Today's interview is with William Worthington, a stepdad of three, father of two and professor at Baylor University, will discuss how attitude affects everything—from parenting to work to overcoming challenges. He’ll talk about making the adjustment to becoming a stepdad, building a blended family and how he and his wife model positive values while teaching and training their children. Finally, William will share how his attitude and mindset helped him to overcome the hurdles in his life, including a cancer diagnosis. POINT #1: Don’t Just Say It—Live It William and his wife, Sarah, believe that their relationship is the greatest gift they can give their children. By doing things like investing in “date night,” they model positive relationship behaviors for their kids. William built a relationship with his stepkids by telling them and showing them how much he cared for their mother. When the kids saw him treating their mom with dignity and respect—and noticed the change in their mom’s countenance— William said that he believes it spoke to them. William said that he and his wife were both married before, so they are spending time teaching their kids how to “get marriage right the first time” by modeling what a relationship should look like. Even though William admits that he is not perfect, he and his wife are working on showing their kids how to handle and resolve conflict within a relationship. When he makes mistakes, he admits them and uses them as a teaching tool. POINT #2: Parent stepchildren and biological children equally William said that he doesn’t divide how he parents his children based on whether they are “step” kids or “birth” kids. He said he has never hesitated to issue appropriate correction when it was needed. William said he wrapped his stepkids into his world by treating him like they were his own. Being on the same page and teaming up with his wife helps him to parent his stepkids and birth kids equally. POINT #3: Try Not to Take It Personally Although his stepkids occasionally say things like, “You’re not my dad,” William tries not to take it personally because he knows his kids are just trying to “find a lever to pull to get what they want.” Because he has made a huge investment in building and stabilizing his family, William sometimes can take it personally when his kids do something wrong. He tries to remember that his kids are still a work in progress and that their mistakes don’t define them. POINT #4: Life Requires Adjustments • When he married his wife, William went from being a single guy to a husband and father of three. • To help ease the transition and help his family adjust, William cut back on his work hours. He began also put travel and consulting to the wayside. • When William was diagnosed with cancer he had two objectives: (1) beat the cancer and (2) provide for his family. To accomplish these goals, he adjusted his life by putting unnecessary tasks and hobbies on the back burner and tailoring his work schedule to accommodate his treatments. • Now that William is nearing the end of his cancer treatments, his strength is returning. He can now be at work more often and plans to start pursuing his hobbies again. • William said that his biggest battle “happened between his eardrums,” so he worked to get in the right mindset and have the right attitude throughout his cancer treatment. “I didn’t divide how I parented based on whether the child was a ‘birth’ child or a ‘step’ child.” Getting to Know Each Other When William married his wife, Sarah, he joked that he went from being a single guy to a father of three—all in one day. However, by the time the couple got married, William had already built a relationship with the kids. William said that when the kids saw him treating their mother with care, dignity and respect and noticed how happy their mother was, it spoke to them. He said it was almost like the kids could sense...
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