My Son the Entrepreneur
My son Justin will be 15 years old in a little over a month. The other day in the car, on the way to the skateboard park, we were talking about what he wants to do when he gets older. Like any teenager, his ultimate dream is to be a professional athlete … in this case, the next Tony Hawk. The difference between now, and the last time we had this conversation (before I went to Iraq), is that today, he’s also talking about a back-up plan …
Apparently a guy came to their class on “career day”, and told them that the best way to get rich is to own your own company. Fortunately, it appears as though that was a day that Justin was paying attention.
For the past few days, we’ve had several more conversations about the type of company he wants to own (skateboards, clothes, shoes, etc), and some of the steps he should take to go about achieving his goal. At his request, I just got on the Richdad website and ordered him a couple of books … “Rich Dad Poor Dad for Teens”, “Rich Dad’s Rich Kid, Smart Kid: Giving Your Children a Financial Headstart”, and “Own Your Own Corporation: Why the Rich Own Their Own Companies and Everyone Else Works for Them”
He’s anxious to start reading them (after he finishes To Kill a Mockingbird for school of course). And I’m anxious to continue our conversations. I’m not sure exactly what I did right (if anything) to help bring about my son’s attitude … but I sure am thankful for it.
Keep havin FuN!
Todd
Comments
By Aaron Cook on October 27th, 2007 at 10:01 pm
That’s awesome! And way to massage his entrepreneurial spirit! I love hearing stories like this. They’re so inspiring. Thanks for sharing it Todd. And good on your for taking the time to discuss his goals and aspirations.
Shine on,
Aaron
By Mike Pedersen Golf on November 5th, 2007 at 2:07 am
Todd, I do this all the time with my 12 year old (and even my 9 year old daughter). If they are willing to listen, it’s fun. My son wants to be the next Steven Spielberg. He’s got more creativity in his thumb than I have combined.
By todd on November 5th, 2007 at 8:08 pm
Thanks guys … I’m quite proud of him. And Mike, glad to hear that your kids are the same way. Let me know when your son’s first movie comes out
By Mike Pedersen Golf on November 6th, 2007 at 3:44 am
Todd (or anyone). Do you use Twitter? I’ve heard so much about it, but I am not seeing how it is just a waste of valuable time. I have a twitter account and have posted in it, but do not see any return or how to get a return. Please educate me, as some people swear by it.
By todd on November 6th, 2007 at 7:05 am
Hi Mike,
I just started using twitter. I’ve yet to determine how much additional time it’s going to take. But so far, it appears to be a pretty easy way to expand my circle of influence. I’ve already got at 3 people following me, who I’d never met previously. There’s a link to a good Twitter guide in my “favorites” post from Sunday.
By Mike Pedersen Golf on November 6th, 2007 at 7:09 am
I’ve got like 14 following me, but it does not seem to make sense to spend time on something that won’t improve the bottom line.
For example, people are twittering things like “I just had a cup of coffee”. Give me a break. I think I’m going to bail on it.
By todd on November 6th, 2007 at 8:06 am
Hi Mike,
As I said, I just started, but I think you have to be a bit selective about who you follow and/or how much you choose to read. I put a widget in the bottom right of my sideboard (not sure yet if I’m going to keep it) that shows my last 5 tweets.
3 of them are automatic announcements of my latest blog posts. But one of the “silly” ones actually helped me stay productive. I said I’d driven home in the rain, and was going to write a blog post. Wouldn’t you know, as the evening progressed, I really didn’t feel like writing …
But since I’d already announced it to the world, I was able to zone the distractions out long enough to finish the dreamboard post