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Inspiring kids to be entrepreneurial.

Entrepreneurial Kids… How to Teach Your Kids to Achieve Success: Part 1

June 29th, 2013


Now here’s someone entrepreneurial kids would love to meet: Natalie Cook. Natalie Cook is a five-times Olympian and winner of the Gold Medal during the Sydney 2000 Olympics games in beach volleyball. Currently, Natalie Cook is a successful businesswoman and owner of the sports franchise, Sandstorm.

Natalie Cook Gold Medalist 2000 Olympics

Natalie Cook Gold Medalist 2000 Olympics Beach Volleyball

 

She recently gave an awesome talk in Perth, saying the similarities between professional athletes and successful business owners were many, as both have a self-motivating desire to win. Natalie’s message was captivating, humourous, and very useful in cultivating the mindset for success in entrepreneurial kids, as well as in their adult counterparts.

The Five Ps

 

Natalie’s talk was built around her Five Ps: principles for your kids and in the boardroom, alike.

 

I will share these with you in a series, over the coming weeks, the last part of which will contain a surprise: a P I’ll be adding, myself.  After reviewing Natalie’s, let’s see if who can guess what my P will be.
Here goes:

 

Part 1: Purpose

 

A person who truly reaches for success has a mindset that carries with it a very strong “Why,” or purpose.  Your “Why” must be stronger than your “Why not?” If not, you likely don’t have enough purpose to muster up the will to make your goals happen when you are faced with barriers.

 
Your “Why” has to be specific and something close to the heart. It needn’t be complicated. A friend of mine is driven to success because she desperately wants her Mum to be happy and not have to work anymore. Another wants to buy a villa in Tuscany so that it solidifies her Italian family roots with a sense of belonging. These “Whys” are far from saying “Why not?” They are set purposes, not poor explanations.

 


 

Your “Why” will often come from one of two emotions… pain or pleasure. Usually it will be pain as it is the stronger of the two. For example, consider all those rags to riches stories of many of our success mentors (JK Rowling, Colonel Sanders, Sylvester Stallone, Walt Disney, Steve Jobs, Susan Boyle, Richard Branson). Their experiences with the emotion of “pain” lead them to having a strong “Why” and their “Why” ultimately brought them success.

 

 

Amy, Cathy, Natalie, Tracey, Kym and Trevor.

Amy, Cathy, Natalie, Tracey, Kym and Trevor.

I recently carried out a “Why” exercise with my son, Jai. We’d just returned from a career path meeting for his upcoming senior class. Every pathway the school offered ended in landing a j-o-b (just-over-broke). Their end result was the same, whether the route was through university, technical school, or a straight shot into the average 40-year career hold. There was nothing for an enterprising teen to grab hold of. Worse, because the students were just about ending high school, the pressure was on to make a choice… a limited choice, one based on hastily presented ideas.

 
The result was confusion and “Why not?” to this and that idea. Jai seemed to be torn between going to Uni with his mates, for it sounded like fun, or leaving school with his cousin and going to make money in the mines. This inconsistency told me that Jai’s “Whys” on both of these career paths were just too vague.

 Purpose Quote

 

So, we got to work. We discussed why these two ideas sounded interesting to him. We canvassed what it was about “Why not?” that wouldn’t likely carry him through the hardships of either choice.

 

 

Then I asked him to ponder a few questions:

  1. How do you want to contribute to this world?

  2. How do you want to grow as a person?

  3. How do you want to be remembered when you pass?

 

It was a lot for him to think about. We’ll discuss what steps we took next in Part 2: People and Passion.

 

Always looking for feedback on our entrepreneurial kids articles so be sure to leave a comment. What is your “Why”?

 

If you are not already a subscriber, then I invite you to fill out the form on the side bar of this blog, that way you won’t miss Part 2 next week.


Comments

6 Comments

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  • Linda Slater says on: July 2, 2013 at 11:28 am

     

    What’ is my why? AT 53, I’m still clarifying my BIG why, but At Jai’s age and younger I just “knew” I had to do architecture, and I’ve never regretted it. I just love working in the building industry. However, I wish I would have been more clearer on the “end result”, which I’m sure is linked in to the WHY did I need to do it ( and, I think HOW will I do it!). Jai is very lucky to have you guys as parents, and I’m really looking forward to how you resolved this with him!

    • Enterprise For KidsTeam says on: July 6, 2013 at 8:56 am

       

      Something I’d like to achieve in the not so far future is creating and building a home by the seaside. When I’m set to do that I’ll come knocking on your door asking you to give me a hand Linda. Thanks for the complement. You’ll have to follow the series of articles to see where we end up with Jai. Thanks for sharing your Why.

  • Tracey Truss says on: July 2, 2013 at 3:03 pm

     

    What an inspiration Natalie Cook was….if you ever get the chance to hear her speak…take it!!!! XX

    • Enterprise For KidsTeam says on: July 6, 2013 at 8:52 am

       

      She is a legend and an role model for both entrepreneurial kids and adults alike! What a journey we are all on Trace!

  • Helen says on: July 4, 2013 at 2:54 am

     

    Hi Trevor thanks for the blog. It came just in time for me to reassess my goals and why I am doing them as my why (my dad) recently passed away. Now I am struggling to find another why. This will definately help me. Thanks again 🙂

    • Enterprise For KidsTeam says on: July 6, 2013 at 8:51 am

       

      Hi Helen, Very sorry to hear about your Dad. Having your Dad as your Why shows that he was a very important part of your world. You will find another Why. Maybe your Dad still is your Why (pain usually creates a strong Why). Play around with those three questions at the end of the article… How are you going to contribute to this world? How will you grow as a person? What will you be remembered for (or what do you want to experience)? Don’t spend too much time on each. Just get pen and paper and brainstorm each question for about 90 seconds. When I did this exercise my answers all had a similar theme… hence my Why! Which is helping young people (especially my own family) to think differently, break away from old conditioning and be super successful. Also I’ve had enough of being stuck in the Rat Race myself and want to be free to experience life fully with my family. Thanks for sharing your thoughts Helen.

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