success mindset

Kids Mindset for Success: Planning and Goal Setting

Enterprise For KidsTeam Mindset, Confidence & Leadership, Raising Entrepreneurial Kids , , , , , , , , , 0 Comment
Young kids in suits showing a determined kids mindset for success

Kids mindset for success begins with helping children turn their dreams, ideas and intentions into a clear plan they can actually follow.

During my career-path conversation with my son Jai, he was able to visualise himself, his surroundings and the companions he wanted in his adult future. The final step was to solidify the pathway that would take him to his version of a successful life: a plan, Natalie Cook’s fifth P.

Natalie Cook with Cathy showing a kids mindset for success
Natalie Cook stood on a chair for this photo!

Kids Mindset for Success Starts With a Plan

It is always a good idea to sit down and plot out short-term and long-term goals, especially for entrepreneurial kids who are cultivating a kids mindset for success.

On an adult level, well-made plans should be a natural component of what you perceive as your life’s purpose — your “Why” in life. Of course, children who are entrepreneurial may not have solidified their life purpose to this extent yet. But they can still begin learning how to set meaningful goals, create intentions and take practical steps forward.

A plan helps children move from vague wishing into purposeful action.

Helping Kids Set Clear Intentions

Sean Rasmussen, our internet marketing mentor, taught me a trick that can be successful with kids as well.

Write an intention on a small piece of paper, but do not use the future tense.

For instance, an adult might write:

“I have attracted a healthy, motivated business person to my business this month.”

That is much stronger than writing:

“I will attract…”

A child might write:

“I have kicked two goals at this Saturday’s soccer match.”

Place the written intention under your pillow, in your wallet, or somewhere you will view it regularly. The idea is to set a specific and realistic goal, then see it, believe it and feel it.

Plan for kids mindset for success

People who practise this mindset for success technique can go on to set bigger and grander intentions over time.

For children, this is not about pressure. It is about learning to direct their thoughts, language and energy toward something positive and achievable.

Having a Defined Goal Builds a Kids Mindset for Success

My friend Michael Clouse says that not having a clearly defined plan is like an archer who aims at a target with a blindfold on.

There is no chance of hitting the bullseye if you are unable to see it.

That image is a wonderful one for children. If they cannot see what they are aiming for, how can they know which direction to move? A clearly defined goal helps children understand what they are working toward and why their daily actions matter.

This is especially important for entrepreneurial kids, because business ideas can easily remain just ideas unless they are supported by a plan.

Vision Boards and a Kids Mindset for Success

Another technique is visualising goals using a vision board.

Select the experiences, goals and things that you would like to have in your life. Then make a poster board using images, words and graphics. Place the vision board somewhere you will see it daily.

The important part is not just making the board. The important part is seeing it often, visualising the items on the board, and imagining them as if they were real and already present in your life.

Child facing fears and building a mindset for success
Facing your fears! Walking on broken glass!

A vision board can help children begin to connect their imagination with action. It gives them a visual reminder of what they care about and where they are heading.

For some kids, this might include sport, travel, family, creativity, business ideas, friendships, learning goals or ways they want to contribute to the world.

Positive Affirmations Lead to a Success Mindset in Kids

Speaking positive affirmations aloud two or three times a day is another way of setting your intention and belief. Again, these should be in the present tense.

Natalie Cook likes to declare her intentions and plans before a public audience, making herself accountable to a lot of people for achieving her aims. Her Olympic journey is a strong example of discipline, planning and follow-through. You can read more about her work and speaking through Natalie Cook’s official website.

So be bold.

Change your way of thinking.

Get rid of the negatives.

Affirm the positives.

Make sure that your plans are well aligned with your life vision. Set grand goals and follow your plan. This is a kids mindset for success.

Natalie Cook’s Five Ps Series

This article is Part 4 in our series on Natalie Cook’s Five Ps for helping entrepreneurial kids and enterprising teens develop purpose, people, passion, perseverance, planning and a mindset for success.

Where to Next?

How do you help your children set goals and follow a plan? Leave a comment and share one strategy that has helped build a mindset for success in your family.

Entrepreneurial Kids: How to Teach Purpose and Success

Enterprise For KidsTeam Mindset, Confidence & Leadership, Raising Entrepreneurial Kids , , , , , , , , , 6 Comments
Natalie Cook diving for the ball at the Sydney Olympics beach volleyball final

Entrepreneurial kids need more than a good idea or a burst of enthusiasm — they need a strong sense of purpose that helps them keep going when the path becomes difficult.

This lesson became very clear to me after hearing Olympic gold medallist Natalie Cook speak in Perth. Natalie is a five-time Olympian and one of Australia’s most inspiring beach volleyball champions. Her message about success, purpose and the mindset of high achievers was powerful not only for athletes, but also for parents raising entrepreneurial kids.

Natalie Cook gold medallist sharing lessons for entrepreneurial kids
Natalie Cook, Olympic gold medallist, shared powerful lessons about purpose and success.

