BY KADIE TAYLOR
THE OBSERVER
AUBURN — “There’s nothing like time with dad,” Mark Fuller shares advice on fatherhood and priorities in his book “Dad on the Clock: Becoming an intentional father, leading with purpose, presence & faith.”
“I raised my boys, they’re 26 and 23, and I believe that you’re on a clock as a dad, and you have to take advantage of that time because it goes by quickly,” he said. “I think the research shows that by about age 12 or 13, you give a kid a phone, they start to become teenagers, they get their own friends and all of a sudden, dad doesn’t have as much influence anymore. Then you give a set of keys, and then they really pull away. So I think in time is short, and it was just on my heart after I raised my boys to put something out there for dads so maybe they wouldn’t make the mistakes of missing time and make sure they know how valuable that time is.”
Fuller said he was inspired to write the book after watching a video of a father encouraging his son to reel in a fish on a bent rod and the bond and trust that grows through that experience.
“I said, ‘You know, there’s nothing like a father and a son and a bent over fishing rod,’” he said. “And my buddy laughed and said, ‘That should be a book.’ And I laughed too. About a week later, I was flying to Houston, Texas, to watch baseball, and I just felt God nudge me to get my iPad out and start typing. When we landed in Houston, I didn’t know we had hit the ground. I was in such a zone, and I had what I thought was 12 chapters written.”
After deciding to pursue publishing for his book, Fuller said he reached out to a publisher who encouraged him to expand on his writing further than he imagined would be a possibility.
“The final book came to us in early March,” he said. “When I first saw it, it was kind of unbelievable, because when I think of somebody as an author, [I think they are] very smart and very worldly, and I don’t see myself that way, but God had a story to tell, and I think that the goal is to impact young men, fathers and guys who were still dads. But I’ve even had some grandfathers tell me that they’ve loved it, and they kind of reminisce about their time [as a dad]. So it’s really kind of impacted a wide range of men.”
As families navigate an increasingly digital world, Fuller said it is important for everyone to step away from technology and spend time together.
“I think it’s a battle, and it’s a tough battle with things like Xbox and all the video games,” he said. “I think it’s easy to let those things become babysitters. So I think it starts with a dad, but also mom is responsible as well for making sure we set intentional time as a family, where we are not going to be on phones or computers. There should be time for families to be together at the lake, in the woods, on the farm, back porch or wherever, to make an intentional time [away from screens].”
When supporting local authors, Fuller said community members are supporting a local story and seeing a new perspective of many of the spaces they interact with on a regular basis.
“[My family and I are] in the community, and a lot of my story is written living in this community for 25 years,” he said. “I’ve had a baseball facility in Opelika for 23 years, and that facility is a big part of the story — with other boys and girls who came in the door and with my own kids. [That is some of] the impact that we’ve been able to have in the Opelika-Auburn area. So really the story is the people of this area.”
Along with sharing advice and guidance in his book, Fuller said he offers life-coaching services for those looking for someone to talk to and discuss ideas with, and said for those looking to refocus their life — don’t look back.
“We all make mistakes, and we can spend our lives stuck looking back, or we can just look forward,” he said. “I very much believe in the word thriving. I think God has a plan for all of us to have a purpose and thrive. I think that all of us should live with no regret; we’re moving on. We’re going to move on from past mistakes, and know that there is a perfect plan designed for us that only we can live out. Our DNA is ours exclusively, and nobody can do what we do.”
While encouraging others to live with the future in mind, Fuller said he also encourages locals to work hard and develop athletic skills through his P360 Performance Sports facility in Opelika.
“I coached at Auburn University and North Carolina State, and we opened the facility up and there it’s day-in and day-out softball and baseball lessons and training and [training for] travel teams,” he said. “I’m also a personal trainer, so I have a lot of clients that are older, a lot of folks that are probably 65 and up, who think because something hurts, had to be careful or they have to hurt the rest of their life. And it’s proven that as long as something’s not broken, it’s probably just weak and out of place, and strength can really help.”
For more information on Fuller’s life coaching services and links to order “Dad on the Clock,” visit www.coachmarkfuller.com. To learn about coaching options and P360, visit P360 Performance Sports Auburn on Facebook.
