grass, fix the sink, or up the dry cleaning. To be more responsible as a father/husband, etc, you have to be willing to be the last. You place their need ahead of yours; you are on the road to being responsible. If you say you will do something, do it, unless you get t-boned by a truck and can’t. Don’t make promises you can keep or are not willing to honor. If you have a job to do, do it as if you were doing it for yourself, no slacking or just trying to be “good enough”. Start with that and check back in.