I have friends who are older and very fit because of their lifestyle. They don't drink or smoke and exercise daily. They also have the most unfit kids who don't follow their example. This has always worried me as I am raising young children. I have also seen families with hard-working and wealthy parents who raise the laziest and most entitled children.
We always want our children to do better than us, but when and where does this go wrong for most people? I think it comes from the time and attention we personally give our kids and the lapses we allow.
My wife and I are early risers. I have a particular sleep problem I am still trying to solve, but my kids can sleep all day on vacation if you let them. A friend with an older son who had just graduated and was back home, jobless, used to tell me how alarmed he was that the son would go out all night, come back early in the morning, and sleep all day.
I told him then that if he didn't force him to change that habit, he would remain jobless and stay with his parents longer. They eventually forced him to change, and he moved out. He has a job now and struggles a lot. His parents are concerned that he isn't thriving. He is now almost 30, and I think about this all the time. At 25, I was a beast and had started many businesses.
While we want our kids and young adults to experience life on their own terms in a world vastly different from the one we grew up in, we can't help but notice that others whose children were more disciplined are thriving better. One indicator I have seen that correlates with success in younger people is fitness.
A friend’s son started going to the gym regularly, and he even inspired his cousins to do so. I checked on LinkedIn recently, and he is doing exceptionally well as a lawyer and investment banker without any family connections or assistance. His younger cousins, who are looking up to him, are following in his footsteps. I decided to get my kids to spend more time with him.
The role models our children need may be closer to their age than ours. It is why we need to amplify the lifestyles of young, disciplined, and successful people more. Not every person will make it through creative pursuits. I stress this to my kids all the time. There are billions of YouTube channels, but there is only one MrBeast or IShowSpeed.
Social media is highlighting more unrealistic role models than the most useful ones. My daughter is likely one of the most intelligent young children that I know, but because she doesn't want to be seen as a nerd, she is adapting to popular culture to blend in, in a way that scares me. This sometimes affects the way she learns. While I don't want to restrict her now from experiencing the world, I have realized that she needs different role models.
My son’s role models are nerds, and he nerds out in ways that surprise me and it is also worrying. We can be watching a movie, and he goes online to research it and summarise the plot so he can leave to code. He is not experiencing life enough outside the internet.
They will either eventually be ok in a world very different from ours or struggle in a world that becomes worse than ours, without the skills to build personal resilience and strong social skills.
I recently had a personal experience that made me realize I was fortunate to have left home early and to have different role models from my parents. Having a broken home led to different outcomes for my siblings and me, but the fact that I had strong personalities like my mother’s uncle and the uncles I grew up around helped me learn a lot more about life and priorities.
The world is a very complex place, and life is not a bed of roses. While we want the best outcomes for our kids, we have to finally admit that they will learn far more from others than they will ever learn from us. The best thing we can do for them is expose them to the right kind of people early enough, then hope and pray that we didn't misread those people.
If you are wondering why no South African home and Abroad should be helped or shown compassion! This is the reason !
They are wicked people both Home and Abroad !
Cc: @thenanaaba
I wouldn’t be where I am today without the love and support that @MichelleObama has poured into me over the years. Her story — from her South Side roots to the White House and beyond — is a central part of the Obama Presidential Center.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guard attacked & seized ships in the Strait of Hormuz. Recent reports highlight direct attacks on shipping admit a wider conflict with Iranian officials threatening retaliation for US actions against Iranian commercial vessels‼️
The Blue Whale produces milk so rich and thick it has the consistency of soft butter or flowing cream. It’s 50% fat—nearly 15 times more concentrated than human milk.
Why? Because in the vastness of the ocean, a liquid would dissolve into the salt water before it ever reached the calf. Instead, this "liquid gold" stays intact, allowing the baby to gain 200 pounds every single day.
"He who fashioned the depths of the sea left nothing to chance."
From the gargantuan heart the size of a car to the microscopic precision of a mother’s milk, we are witnessing a masterpiece of engineering. This isn't just "survival"—it is divine intentionality.
Every ripple in the ocean and every breath in your lungs is a quiet, powerful reminder: Every detail was crafted. Every need was anticipated.
Nature isn't just magical; it’s a witness.
God is Amazing. 💙
#Creator #BlueWhale #NatureIsArt #GodsDesign #DeepOcean #WondersOfWorld
Retired CIA analyst Larry Johnson: Trump tried to used nuclear codes against Iran during White House “emergency meeting” on Saturday. Trump was halted by Air Force General Dan Cain who used military privilege to stop him.
My favourite academia joke of all time. "The moral of this story is: The topic of your dissertation isn't really important; what's important is who your advisor is."
—Harvey Cox, When Jesus Came to Harvard
“The Quran calls Jesus the word of God, the spirit of God and the promise Messiah and he called Muhammad non of those things.”
— Lady who was a Muslim for 26 years shares the reason she converted from Islam to Christianity.