This inspiring story about a father locking up his smartphone to spend time with his daughter will make you re-consider how you spend time with those you love.
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00:00 The greatest change in the world happens small, not big.
00:03 See, oftentimes we think big change has to start with these big mechanisms or big laws.
00:09 They don't.
00:11 What does it mean to be committed?
00:12 Let's say you're playing the game of poker
00:13 and you push all your chips in the middle of the table.
00:15 What does that signify?
00:17 Justin Tuck was in the back of the room and I remember he raised his hand.
00:19 He said, "Well, that means we're all in.
00:20 You're ready to win. You're done going halfway."
00:22 I said, "Okay.
00:24 What would happen if you push your chips in the middle of the table,
00:26 everyone shows their cards and then you pull just your chips back
00:28 and you tell everybody you were just kidding?"
00:31 I remember he smiled and he said,
00:32 "Well, if you're playing poker at my house,
00:33 there's a good chance you're going to get punched in the face."
00:36 I said, "Justin, you're right.
00:37 If you would never do it in a game of poker,
00:40 why do we do it with our lives?
00:42 Why do we say we're going to be committed
00:43 and when things get a little difficult,
00:44 we step away from the table and say, 'It's not for me.'"
00:48 So I gave him a chip that night.
00:50 I gave him a marker, like it wasn't anything special about the chip.
00:52 It wasn't magic. It wasn't blessed.
00:53 But I said, "You take that chip and you sign it.
00:56 Put it someplace you see it.
00:58 When you see it, not that it'll ever make you perfect,
00:59 but you simply ask yourself the question,
01:01 'Am I really giving my best?'"
01:03 Some guys took the chip and they said they put it in their locker
01:06 to see and touch before they played.
01:08 They said it helped them play better, I guess.
01:10 Other guys, though, they took the chip and they said,
01:12 "You know what? I'm all in for football.
01:15 But I haven't been the husband or father that my family needs for me to be.
01:19 I'm going to take this and put it in the middle of my kitchen table at home."
01:22 But when you're really committed,
01:25 it's about what you do when no one's watching
01:27 and it's not just about looking good.
01:29 Sometimes people ask me what my all-in is.
01:31 That's about the time I take off this ring.
01:35 See, I put two words on the inside of my wedding ring.
01:36 I made a promise that my one-year-old daughter,
01:39 she's going to know who I am because I'm not going anywhere.
01:42 Child psychology, they teach you that at 10 months old,
01:45 kids can discern what you value most
01:49 and they look to usurp it to make sure they can survive.
01:53 I purchased this thing. It's a small plastic box.
01:57 It has this little timer at the top and you set it
01:59 and there's no cancel switch.
02:01 So you set it for a certain amount of time
02:03 and whatever you put in the box, it locks until the time runs out.
02:06 I began to understand that I didn't want my daughter
02:10 to ever think this piece of electronics is greater than her.
02:15 I'm starting to put my phone in that box the first thing I do
02:19 to let her know that that's not more important than she is.
02:23 Now, like I said, it's made of plastic, so if I really wanted, I could break it.
02:27 (Laughter)
02:28 I don't know what your all-in is.
02:30 Only you do.
02:32 See, I don't know if your all-in starts
02:35 at nine o'clock in the morning at your desk.
02:38 Or maybe it's this week.
02:42 When you go to make that extra visit or extra call,
02:45 maybe you'll feel that chip in your pocket.
02:48 And even though it's raining and it's not the best conditions,
02:51 you stay five minutes later.
02:54 Or maybe your all-in honestly has nothing to do with any of that.
02:58 Maybe your all-in is as a father,
03:01 a mother,
03:03 a brother,
03:04 a sister,
03:06 a son or daughter,
03:07 or a parent.
03:09 I don't know what your all-in looks like, only you do.
03:12 Now, sometimes people say, "Oh, I'd love to be all-in,
03:16 I just don't have enough time."
03:18 I found it's not about making more time,
03:20 it's what we do with the time we have already.
03:24 But it's my hope
03:26 that starting on this first day,
03:28 you'll make it something that you live by as well.
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03:49 (gentle music)