Whenever I speak about education at a conference or company event, the one question I am asked more than any other is how the kids of today can be better prepared for the future of tomorrow.
I’ve been thinking about a definitive answer for quite some time and finally decided to share some of my thoughts with you below. I hope you find them valuable:
Success doesn’t lead to happiness but happiness leads to success.
If you want your kids to be happy and successful, teach them to be of value to others. The irony is, people who solve the biggest problems usually make the most money. It’s natural for parents to want their children to have material wealth. A natural byproduct of excellence and service is money. Two birds with one stone I tell you.
If you want your kids to be happy and successful, teach them to wonder. Those who are insatiably curious will always start to ask bigger questions of life. This is how you learn how to solve the big problems.
If you want your kids to be happy and successful, teach them how to learn to learn. The world no longer values paint by number education systems and almost all of the best classrooms no longer have four walls. In fact, I think true education starts at home. What I’m saying is, your kids are never going to follow what you say but rather what you do! The greatest gift you can give your children is to be forever educated across multiple mediums yourself (formal education is just one medium).
If you want your kids to be happy and successful, teach them about hard work, consistency, ethics, patience, humility, integrity and ACTION. We are now living in a highly developed world where there is a shortcut for everything. Shortcuts are valuable but so is the long and winding road. Teaching them when to take which path is worth more than diamonds, gold and bitcoins in their pockets.
If you want your kids to be happy and successful, encourage them to travel as much as possible as they get older. Life’s greatest teacher is being on the other side of the world and observing how life works from multiple perspectives. No matter how old you are, travel will always take you out of your comfort zone and put life into perspective.
Installing value systems in your children will enable them to navigate the most complicated environments in the future. That said, I know it’s not easy. Best of luck to us all!
