This past week was Father's Day, and I would be remiss to not write something about the man who has such a powerful impact on my life. My father works harder than most people I know; if he isn't managing some new project at work, he's fixing something around the house. My father is full of sayings that he tends to pull out of a metaphorical bag of life lessons that he tried to pass on to my brothers and I. I thought I would compile a list of my favorites and share them with you. I know that some, if not most, have been said before, but that doesn't detract from their meaning. Here is a list of twenty of my favorite sayings from Dan Himmelman. Perhaps these might inspire you as well.

1. Honor your opponent.

Well this sounds like some Japanese/karate/ninja stuff right here. But, as he tells us, you should always be thinking of the other person. Don't intentionally tear someone down just to build yourself up. Always be mindful of who you are opposing

2. You never get a second chance to make a first impression.

Classic saying. I always think of this saying right before I walk into an interview or a job fair. Do I look presentable? Am I the type of person that I would want to hire? Is my handshake moist? You know, those kinds of questions.

3. I carry the weight of the world on my shoulders. Maybe one day, you will too. Keep working out.

And for my family, my father does carry the weight of our world on his shoulders. Not to discredit any of the work my mom does, but he was the one who made sure everything was running in the house. He always puts us first, and he expects us to take on that role one day as well.

4. You're a legend in your own mind, but nobody else's.

My father always tries to keep our egos in check. Not in a "you shouldn't have dreams" sense, but moreover he believes in grounding our expectations to match what would most likely happen realistically. It's helped me to set realistic expectations throughout my life.

5. Never look at things from one perspective. Just tilting your head can make you see things a whole new way.

This is true in a literal and a figurative sense. Just looking at things differently can make you think about things in a whole new way. Looking at something from someone else's perspective is equally as important.

6. If you look hard enough, you'll find whatever you're looking for, even if it's not there.

I never understood this one until I was in my last few years of high school, and then I realized it applied to my entire life. Whenever we have trouble finding something, whether a physical object or love, we'll search hard enough to find it and eventually settle on something, even if it isn't what we originally wanted. Never settle

7. Always strive to be first. There's no Super Bowl ring for second place.

This kind of ties into the previous thought with regards to settling. Always try to be the best at something. My dad would see us be a master of one trade rather than a jack-of-all-trades

8. Never take on too many responsibilities. You'll never accomplish anything.

I constantly need to remind myself of this one. I love the idea of getting involved and doing stuff, but I also care about doing things right. If you spread your time out too thin, nothing will get done. I've found this out the hard way numerous times

9. Those who can, do. Those who can't, teach.

This is my dad's little dig at those who preach rather than do. Not so much an attack on teachers (my mom homeschooled my brothers and I through eighth grade), but on those people who tell others how to do things rather than do it themselves.

10. I hate how things are so warm and fuzzy these days. Things are too warm and fuzzy.

My dad didn't care much for feelings while we were growing up, still today even. Don't get me wrong, my dad has emotions and shared them often, but he hates how the world is overly protective of everyone. He'd rather see me cry when I was younger than me receiving a participation trophy.

11. If you're never told that it's wrong, you'll never do it right.

And boy does he like to tell us when we did something wrong. Countless times I was pulled back out of the house to finish weeding a garden or to mow a spot on the lawn that I missed. But he was right. Do it right the first time, and you won't have to come back to it a second time.

12. Just because it's common does not necessarily mean it's normal.

This was probably one of his favorite quotes. Whenever my brothers and I would try to do something to fit in with the crowd on the basis that "everyone else was doing it," he liked to pull this saying out to remind us that just because people and culture may start to accept something as common does not mean that it's a normal thing to do.

13. I don't reward mediocrity. That's not the American way.

This goes back to earlier when I said that my father liked to pull us back outside and make us finish what we had started. If we did a half-assed job, there was no dessert for us after dinner, and he made us know why.

14. Poor planning on your part does not make an emergency on mine.

My dad likes to bring this one up every time we come up to him with an emergency. Whether we forgot to do something or bring something, he was always there to remind us whose fault it was. Then he would proceed to help us figure out how to solve our problem.

15. Look at the world, and then find what you can do to make it better.

My dad firmly believes in making the world a better place. He goes out of his way to help people, is constantly volunteering, and always puts others before himself. I try to model myself after him in this way more than anything.

16. Simple pleasures are for simple minds.

This quote can explain why I watched a lot more of HGTV, Food Network, and the news growing up rather than Spongebob or those other Nickelodeon or Cartoon Network shows.

17. The only thing missing from common sense anymore is "common."

And I 100 percent agree with him on this one. My father never misses an opportunity to point out when someone acts ignorant and turn it into a teachable moment. If I can say that my father taught me anything, it was how to use common sense in daily life. I can only hope that I teach my kids common sense one day the way he has taught me.

18. A disagreement is only a difference of opinions.

Why wouldn't it be? Facts are unchangeable, opinions are only interpretations of those facts. Getting someone to see anything beyond their own interpretation of some fact is one of the hardest things to do, but my father was able to get me to see the truth of his side. Most of the time.

19. Want to know why ditch-diggers dig ditches? Because they're good at it. Want to know why CEO's do what they do? Because they're good at it.

This is probably my favorite quote by my father. It speaks volumes to me about only doing what you're good at, and appreciating what others are capable of doing. It also means that I should always look to reach my full potential, "because I'm good at it

20. Put that in your pipe and smoke it.

No explanation. Just mull over all these thoughts from my father. I hope they might inspire you as they have inspired me.