My wife and I have always tried to explain to the girls — even when I had to go off on nine-month cruises in the Mediterranean or in the Pacific — why I was doing it, and what it was all about, that I felt that I could contribute to the military.

I needed to physically be totally alone and be in a different place to get going.

I do take a break, but I’ve also got – right now, I’m writing another book, another memoir [a follow-up to his bestselling book Not My Father’s Son: A Memoir], so even though I’m on a break technically, I’ve got that. I’ve got a production company so things are always rolling. I’m always spinning a lot of plates.

Either you’re listening out for the kids or you’re writing. So I wrote when the kids went to bed. I wrote between nine and midnight those years. And my husband would listen out if the little guy was sick or something. It worked out.

You'll spend your whole life creating: websites, companies, even logos that millions of people love, but none of those compare to how proud of you are of your most important creation: your family.

She'll show you what it means to be truly courageous and selfless. And you'll spend the rest of your life working to make her sacrifices worth it.

Because there, between those syrupy bites of waffles, you're gonna realize that you're meant to be an entrepreneur, not a lawyer.

Purge toxic relationships and spend time with the people who inspire you to be better.

deli counter attendant (I was terrible at this and hated smelling like cold cuts after work, despite how much my dog liked it), FedEx warehouse grunt (great exercise, though not very mentally stimulating), and parking booth attendant (get paid to read books? Yes, please! Until the robots replace humans, that is).

Growing up, I had the words “lives remaining: 0” written on the wall of my room. If life were a video game, that’s how it’d indicate this is the only chance left.