Why Entrepreneurial Kids Need a Strong Purpose

Natalie Cook is a wonderful example of the connection between sport, business and personal success. She won Olympic gold with Kerri Pottharst at the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games and went on to become a respected speaker, leader and businesswoman. You can read more about her Olympic journey on the Australian Olympic Committee’s Natalie Cook profile.

When Natalie spoke in Perth, she explained that professional athletes and successful business owners have many things in common. Both need discipline, courage, focus and the ability to keep moving towards a goal, even when the obstacles are real.

Her message was captivating, humorous and very useful for cultivating a mindset for success in entrepreneurial kids — and, just as importantly, in their adult counterparts.

Natalie Cook’s Five Ps for Success

Natalie built her talk around what she called the Five Ps. These were principles that could apply to children, athletes, families and business owners alike.

Over a series of posts, I wanted to share these Five Ps and connect them to the way we raise enterprising, confident and purpose-driven children. I will also be adding one extra “P” of my own at the end. After hearing Natalie’s five, I wonder if you can guess what mine might be.

For this first part, we begin with one of the most important foundations of all.

Entrepreneurial Kids and the Power of 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 it is not, you may not have enough purpose to muster up the will to make your goals happen when barriers appear. A strong purpose gives children something deeper to hold onto. It turns a vague wish into a reason to keep trying.

Your “Why” has to be specific and close to the heart. It does not need to be complicated.

A friend of mine is driven to succeed 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 she can reconnect with her Italian family roots and create a sense of belonging.

These “Whys” are very different from saying, “Why not?” They are clear purposes, not poor explanations.

Teaching Purpose to Kids Through Real Conversations

Your “Why” will often come from one of two emotions: pain or pleasure. Usually, pain is the stronger of the two.

Think about the rags-to-riches stories we often hear about well-known success mentors and creators such as JK Rowling, Colonel Sanders, Sylvester Stallone, Walt Disney, Steve Jobs, Susan Boyle and Richard Branson. Their difficult experiences helped shape a strong “Why,” and that purpose became part of what carried them forward.

For entrepreneurial kids, this does not mean they need to experience hardship before they can succeed. It means they need to understand what matters to them. They need to begin asking deeper questions about contribution, growth, family, freedom, creativity and the kind of life they want to build.

Cathy and Trevor with Natalie Cook after a talk about purpose and success
Amy, Cathy, Natalie, Tracey, Kym and Trevor after Natalie Cook’s inspiring talk.

I recently carried out a “Why” exercise with my son, Jai.

We had just returned from a career pathway meeting for his upcoming senior class. Every pathway the school presented seemed to end in landing a j-o-b — just-over-broke. Whether the route was through university, technical school or straight into the average 40-year career, the end result sounded much the same.

There was nothing for an enterprising teen to really grab hold of.

Worse still, because the students were nearing the end of high school, the pressure was on to make a choice. It felt like a limited choice, based on hastily presented ideas rather than a deeply considered purpose.

The result was confusion. Jai seemed torn between going to university with his mates because 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” for both of these career paths were too vague.

Purpose quote for entrepreneurial kids learning their why

Questions That Help Entrepreneurial Kids Find Their Why

So, we got to work.

We discussed why these two ideas sounded interesting to him. We talked about the difference between a strong “Why” and a casual “Why not?” We also explored why “Why not?” is unlikely to carry a person through the hard parts of either choice.

Then I asked Jai to ponder three 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?

These are big questions for a teenager. In fact, they are big questions for adults too.

But they matter.

If we want to raise entrepreneurial kids who can think for themselves, create opportunities and build meaningful lives, we need to help them move beyond surface-level choices. We need to help them understand what drives them.

Purpose Comes Before the Plan

Many children are asked what job they want before they are asked what kind of life they want.

They are asked what subjects they will choose before they are asked what they care about.

They are asked which pathway they will follow before they have had time to discover the purpose behind the pathway.

This is why purpose matters so much. A plan without purpose can become a list of tasks. Purpose gives the plan energy, direction and meaning.

For entrepreneurial kids, purpose is not just about making money. It is about knowing why they want to create, serve, solve, build, lead or contribute in the first place.

Next, we continue the journey in Part 2: People and Passion, where we explore how the right people and passions can help shape entrepreneurial kids and enterprising teens.

Natalie Cook’s Five Ps Series

This article is Part 1 in our series on Natalie Cook’s Five Ps for helping entrepreneurial kids and enterprising teens develop purpose, people, passion, perseverance, planning and a mindset for success.

Where to Next?

We are always looking for feedback on our entrepreneurial kids articles. What is your “Why”? Leave a comment and share the purpose that keeps you moving forward.

Enterprising Teens: People, Passion and Success

Enterprise For KidsTeam Mindset, Confidence & Leadership, Raising Entrepreneurial Kids , , , , , , , , , 4 Comments
Jai thinking about people and passion as an enterprising teen

Enterprising teens need more than a career pathway or a good business idea — they need the right people around them and a passion strong enough to keep them moving forward.

