Luke Jensen was driving with his son early one weekend morning, a bit hungover. Making casual conversation, he asked his son what he wanted to be when he got older.
“I just want to be like you, Dad,” his son Carter said.
“That really struck me,” Jensen said. “Our kids are always watching us. I thought, ‘It’s time to level up and be the father, the husband, the leader you said you want to be.’”
Jensen stopped drinking, got into training and focused on his health and self-improvement. That ultimately led to his business, The Heroic Father, a Coronado-based coaching and training program focused on self-optimization. He offers one-on-one coaching for parents, a mastermind for the company-coined fatherpreneurs – business owners or those in mission-driven careers – and weekend seminars for heroic parenting.
The idea, Jensen says, is to take a victory mindset to all aspects of life, creating one that is challenging and invigorating in the day to day.
“That’s where the beauty of life is,” Jensen said. “Come the end of your life, what do you want to say about it? That you had a few good memories or vacations? Or that you left a path for your kids, a blueprint for how to live a meaningful life?”
Jensen pushes parents to step into their natural roles as leaders rather than simply going through the daily trudge. That means taking ownership of the emotional impact their moods have on their families, the legacy they’re leaving for their children, and the way they care for their bodies and minds. The holistic approach leads to a meaningful life, Jensen says.
The crux of the coaching lies in the theory that people live their lives in three zones: the familiar, training, or hero. The goal for Jensen and his clients is to attain and maintain the hero zone.
In the familiar zone, Jensen said, people get stuck in the monotony: go to work, make dinner, clean the house, repeat the next day, and then the next. Daily life is not extraordinary. In the training zone, however, Jensen said a person gets a glimpse of what’s possible.
“It’s usually something negative we run from that disrupts the familiar and we begin trying to be the best version of ourselves,” Jensen said. “A lot of the time when we’re on this path, things get frustrating and uncomfortable. It’s part of the training, and part of building muscle. We have to go through a period of pain, uncertainty, and discipline to get to the other side – to what I call the hero zone.”
Once there, those in the hero zone feel daily moments of accomplishment and victory. That’s not to say every day yields a magnificent feat or experience, but instead, that people have learned to relish and truly experience their own lives.
“There’s a gift in our daily experience,” Jensen said. “We don’t have to climb Mt. Everest to feel accomplished. We can be in our hero zone just by sitting down and watching a movie with our family.”
Jensen’s greatest testament to his method, perhaps, is the own zeal with which he speaks of his methods and how they’ve impacted his life and family. But he’s seen transformations unfold in his clients as well.
“It always starts with self image,” Jensen said. “People start to look at their life as an example. There’s a detailed plan they’re setting up for their future.”
Next comes the physical change. Living heroically, Jensen said, is a sport, and as such, requires training. Finally, clients’ engagement with their own lives soars, and intentionality follows. Jensen directs people in this zone to consider what knowledge they want to impart with their children.
For Jensen, that knowledge is quick on his tongue: “Have a mission in life,” he said immediately when asked. “If you have a mission, you have purpose. Have fun, be playful, and have a sense of humor. And be dangerous and seek out your growth constantly.”
More information on Jensen’s coaching, including his upcoming Hero Summit for Heroic Parenting on May 6 is on The Heroic Father’s website.
