THIS IS NOT A PARENTING 101 PODCAST!
This podcast is specifically for entrepreneurial parents and founder families who are committed to possibility. We have the tough conversations here and today’s tough chat is around the concept of taking ownership and what that looks like.
Raising leaders cannot exist without the simple but powerful value in principle of taking ownership. So today, we are going to dive into what that looks like, what it can mean for your little leaders and how to help them embody it in their own lives.
Let’s raise them up right!
IN THIS EPISODE, WE COVER:
[1:33] Ownership Can Be Empowering
Ownership can be a very positive and empowering action for all of us. This isn’t just for the kids. This is for us. We have to be modeling ownership. You can’t expect to tell your kids to take ownership of their lives or ownership of certain situations as you’re pointing the finger or finding a scapegoat for categories of your life.
So today, we’re going to break down the different ways you can help your child, at any age, take ownership in their lives and the positive result that they can expect from that. We’re going to go through them taking ownership of their role, ownership of something they want and ownership of themselves.
[2:24] Taking Ownership of Their Role
We live in a blame culture. People think they can get ahead by blaming others: their government, their traumas, their parents, their past, their circumstances, and still expect to experience all that is possible for their lives. Not going to happen. Let’s just lay it out – the people who take ownership of their lives are the ones that can tap into possibility.
We can’t control everything, things happen and we’re not responsible for the fact that it happened. But we are responsible for taking ownership of what we do with it, as painful as it might be.
For years, I craved growth and opportunity in my business and in my life. There were plenty of times I’d see progress, but then something would set me back or it would leave me feeling stuck. Back then, I didn’t understand the power of leadership, I thought the way to get ahead was going to be developing my business, I didn’t know how much of it revolved around me. So when I’d hit those blocks, I would look outward. Luckily, I had a mentor who loved me enough to tell me what my real problem was, which was me. I can’t always control external factors, but I can always take full ownership of my role in it. That shift has and continues to have so much power behind everything for me. It’s about looking at every scenario with a growth-mindset and a solution-oriented focus.
So, how about helping your child to adopt this mentality? What if they learned the empowerment and freedom that comes with controlling only what is theirs to control and taking full responsibility for themselves? What could be different?
[7:52] A Tough Lesson
My dad played college basketball, he was a captain of Notre Dame back in 1972. It was in our DNA, both Notre Dame and basketball and it was always my dream to play college ball like my dad did. I would constantly talk about how bad I wanted it. I was so good at talking about how bad I wanted it. But I wasn’t willing to put my money where my mouth was for a long time. Instead of forcing me to go outside and practice, my dad brought me back to what I said I wanted. He didn’t make me, he reminded me that it was on me if I wanted it badly enough.
Well, that was a really tough lesson because guess who didn’t play college basketball and who was heartbroken?
[9:46] Taking Ownership of What They Want
I never put in the level of effort that was required to get to the level I wanted to get to and that is the piece that is so critical, the ownership of that gap.
This applies in so many other areas too. Their homework? Your child’s homework is their homework. No, you don’t want them to go in with it incomplete, but how can you teach them to take ownership and remind them what the consequence is of not doing it and what’s the consequence of doing it. Teach them to take ownership of that piece, do not do it for them.
[10:26] Taking Ownership of Themselves
And finally, taking ownership of themselves.
Every decision they make they have to take responsibility for. Even the little ones, the seemingly meaningless choices of sitting on the couch and watching just one more show or picking up the phone and scrolling for just a little bit longer. Those granular choices add up and they matter. So, having conversations with your child about their habits and helping them establish awareness and vision is crucial, because they can have the vision, but if they’re not owning the steps in the process to get to that vision, it ain’t going to happen.
I hope this episode spoke to you, and if it did please hit the follow button on your podcast player – and share this with other founder families and entrepreneurial parents that will be inspired by this and could use a little bit of a push towards ownership!
If there’s a topic, a question or a guest you want to hear on the show, please reach out and let us know on Instagram. We do this for you, so the more you tell us, the more we can serve.
RESOURCES FROM THIS EPISODE:
