IN TODAY’S EPISODE, WE ARE TALKING ABOUT WHY CULTIVATING THE ENTREPRENEURIAL SPIRIT IN YOUR CHILDREN IS ONE OF THE MOST POWERFUL THINGS YOU CAN DO.
We got a lot of feedback on the conversation we had in our last episode around the purpose of the school system and how it’s failing our kids. Some people were having a hard time with it, asking: “Do you want us to just go pull our kids out of school and start homeschooling?” That’s not the purpose of it at all. The purpose is to bring awareness to reality.
There are so many good things that can come from your kids in school or homeschool, but that’s not the point. The point is being aware of where the deficits are so that you can fill in those gaps because you feel that same calling that I feel: to raise your kids in leadership, to equip them to go against the grain and to help them become the person they’re called to be.
Today’s episode is building on that. There’s a lot of work that we as parents have to do to infuse all of this into our kids, because they are not going to get it at school. As entrepreneurs, we have a special opportunity that other people just don’t have. We get to leverage our gifts as entrepreneurs to raise our kids in that entrepreneurial spirit and to have them be entrepreneurial minded, so that they can leverage that later in life and have a huge advantage, no matter what path they go on in life.
IN THIS EPISODE, WE COVER:
[3:30] Fast Track to “Success”
Based on data, today we have the most educated kids in history, and yet they are also the dumbest kids in history. They have the education, they even have advanced degrees and they are continually going back to school, but they don’t know what to do with that. They don’t know how to get a job. They don’t know how to keep a job. They don’t know how to have conversations with people. They don’t know how to look people in the eye. They don’t know how to do things outside of the virtual world.
There’s so much that our kids are lacking because we are making sure they are on that fast track to “success” based on the metrics of society and the school systems. We are not there shepherding them into becoming the leaders they need to be. Being in tune with their gifts and their passions and being able to take on risks and be flexible with changing times, those are the exact skills they are not getting, and the ones that we, as entrepreneurial parents, are uniquely qualified to provide for them.
Guiding our kids with an awareness of the world of entrepreneurship and cultivating the necessary skills for this life is going to prepare them for the future, even if it’s not to go start a business of their own. Those skills will serve them no matter what path they choose to go down.
[8:03] You are Naturally Qualified for This
Growing up, I had such a one-track mind because that was just what I was conditioned for. The cool thing was that my parents didn’t do this consciously, but out of necessity. They enveloped me completely in entrepreneurship and I was fully integrated into them running a business, all out of necessity. I was learning so much and while it wasn’t a super conscious thing for them, it was such a gift that helped me grow and develop so much.
I just want to emphasize something really important for you to hear. You are naturally qualified for this. So, if you’re sitting there saying: “I don’t know leadership, I don’t know how to teach these things.” You ARE these things. You are the embodiment of them. You are an entrepreneur, you have said yes to this path, this is what you’re called to do. So, get those doubts and the impostor syndrome out of your mind. Even if you feel like you’re spread so thin that you can’t even fathom teaching them, it’s not about carving out time to homeschool your kid in the entrepreneurial spirit or in leadership. It’s about bringing them into the fray of your world and being who you are, letting them see that and being the embodiment of it and having active, conscious and intentional conversations around it.
[11:21] Teach It to Them
The world, especially now, can be a pretty scary place to raise kids. I feel like this is the hardest time in history to raise kids and it’s the hardest time in history to be a kid. So, this job is more important than ever for us because what the world will look like is dependent on the people leading it, and that’s our kids. So, as parents, we have to prepare them for it.
That’s not something conditioned in our kids from the world. The world says: “Here are your limitations. This is what you’re capable of, there’s no possibility and no thinking outside of the metrics, no seeing the great vision for your life.” And as an entrepreneur, this is something that you’ve done beautifully. So, keep going. Don’t give up on the dream. Take those risks. And teach it to your kids, because that can be such a gift to them.
[18:17] 10 Ideas to Help Cultivate the Entrepreneurial Spirit in Your Kids
Here are the 10 ideas that can help you cultivate the entrepreneurial spirit in your kids. So feel free to grab them and use them:
- Make them figure it out. We want to solve our kids’ problems. We want to end their pain, we want to fix it for them. We want to prevent failure. But, if we stop for a moment and we ask them how they can handle that on their own, and we let them figure it out, it’s going to help them develop so many of those entrepreneurial qualities.
- Encourage their pursuits. As parents in this generation, we are trained to push those good grades. But maybe there’s something over here in left field that isn’t on the report card, or isn’t the traditional sports that they want to play, but it’s really exciting to them. So, encourage those pursuits. When you see a spark in your kid, be the gasoline.
- Teach them about money. Have conversations around money with your kids. Teach them how much money they need for certain things and how they can earn, and help them understand the value of money.
- Encourage them to read. I’m sure you’ve all heard that “Leaders are readers” and I truly believe in that. If you’re trying to do everything in a vacuum of your own thoughts and you’re not expanding your mind and learning, you’re going to be limited in that potential.
- Involve them in decisions. Involve your kids in your business decisions. Help them learn how to be decisive and to discern and to make choices and to stand by them.
- Demonstrate gratitude. Sharing regularly, what you’re grateful for is going to help your kids tap into gratitude. At bedtime or at dinnertime, you can all go around and talk about what you’re so so grateful for, especially on tough days.
- Reward the risk taking. Reward hard work and effort over the straight A’s. Acknowledge what they’ve created or what they’re trying to do, even if it didn’t work. Let them know it’s okay if it flops and to keep being creative and taking those risks.
- The secret to feeling like you’re thriving in both business and raising your kids is integrating the two worlds. Society teaches you to create division, stronger boundaries, no conversation of business. This way, you are only robbing your kids of one of the greatest gifts you can give them which is to allow them to witness what it looks like to go your own way.
- Help them practice setting goals and plans to accomplish them. A lot of times kids will throw ideas or things they want out there, but they don’t know yet how to create a path there or what that goal actually means for them. Help them figure out which ones are the right ones for them and then set that path and create the benchmarks to get them there.
- Think about the skills you’re actively cultivating in your kids and are they in line with your values. If you’re living out those family values, you’re actually developing them as a skill. For example, becoming empathetic is not just a value you might have, it’s actually something kids have to practice and living it out becomes a skill to be developed.
- Register for our free Rally Cry event here! There are two times available- May 10th at 7 p.m. CST or May 11th at 11 a.m. CST. Register even if you can’t make it but hope to see you there!
- Episode 87: The School System Is Failing Our Kids (But Here’s What We Can Do About It!)
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