Episode #126 Rob Kenney on learning Dad-skills and being the internet’s father-figure

December 24, 2021 Ian Dawson Mackay ALL PODCAST EPISODES, LEVEL UP YOUR SKILLS, MINDSET & MENTAL STRENGTH 01:07:17 7 Comments

TODAY's GUEST IS Rob Kenney

Today’s guest is Rob Kenney!

Rob Kenney’s father left him and his seven siblings when he was fourteen years old, and the youngest had to fend for themselves. He wished that he had someone who could teach him the basics—how to tie a tie, jump-start a car, unclog a drain, use tools properly—as well as succeed in life. But he and his siblings had to figure these things out on their own.

Now a father himself, Rob decided that he would help people out by providing how-to tips as well as advice—and even throw in some bad dad jokes. He started a YouTube channel for anyone looking for fatherly advice, and in the course of three months, gained a following of nearly 2.5 million subscribers, with millions of views for his how-to and inspirational videos.  He covers a wide range of topics and shows you how to do a wide range of life skills that you might not know how to do, in a supportive, caring, and loving environment where he aims to help others better their lives.

He has now released an awesome new book. In this book, Rob shares his story of overcoming a difficult childhood with the strength of faith and family and offers inspiration and hope. In addition, he provides 50 practical DYI instructions (30 of which will be unique to the book), illustrated with helpful line drawings.

In this interview, we discuss:  

  • How the lack of a male role model can affect you,
  • How to learn the key hard and soft skills that come up
  • How to find a role model in your life
  • How to view life as an adventure rather than as a victim
  • And so much more! 

GUEST SOCIAL LINKS

OTHER RELEVANT LINKS

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KEY POINTS & LINKS

Here are some key points that I would advise you to concentrate on
  •  There are a lot of key skills that we need to learn as we grow that come up in everyday life, but not everyone has a father figure in their life that can show them how to change a tire, do up a tie etc. Rob saw a need to learn these skills and decided to fill the void for a lot of people who don’t get taught these things.
  • School is fantastic, but they do not teach the skills that help people take on life. YouTube and Google are brilliant helps to discover videos and blog posts outlining how to do so much – the internet is a goldmine of fixes, explanations and life hacks.
  • You may not have a father figure in your life, but you can find other male role models in your life. Friends, siblings, sports coaches etc can be male role models that you speak to and ask for help, support and advice.
  • It is not a weakness to ask for help, to ask for advice. It is a sign of strength to admit you have a problem and need assistance. Rob’s channel is a great support mechanism for you to tap into.
  • Rob forgave his father for leaving when he was younger. He sees it as a weight off his life when he did, and forgave him. It set him free. Don’t regret who isn’t there in your life and appreciate who is, and be grateful to them.
  • Rob’s faith is a big thing to him, and the Christian push to help others who need help. Find a mission for your life, a mission to help others and support those who need it. Be excited to get out of bed and help make the world a better place that it is right now.
  • Fear will always be there when you are trying to come out of your comfort zone. Fear will never fully disappear so learn to use it as an ignition point, feel it, accept it, name it, tell the fear you are in control and go for what you want an leave that legacy that you want to leave.
  • Rob likes to look back at who he is, and remind himself of who is and where he came from. He never lets his success get to his head. Be proud of what you do and achieve but never lose focus of who you are. Life is short, look to fulfill your life mission rather than rest on your laurels.
  • Rob saw the need for his own channel when he realized there are a lot of things that people didn’t know how to do, that he wanted to show others. What do you know know, that you take for granted, and could teach others on how to do it and make your own channel from it?
  • You can’t just go and do everything straight away. Be excited to learn. Take baby steps, be prepared to make mistakes, and learn as you go. Act like you are a baby who is learning to walk, treat the skill as something you are going to get but it may take some time and you are learning your way and will get there.
  • Don’t look at skills or tasks as a male or female role. Do not limit yourself and avoid tasks as its seen as a ‘male’ or ‘mum’ job.
  • Take learning slowly, go slowly, have a look around. Record what you are doing so you can see how things go together, use YouTube videos beside you as you work on something and check how to do it. Adventure like this is the spice of life, when you leave the comfort zone!
  • With issues like COVID and restrictions, we may not always have a chance to have a handyman come in and do it – it is becoming more and more important to learn these skills and be open, and excited to learn about life and how to do things.
  • A little bit of planning comes a bit way to your overall success! But make sure you don’t get paralysis by analysis. Plan and check things as you go, but don’t over think everything and stop yourself from ever getting started.
  • Rob suggests taking time on your own to have a look at things, learn, test, and go at your own pace. Be keen to learn about how things to work in all areas of your life. Start basic, and go from there.
  • There is always an opportunity to improve your hard and soft skills, from fixing a garden fence, to being a better and more social person and everything in-between.
  • You can learn something from everyone that you meet in your life. Look at every interaction as a chance to improve yourself, the other person and the world in some way.
  • Look at local clubs, support or sport clubs, religious places, therapy centres etc, for places to meet people that share similar interests that you can build a community with. Meetup.com is another great place to meet people who are into the same interests, sports, and passions as yourself.
  • Rob’s older brother refused to let his brother ‘be a victim’ and made him try to do things, and learn his way to achieve things rather than not do things. You may be starting from a rough place, but you can decided to change your own life and look to find people to help you. It can be a difficult road, but a very worthwhile journey to go on.
  • Encourage others in your life to learn life skills, like car repair, tying a tie, sewing etc. Encourage your kids, nephews etc, that it is fun to learn and a great way to share time together and something that they will always remember.
  • When you have your own kids, don’t try and give them all the things you didn’t have as a kid. TEACH them the things you wish you had known when you were younger. Things get broken etc, however teachings last a lifetime!
  • Rob suggests writing a mission statement on how you will be as a father and use it as a guide to check, to return to and use a path going forward on how you will guide and parent your children.
  • You can change your journey right now and be different to how your own parents and life has been. You can decide that things will be different and you will be the change in the world that you want to see.
  • Never be afraid to be emotional or to say you love others, and share how they make you feel. Be supportive of others and honest with others. Some people never hear it, never hear support or love, and it can change their life.
  • You don’t need to buy a load of expensive things to start, but by watching Rob’s ‘Tool Tuesdays’ for some of the basics you should buy and how to get started with them.

