My Top Ten for if I ever have kids…
If I have kids I’m going to teach them to:
Play Monopoly with real money so they wouldn’t make a distinction over the role of banks & paper in our economy.
Always think beyond any and all structures that they may find themselves in: schooling is a grounding for being a cog in a greater machine unless you can see it.
Be in charge of a group of ants rather than the single powerful locust. Rather than out-thinking or out-working others I’m going to show them the power of out-bushiness-ing them! For more on this check out my Article.
Go bigger early! I have seen time and again that the difference in people’s lives is majorly defined by the race-course they choose rather than the racehorse they choose to breed and rear. Nurturing the latter only gains great momentum in the correctly chosen context. If we take this in an e.g. and map it out: choosing an un-capped opportunity in business for wealth will always have the greater potential return over becoming the best caretaker on the planet that only a few people know.
Fail forward. Billionaire Sarah Blakely was interviewed and revealed how her father would ask his children where they had ‘failed’ in the day. He actively encouraged them to push their limits in a healthy way, to always be going for more.
Know that a good decision now is more important than a great decision later! Tendencies around perfectionism & procrastination cost more than getting into the mix and getting valuable feedback from the external world. Learning how to make decisions effectively is a huge quandary for so many. Like a muscle, decision-making gets better the more you work it!
Encourage them to have multiple Returns happening at one time. Having a job is no longer the ticket to retirement. It’s about having an Income or more ideally, Multiple Streams of Income. The benefits of having more than one log in the ‘fire’, aside from the increase in income, is that it creates a feeling of detachment and removes dependence on that one point of earning which makes a lot of people feel ‘trapped’ in their job.
Know that you are your own ‘business’. As Jay Z says, ‘I’m not a businessman. I’m a business, man.’ Whatever role you have in life. Take full responsibility as though you own that business, because in reality, we are all walking talking businesses. Whether you realize it or not, you have your own company divisions that make up the company of ‘You’. Your Marketing division deals with how you dress and appear on Social Media; your Financial division has set-up our bank card and regulates how much you spend on a night out; your Human Relations division checks-in with your friends, family and work colleagues, etc. Thinking of yourself in this way will immediately start to change the way you see the world and how you operate within it.
Realize that we are living in a world where the greatest returns come to those who do Beyond that which is expected. I commonly write about Beyond The Game issues in the world of Poker and there is a huge reason for this. The employee mind-set is dangerous when most feel unaligned and purposeless. And so what happens? They seek escapism from what they are doing and end up performing well below the levels of productivity in contrast to when they are in ‘flow’. ‘The purpose of life is to find a purpose in life.’ Being true to you and what you feel alignment with is becoming more of a necessity in today’s world as only being Great Pays! You can make it big in many areas in the world but you have to put the time in, learn the craft and go beyond the average. To do this on a consistent level, purpose, alignment and fulfilment have to be there. Period.
That time is the greatest asset that any of us possess. Money is the commodity. Organising your life around maximising the value that you can give, plus the return you get while we are here is the game. The time we spend isn’t coming back for any of us. It can’t be renewed. At the end of the day, don’t chase the money. Be in the moment. Be open to the opportunity suited to your unique greatness within. Know you are the prize. Be true to you and you will attract the level of consciousness required to do what you are intended to do here on the planet.
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