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- 🧠The purpose of fatherhood
🧠The purpose of fatherhood
two* things from my world..
Kieran Lenahan
March 22, 2026
Hey all,
Two things from my world this time..
1. On Fatherhood: Fatherhood is a massive topic and I’m starting to organize, process and document everything I’m learning. Transparently, this will be as much for me as it is for you 🙂
Starting today and in future newsletters, I’ll attempt to share my (most current) thinking and learnings about fatherhood from various angles.
Today, I’ll start with one question under which all other questions fall:
What is the purpose of fatherhood?
I suspect most people never ask this question.
I certainly didn’t until 3 years ago when I met two of my mentors.
If you sit with the question for 60 seconds, I wonder what your answer would be.
Here’s my answer (stolen from my mentors):
The purpose of fatherhood is to lead a multigenerational family team on a mission.
Let’s break that down:
Lead: Every family is going somewhere, whether intentionally or by drift. Leadership is the difference between the two.
Multigenerational: Family is inherently multigenerational. Today in America, we’re more disconnected from other generations than ever. Most people don’t know the names of their great grandparents, let alone any part of their story. This has led me to a few reframes I’ll unpack in future newsletters:
Part of my job as a father is to think in decades and generations, not just days, weeks, months and years.
We’re not “raising kids,” we’re raising future parents.
Life is not about Kieran’s career, Kieran’s aspirations or Kieran’s desires. It’s about how God is inviting the Lenahan’s to participate in what He is doing in the world.
Family Team: Family is not simply a collection of random individuals. It’s a unit. Families share DNA and a name. But they’re made up of a unique combination of unique people. And therefore, every family is distinct from every other family that has ever existed, which means they have a unique mission.
On a mission: Teams exist for a reason. They work together towards a common goal, leveraging their unique combination of skills and abilities.
Biblically speaking, this definition is rooted in Genesis 1:28 which I’ll unpack in the future.
It’s worth saying…none of this is from the perspective of “a guy who has it all figured out” — I’m still wrestling with what this all means for us as a family.
But over the past 3 years, we’ve consistently made progress I’m proud of (e.g., things like family values and Teaching Kids The Family Values).
Much more to come on fatherhood.
2. 10x. I’m a few chapters into the book 10x is Easier Than 2x. I’m taking my time reading it and trying to force myself to wrestle with how to implement it.
Core premise of the book: Achieving 10x results in business is actually easier than trying to achieve 2x growth.
To grow 2x, you do more of the same, just better and harder.
To grow 10x, the goal is so big that it eliminates options. Most of what would help you grow 2x would not actually work to get you to 10x. So it acts as a filter to find the things you should actually be doing.
I’ve been thinking about this in the context of Malachi Daily. When I set 2026 goals, guess what they were? Literally 2x what we did last year 🤦
It’s not that 2x is a bad goal for the short term. In fact, the book argues that thinking and pursuing 10x is the best and fastest way to reach 2x results.
Takeaway: If you’re building something, ask yourself: which 20% of what I'm doing has 10x potential, and what 2x stuff do I need to stop doing?
Speaking of building something…We’re launching a Scripture memorization mobile app called Within.
Want to be a beta tester? Click here to sign up. 🫡
Stay warm,
Kieran
P.S. This was from a month ago when we got another 20 inches of snow here in NJ…Judah wasn’t complaining!
P.P.S. Here are a few things I’m working on - let me know if I can help.