It is with pride and joy I present to you the 26th member of Team Do Good, the mighty Tyler Yonge. I am absolutely thrilled to have the opportunity to celebrate Tyler here via Tampa Bless and Team Do Good. His willingness to participate in this feature is highly appreciated. And now, without further ado...
Name: Tyler Yonge
Place of birth: Ocala, Florida
Currently reside: South Tampa
Heritage: 14th Generation Floridian
Family: Warrior wife of almost 9 years (Brittany) and six miracles: McKinley (8), Ansley (6) Caroline (4), Emma Kate (3), Jake (1), and Luke ( 4 months).
Alma Mater: UCF undergraduate and UF law school.
Occupation: Attorney: Estate planning. Business planning. Real estate.
Activities you organized or participate in related to helping others and uplifting humanity?
Hopefully a loving husband and intentional father. I believe the MOST good I can do for humanity is to raise good children (or help others raise good kids). To do that I need to be a good husband. I need to model for my kids the love of our Heavenly Father as best I can. The “final battle” will be over marriage and family, so I see it as going to battle every day to keep marriage and family strong.
Outside of that, I am currently co-leader of the Society of St Joseph at Christ the King Catholic Church. I help teach the Baptism class for all parishioners who are baptizing their children, and I currently devote a fair amount of time to help Cross Boss Media in their mission to provide children a genuinely entertaining, secure place to encounter Christ in a way that inspires action. Last year my wife and I also organized a parent's weekend retreat that educated over 70 couples on family culture, having a family board meeting, and being intentional parents.
The Tampa Bless 12
1) Favorite pastime or hobby? Why? Please explain.
Favorite hobby is probably working out; mainly high-intensity interval training type work. I love the feeling of giving everything you have to the workout and falling on the floor after. The grind. The pain cave. The mental toughness to keep working through the suffering. Plus it keeps me fit and I like that my kids see fitness and health as something important. Our bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit. Let’s keep those temples fit!
2) Favorite sport, team, or player? If not into sports, your favorite musician or album? Or answer one of each if you’d like or any combo. Please explain why for any one or more of the questions you answered.
I could go classic Florida Gators here which my wife would love, but I’m gonna go out on a limb and say Rich Froning as favorite athlete. He is a CrossFit games “fittest on earth” who has won 4x at the individual level and multiple times at the team level. He has built a community around his training that is unmatched. More importantly, he also uses his gifts for the glory of God. He often talks about his faith across his many platforms and is an all-around good guy.
3) Favorite movie? Why? Please explain.
This is almost impossible to answer. I cannot pick a favorite movie. I’ll say one of my favorites most recently is A Quiet Place. I like John Krasinski. I think it’s cool he starred with his wife. I typically do not like “scary” movies but this one was the right balance of suspense without the gore. Very well made and acted. Was one of those movies where I thought, man I wish I had thought of that. So simple. But so good.
4) Favorite place (country, city, town, etc…) you have visited and why?
Ireland. I took a month off before law school and just roamed the countryside with a friend. Some amazing scenery. It was probably a combination of the time of life that coincided with very little responsibilities which gave me the ability to really take my time and soak in the experience.
5) Last meal? You could have anything, what is it? Why? Please explain.
Angel hair pasta and meat sauce. With Italian bread and lots of butter. And a salad with plenty of veggies and some feta cheese and Italian dressing. This is the ultimate comfort food for me. I love it. Plus it’s a good macro breakdown. Protein check, good fats check. Carbs, double-check.
6) Three activities or routines you would highly recommend? Please explain your reasoning for each.
1. Having a Rule of Life: something that you must accomplish each day. Whatever it is that you decide, have a rule and follow it. This can change over time but have something that you are committed to at all times. Good topics would be physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual health improvements.
2. Functional fitness: high-intensity interval training. This can be scaled for everyone for all fitness levels. I think good fitness, combined with good eating habits/nutrition, could revolutionize the medical industry, and really destroy the prevalence of metabolic diseases. People should be doing this daily, and it can easily be done at home.
3. Fasting. This could be from food in general, or from a certain type of food (sugar, alcohol), or even from certain modern conveniences, and offer that fasting up for others. This is a great way to exercise your suffering/discipline muscles.
7) A) Personality trait you highly value? Why? Please explain. B) The personality trait you highly dislike? Why? Please explain.
A. GRIT. An individual’s perseverance of effort combined with the passion for a particular long-term goal or end state. I like this because it incorporates a couple of traits/virtues. Perseverance and patience. I think patience and the ability to do something today that does not result in immediate gratification is so lacking in today’s culture. And I think it summarizes our life on Earth. We are not meant for this life. This one is the training ground and if your long-term goal or end state is heaven, then your mindset is eternal.
B. Those with a fixed mindset. In brief, this assumes that our character, intelligence, and creative ability are static givens which we can’t change in any meaningful way, and success is the affirmation of that inherent intelligence, an assessment of how those givens measure up against an equally fixed standard; striving for success and avoiding failure at all costs become a way of maintaining the sense of being smart or skilled. A “growth mindset” on the other hand, thrives on challenge and sees failure not as evidence of unintelligence but as a heartening springboard for growth and for stretching our existing abilities. Many people have a fixed mindset without even knowing it.
8) Favorite thinker (author, philosopher, theologian, etc…)? Why? Please explain. And what is your favorite piece of advice, quote, or text from them or in general? Why? Please explain.
I’m going rogue here. I’m going to go with “kids”. The way they think through things and the way they take your words and explanations and then respond to them is such a mixed bag, I love it. Sometimes they can really say something profound. Other times you see their innocence. They can be bold and full of truth, and they can be hilarious.
9) Biggest influence in your life or a top one, and what was it about them that really stood out?
As an attorney, I am really averse to absolutes, like “biggest” or “best” so these questions are particularly hard for me! I would say good father figures. My dad was/is a wonderful father. I have an uncle that I am close with that came from a big family and gave me a lot of perspective on big families. And currently, I am surrounded by a lot of really good men that are great husbands and fathers. They keep me accountable and are constantly raising the bar. Collectively, those guys have been a huge influence in my life.
10) If there is one thing you could change in the world, what would it be?
I’m assuming this has to be a SMART goal (something specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, and timebound) and not something obvious like end of abortion, end of pornography industry, end of social media. So, I would like to see a change in social media and media in general. I think it’s the cigarettes of our time. It came out, everyone thought it was cool and didn’t do any harm. It was the cool thing to do. People then started to realize how harmful it is, then action was taken to protect people from the adverse effects. I would like to fast forward with media and have awareness as to the harmful effects, particularly with regard to children, and then measures in place to protect people, or AT LEAST, have people start to realize in the next few years how harmful it can be.
11) Where did your desire to help others and uplift humanity come from? Please explain.
Where it all comes from: The Holy Spirit. But I really think a huge catalyst was having children. Realizing that they will look to me as an example for one, and second, knowing that I’m bringing them into this world so I should try to make it the best for them.
12) What are you working on now and how can people get involved?
Gosh.
If you have estate planning, business planning, or legal real estate needs go here: www.dwyfirm.com
If you have apparel/promotional products needs go here: www.tyapparel.com
If you are interested in checking out the Society of St. Joseph at Christ the King go here: https://thesocietyofstjoseph.com/
If you are interested in quality content for your children stay tuned here: https://www.mycrossboss.com/ *Update: Studio 3:16 Show debuts September 8, 2021 via studio316.com which launches the same day.
Thank you so much for your time Tyler and for all that you do. The place we live in is that much better because of you. I hope that this feature has served to inspire you, as well as successfully celebrate those that help others and uplift humanity.
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