In order to get financing for a business from a bank, the first thing they are going to ask you for is a business plan. Show us the roadmap of what you want the business to be. Show us that you have actually thought about how you’re going to repay the business loan.
What are your yearly projections for the next 5 years?
This is to repay the financing….
If you’re working with a really good business coach, they’ll start diving into nuances of your daily habits. What are you prioritizing? Are you delegating effectively, are you focusing your ATE (Attention, Time and Energy) where it should be focused?
Are you taking time to step back and look at how the business is running? Are you planning for the future, or getting lost in the day to day grind of ‘Running the Business?’
Kids are not a business, but the principals are the same, and there’s one area where there’s the most room for improvement.
The Big Picture.
Any oddly enough, it makes the small picture, the day to day grind, work much better.
“I don’t have time to think about 10 years from now, have you seen the piles of laundry, dishes and the school and activity schedule?”
WE ALL HAVE IT. Every parent feels overwhelmed with the amount of tasks we put on our plate. WE all get lost in the weeds and all of a sudden 3,652 days have gone by.. How are they 10 already?
Having 4 sons all under 12, I’ve experienced this fast forward of life. I’ve lived the “Just get to tomorrow” life for 10 years. And. It. Happens.
Might I suggest looking at your kids like looking at a business.
Now on the surface this is
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Blasphemy – Kids are absolutely not a business; this is horrible way to think about children.
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Something you’re already doing – Have you ever thought, or said “This is not what we’re paying for” when your child is playing goalie in some sport, and you, even if momentarily, look at your return on equity, for the sport or training you’re paying for?
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Gritty and Resilient – If there’s only one trait that gets through, it’s the will and drive to keep on going. Life is hard, there will be setbacks. No matter what you’re doing in life, you’ve got to keep moving forward.
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Goal Setters- Set big, hairy, audacious goals. Set goals so big that others think you’re nuts, and chase them as hard as possible. Even if you live a life chasing massive goals and never fully reach them, you will have outdone all of your peers. Refer back to goal 1 when you fail.
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Someone who Inspires- If you’re going to chase big goals, and be gritty and resilient, you might as well have a great attitude and inspire others to be more than they think they can be in the process. The world is full of people trying to hold others back while they get ahead. Be someone who makes the pie bigger. Life is not a zero-sum game.
There’s one constant throughout life and business planning that we should take into parenting that can help clarify and give direction to the day to day.
Set long term objectives for what you want your kids to be when they are older, and develop principals for how to get there.
No I don’t mean, pressure your child to be a Dr. or Professional so that you are the parent of the kids with the best career when you’re retired talking with your friends… And we all know this happens.
Set long term objectives for the traits you want your kids to have, no matter where they go through life.
One line I use with my sons when they are acting up is “if I raise you to be a dickhead, not matter how successful you are in sports or in business making money, I’ve failed.
Here’s an example of what I want for my kids when they’re 35.
What is the best way to impart these traits? Go back to the old mantra of parenting.
Kids don’t listen, but they do imitate.
Have these conversations with your children. Talk openly about your failures and successes. Chase goals with them.
Build a model rocket and when it blows up, because you and your child are terrible engineers, talk about the lessons learned through out the process. You certainly learned something you didn’t know before. What could you do next time to make it be better? Did you follow the plans exactly as they were laid out? Did you think you were going to succeed when you started the process?
Finally, perhaps that was a nudge that you were not meant to be an engineer, and that’s ok!
There are lessons every single day that can help direct you towards your goals for you and your kids 10, 20, 30 years from now.
Keeping those long term principals and traits front and center will not make the days significantly easier, but it will give them direction and purpose. And in the end, that’s all any of us are looking for.