Growing up, there were footprints laid out in front of me, left behind by people I could only describe as giants. They were the ones who showed me what respect was supposed to look like, what I should value in life, what unconditional love felt like, and that family wasn’t limited to just being related by blood. Now that I have a family of my own, all I can hope for is to pass on the lessons I learned to my own children.

I was blessed to be born into an amazing family, where both sets of my grandparents and most of my uncles, aunts, and cousins all lived close by. When they say it takes a village to raise a child, I had the best village. My dad coached my baseball teams, my mom was my biggest supporter, and I could ride my bike to one set of grandparents for coffee and conversation while being just a short car ride away from my other grandparents for a game of checkers. My aunts and uncles took my sister and me on camping trips, to the beach, to the movies — everywhere.

My family has always been everything to me. They taught me about respect, love, trust, and being there for the people you care about. Growing up with a family like that, I wanted my kids to have a similar childhood. I wanted them to know the same love and support I was always surrounded by, to pass on the lessons I had learned. And, to be honest, I never felt like that wasn’t possible — I just believed I could be the husband and father who would do that for his family.

But being a parent is different than imagining what kind of parent you might be. As a kid, I never saw the weight that my parents carried on their shoulders — how much work it took to be the parents they were while juggling stress, pressure, time constraints, and pure exhaustion. Raising kids is a battle, but it’s a battle worth fighting. It’s incredibly and unbelievably rewarding.

Now, I am a husband and a father of two boys, and there is no way I could do any of this without my amazing wife. I’m incredibly grateful for her because she makes it look so much easier than it is and takes on more than I ever could. While we’re partners in parenthood, she is definitely the stronger one with some sort of super-mom power — she keeps going, stays positive, and still has the energy to keep the household running. Half the time I’m lost, but she’s so confident in her ability to be a mom, and it’s inspiring.

We’re lucky enough to have amazing boys; they can be challenging at times like any kids, but they are the light of my life, and it’s impossible to stay frustrated with them for long. My oldest son, five years old, loves so many of the same things I do — playing baseball, watching sports, and drawing. My youngest, who is one, is quite the character; he loves to roughhouse and dance his way through dinner, and watching his imagination develop is fascinating.

Being their dad is everything I hoped for and more, but it doesn’t come without its challenges. I want to support them in every way possible, but that comes with additional commitments — coaching baseball, joining the dads’ group at school, and more as the youngest gets older. And while I love doing these things, they also take time and energy. I feel the pressure and stress of providing for them and wanting to give them everything I think they deserve, while also knowing it comes at a cost, both financially and in terms of my time and energy.

I’m not perfect. It’s hard. I have days I struggle. I expect more from them than they’re able to give because of their age. I have a hard time letting them just be kids sometimes. And I try not to let them see that I don’t always know what I’m doing — I’m learning how to be a dad while they’re learning how to be kids. But in spite of my shortcomings, I am proud of the dad I am. I think I’ve become the father I always imagined I’d be, and I’m incredibly proud of my boys and who they’re growing up to be. Through the ups and downs, this is the life I always wanted — and yet I never knew it could be this amazing.

This project — this life transformation — is my chance to show my boys that anything is possible, that it’s never too late to chase your dreams, and that we will always be there to support them in anything they do. This project is going to give me the opportunity to become a better husband and father — a chance to be there for my wife more, to raise my kids the way I always hoped to, and to honor the memories and lessons of the people who helped raise me by passing those same lessons on to my children.

Welcome to The Young Napoleon Project, where the tag line is “Chasing a dream without end, sharing the journey, and proving that the only barrier is me.” My name is Brian McClellan, and I am both the narrator and the subject of this journey that we are getting started on.

I first had the idea for this project over a decade ago, and at that time I was in a much different place in my life and needed to make some serious changes if I had any hopes of amounting to anything. In the midst of the struggles I was having with my health, my career, and my finances, I had an idea to launch a blog that would serve as an umbrella project for rebuilding every aspect of my life. The blog would serve as the narrative of an incredible transformation.

The problem was, that idea never became a reality. Over the last decade I have started, stopped, and restarted this project too many times to count and never made any sustainable progress. Yet somehow my life still began to change, and I began achieving some of the original goals I had for myself. I got married. I bought a house. I became a father. I lost some weight. I went back to school. I got promoted at work. But I never launched the blog or the all-encompassing project that surrounded it.

Then nine days ago, I started over again, and little by little things started coming together. Progress became visible, and now after just nine days, I have made more progress than the previous ten years combined.

You’re probably asking: progress on what? What is it that I’m actually doing? Well, I am trying to apply structure and systems to my life, and the best way I could think to do that was to treat my life as a business. Like actual businesses—made up of departments—I could create departments in my own life. Anything related to me—health, diet, hygiene—would be under the Chief Executive Officer. Anything related to my family and friends would fall under Human Resources. Finances and bills under Accounting. Stuff related to my house under Property Management. And so on.

By organizing my life in this way, I could create a comprehensive view of everything I have going on and what areas I needed to focus on. Looking at my life this way really helped me define my goals: to become more organized, healthier, financially secure, a self-published author of books and blogs, and the best husband and father I can be. And this blog is the narrative of the journey to achieving those goals.

So the next thing you’re probably asking is: what does The Young Napoleon mean? It goes back to my childhood; I had an interest in a Civil War general named George B. McClellan, nicknamed The Young Napoleon. And while I’m not sure there was any relation between him and my family, he had the same name as my dad, and that drew my attention to him.

His name wasn’t the only thing I connected with; we also shared a characteristic that was all too familiar to me. General McClellan was known for being a meticulous planner and strategist, but also someone who failed to act. And that is something that I am also known for—brainstorming, strategizing, overthinking, and overcomplicating things but then never taking any action.

The purpose of this blog is to document this project, to break down the systems I am putting in place, discuss the tools I will be using, and the processes that are going to help me rebuild my life in the image I have always imagined.

So here we are, over a decade since I first had the idea for this project, and my life looks nothing like it did back then. I’m a husband to my best friend and love of my life for the last nine years, a father to two amazing sons—one five years old and one a year old. I own a home. I’ve built a career at work. I lost some weight (and then put some back on). And even with all those changes, one thing has remained constant: the idea of this project. If I drift away from it, I feel lost, and when I’m working on it, I feel like I’m on the right path.

The path that is going to turn me into the man I have always believed I could become. This is The Young Napoleon Project. I am The Young Napoleon, and I’m done quitting on myself and this project.