Helping Our Children Chase and Achieve Their Dreams

"If we did all the things we are capable of doing, we would literally astonish ourselves"
                                                                                                     -Thomas Alva Edison

I couldn't sleep last night.  I woke up at 4am and watched my little girl sleep.  Then I wrote some blog posts for the coming weeks.  After cleaning my house, doing some packing, getting breakfast and lunches ready for the day, I decided to hunker down and read The Richest Kids In America: How They Earn It, How They Spend It, How You Can Too by Mark Victor Hansen. 

When I was in college, my creative writing teacher told me that I had too many interests, and way too many ideas.  She told me that I needed to start writing everything down- and she was right.  I still have that little glitter notebook, and I still jot my ideas down from time to time.  Some are great things that I'm working on today, and some are things that I hope to work towards.

As I sat down and read The Richest Kids in America, I found myself intrigued and encouraged by these driven, passionate, and creative kids who grabbed life by the horns and went for it.  They took risks that most people would be petrified to take.  But most of all, they had amazing parents that stood by them, up for them, and by them as they endeavored to do things that their peers clearly had not.  Instead of thinking up ideas, they took the plunge and followed through on them.

"Creating change is not something that you can do alone, and it is imperative to have a strong network of mentors, advisors, and peers."

I learned a lot from this book about how to encourage my daughter to have a successful, thriving life.  Sure, I knew that she should surround herself with positive influences, but sometimes parents have a hard time conveying that to their children.  This book is great back-up.  It encourages the reader to surround themself with positive people, media, books and information that will stimulate rather than stifle.

I really believe that most parents believe that their children should be challenged in some way.  This book takes it one step further and has work-sheets for the children (and adults!) to help use creativity to bring talents to the surface, passion to unleash potential, and to find a way to implement their ideas to a specific target market.  Many times, we are all herded into a group mentality, rather than an individual mentality, but these kids found ways to be individuals that influence and change the group by listening to their inner voice and by trusting their instincts.  You never know what hobby or activity could bring about a new idea that is a profitable enterprise.

"I want you to be a visionary, but I also want you to create sustainable income that does not own you."

Mark Victor Hansen does a great job of conveying the stories of young entrepeneurs that vary in "backgrounds, interests, and personalities", thus proving, that it doesn't matter where you come from to be successful.  What does matter is how you spend your time.  My Mom used to say, "follow your rainbows, follow your dreams", and she was right.  It took time and research for me to learn how to package it and how it serves people.

We're parents.  Our #1 job is to raise our children to be good people that are self sufficient.  We won't be here forever.  That's just a fact of life.  So why not teach them independence, self sufficiency, trust in their instincts, how to hone in on their creativity, and that charity is incredibly important, from the time they are young?  You never know what they can accomplish unless you encourage them to try!