SUGGESTED ACTIONS AFTER LISTENING

  • Look at who is in your life right now. You may not have a father figure right now, but who can you work with, ask for advice, go to for support. You can normally find people like that, or sports clubs, men’s clubs etc are on the rise, so Google for local clubs that may be available.
  • Purchase some of the tools that Rob suggests in his ‘Tool Tuesday’ videos.
  • Use Rob’s book as a go-to-guide for how to do things. Read it when you have some free time, and use it as a start to investigate things and trial and test things, learn how they work together etc. Start small and grow.
  • Encourage others to learn life skills by buying them a copy of Rob’s book.
  • Remember, just because you know how to do something, doesn’t mean that others will know how to do it. Why not share your knowledge, skills, and methods to help others better their lives!
  • Purchase a copy of Rob’s book using the link below:

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LEARN KEY DAD SKILLS FROM ROB!

Rob Kenney’s father left him and his seven siblings when he was fourteen years old, and the youngest had to fend for themselves. He wished that he had someone who could teach him the basics—how to tie a tie, jump-start a car, unclog a drain, use tools properly—as well as succeed in life. But he and his siblings had to figure these things out on their own.

Now a father himself, Rob decided that he would help people out by providing how-to tips as well as advice—and even throw in some bad dad jokes. He started a YouTube channel for anyone looking for fatherly advice, and in the course of three months, gained a following of nearly 2.5 million subscribers, with millions of views for his how-to and inspirational videos.

In this book, Rob shares his story of overcoming a difficult childhood with the strength of faith and family, and offers inspiration and hope. In addition, he provides 50 practical DYI instructions (30 of which will be unique to the book), illustrated with helpful line drawings.

TREAT YOURSELF!

Life has been rough recently, so why not treat yourself and others with some amazing treats! 

They are 

‘Universal Yums is a subscription box company that sends a box of snacks and candies from a different country every month. We directly source unique, delicious snacks from the featured country of the month and provide a comprehensive, interactive guidebook inside every box. Our boxes are a popular activity for families, groups of friends, or co-workers to enjoy trying together’

LEARN AS YOU WALK!

Audible is a monthly subscription that lets you purchase audio-books on all the topics you can think of, and learn as you walk the dogs, work out etc. They have books on all things, from experts around the world and on all areas of life. It has changed my life, and will do the same to yours! 

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About the Author
I’m a podcaster who interviews great examples of people to discuss and highlight the methods, hacks, tips and procedures you can use in your own life to help you develop and better your life. I would definitely not consider myself an expert, so to improve, I ask them and action it in my own life! My personal journey has been marked by awkwardness and awesomeness, OCD and ‘OMG’. I have suffered with depression, shyness, unhappiness and lack of focus and motivation so I know what’s it like to feel lost and hopeless. Back then, I wished I had a podcast to listen to and find actual fixes and concrete action steps and not just unobtainable suggestions and promotion of their products but couldn’t find it … so I made my own!

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