After my son Jai and I discussed the first of Natalie Cook’s Five Ps, Purpose, I asked him to make a timeline of his life. I wanted him to focus on his surroundings, but more importantly, on the people who would be with him.

Jai thinking about the people and passions that support enterprising teens
Jai thinking about the people and passions that could help shape his enterprising teen journey.

Why Enterprising Teens Need the Right People

Natalie Cook’s second P is People.

Attracting the right people in life is key to building a successful young entrepreneur. But whether Jai chose to be an enterprising teen or follow a different path, what mattered most to me was his mindset for success in whatever direction he chose.

So, I asked him to imagine where he would like to be sitting five years from now — and with whom.

Then ten years from now.

Then forty years from now.

I asked him to picture what was around him, who his associates were, and what made those people so valuable to him that their presence would still be visible in his future decades later.

People quote for enterprising teens learning about success

What Natalie Cook Taught About People and Success

Natalie Cook’s career is a powerful example of what the right people, passion and support can help create. Her official Olympic profile describes her as a five-time Olympian and Olympic gold and bronze medallist in beach volleyball, making her a strong real-world role model for enterprising teens. Read more about Natalie Cook’s Olympic journey here.

Natalie discussed the value of surrounding herself with the right people while training to become an Olympic gold medallist. Around her were coaches, mindset mentors, professionals and peers whose encouragement lifted her up rather than criticism that tore her down.

This is a powerful lesson for enterprising teens.

The people around our children influence how they think, what they believe is possible, and the standards they quietly begin to accept for themselves. Friends, mentors, coaches, teachers, family members and business role models can all shape a child’s confidence and direction.

As parents, we cannot choose every influence our children will meet. But we can help them become more conscious of the people they allow close to them.

Helping Enterprising Teens Choose Positive Influences

It is important for enterprising teens to spend time with the sort of people they would like to learn from, grow with and, in some ways, emulate.

This goes beyond simple peer pressure. Children and teenagers absorb attitudes, habits, language, confidence and expectations from the people around them. If they are constantly surrounded by people who complain, criticise or limit possibility, that can become their normal.

But if they are surrounded by people who encourage, create, question, build, serve and keep learning, that can also become their normal.

This does not mean they need to abandon old friends or judge others harshly. It simply means they can learn to ask better questions:

  • Who encourages me to become better?
  • Who helps me believe more is possible?
  • Who lives with values I respect?
  • Who makes me feel more confident, creative and capable?
  • Who would I love to learn from?

These are not just business questions. They are life questions.

Enterprising Teens Learn Success by Helping People

One of the things I love about business and enterprise is that, at its heart, it is about people.

It does not matter whether the enterprise is large or small. It could be a child’s first market stall, a family business, a service project, a creative idea, or a future company. When young people learn to be genuinely helpful to others, their chances of success increase.

Helping people gives enterprising teens and adults an energy that attracts the right people into their lives. It teaches them that business is not only about making money. It is also about solving problems, creating value and building relationships.

This is a lesson children can begin learning very early.

Why Passion Matters for Enterprising Teens

Natalie Cook’s third P is Passion.

People are naturally attracted to those who have passion for what they do. Passion gives energy to an idea. It helps a young person keep going when the excitement wears off and the work begins.

Natalie has spoken about the importance of loving the process, not just the outcome. That is a valuable message for enterprising teens, because the process is where most of the growth happens.

Success is not only found in the final result. It is found in the practice, the learning, the mistakes, the conversations, the courage and the small daily decisions that eventually become a life.

Passion quote for enterprising teens developing a mindset for success

Jai wanted something he could stick with for the long term.

Having him visualise himself, his surroundings and his companions far into the future helped him reach a place that felt more connected to his own passion. It was something apart from what others were expecting of him. It was a desire that felt less likely to fade with time.

His spirit was guiding him, rather than the social conditioning of school, friends and family.

People and Passion Come Before the Pathway

This is one of the problems I see with the way many teenagers are asked to make career decisions.

They are often asked to choose a pathway before they have deeply considered the people they want around them, the kind of contribution they want to make, and the passions that might sustain them over time.

For enterprising teens, this matters.

A pathway without people can feel lonely.

A pathway without passion can become heavy.

But when a young person begins to understand who inspires them, who strengthens them, and what lights them up from the inside, their decisions become clearer.

That does not mean every choice becomes easy. It means the choices begin to come from a deeper place.

Natalie Cook’s Five Ps Series

This article is Part 2 in our series on Natalie Cook’s Five Ps for helping entrepreneurial kids and enterprising teens develop purpose, people, passion, perseverance, planning and a mindset for success.

Where to Next?

If you could enlist three people in the world to personally be your friend and mentor, who would they be? Mine would be Richard Branson, Robert Kiyosaki and Michael Clouse. Leave us a comment and share who would be on your list.