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.
🇬🇭 Chairman Wontumi has sparked public curiosity after a brief but unusual moment outside the Accra High Court, where he was seen touching the ground with his finger and appearing to taste it after looking up at the sky.
[🎥: Verified Tv ]
Me and my boy dey on call brainstorming. Ein woman call am wey he hang up on me. 5 minutes later he add me to demma call to confirm to her say na me he dey talk to. I told her he is lying 😭🤣🤣🤣
Told my mom I want a chieftaincy title in our village. She said that ever since she’s known me, I’ve never had actual things to worry about apart from rubbish. Lmaooo, fairs🫠😭
There’s a scene in Breaking Bad where Walter White’s wife realizes he’s made $7.5 million and says:
“There’s no way we can wash this money through a car wash. No car wash in the world makes that kind of money in a year.”
That line hit me. Because it exposes a truth most people ignore: How much you earn is capped by the kind of business you run.
You can work harder, stay longer, even get smarter - but you’ll never make more than what your business model is designed to carry.
My own cup is empty. This is why I am currently unable to pour into others. If anyone cares about me, this is the time to pour into me. Even the strongest soldiers sometimes get vulnerable and need rest.
Jehovah’s Witnesses have revised their policy on blood transfusions, allowing members to have their own blood removed, stored, and reinfused during medical procedures.
#UTVGhana