7 Keys to Raising Kids to be Great People
I had breakfast today with my friend Gordon Hwang. He is a partner in a fast-growth startup called Thinqshift. They help “fabulous leaders” reinvent their organizations at key inflection points. And they have a great track record doing this.
But this morning, we were talking about his eleven-year-old son, Joshua. He is a gifted athlete with the heart of a champion. He gets much of this from Gordon who was a scholarship athlete at Georgia Tech.
I asked him, “What advice do you give to your son to help him become the man you and Christie want him to become?”
Here is what Gordon told me.
Get 1% better every day. This is the same advice Gordon’s dad gave him. His dad said, “Don’t compare yourself to the other athletes. Focus on you and your skills and mental development. Focus on getting just a little better every day, and you can be sure the results will come.”
Be happy for people when they are successful. Celebrate with them. This is how you build relationships and life-long friendships.
Enjoy your sport or work. Gordon kept telling me, “I want to make sure my son is having fun playing baseball. He is playing at a very competitive level, and I want to make sure the sport does not become a grind for him. And that’s because that is what my dad told me. I’m just passing it on.”
Give yourself the freedom to fail. This is the path to growth. Gordon told him, “You chose to play at a level that is beyond your current capabilities. If you are the best player on the team, then maybe you are on the wrong team. Keep reaching. Keep learning. This includes skills as well as the mental part of the game.”
Stay mentally even. Guard against emotional ups and downs. “Sometimes my son has a bad day. Every day is not a top performance day. There will be those days. And when they come, I tell him to celebrate them. When they don’t come, forget about them and move on to the next day. Your feelings are not your friends.”
Keep at it every day. The breakthroughs emerge from your grit and persistence. “This happened to me in my tennis career. When I thought it may just be time to give up, I didn’t. I learned my next level of achievement was always just on the other side of this.”
Be adaptable. Change is happening faster than ever. This is the secret to growth, no complacency.
As Gordon was talking through each piece of parental advice, I was thinking about my life and my business.
A simple question this morning turned into the best business advice I got in a long time.
Thanks, Gordon.