When I had my twins, I knew I wanted another baby because I couldn’t handle the thought of them leaving for college at the same time.
Fast forward 21 years and it was time for my third baby to be leaving for college in Florida from Illinois.
As I wiped my tears, I realized that over the last 21 years, I have spent an inordinate amount of time preparing them to be independent and successful when their time comes.
Here are 4 things I did a little differently as an entrepreneur that might just help you as you prepare your kiddos for independence, no matter what age they are.
Let’s dive in!
#1 Find Your Passion
While my three kids were growing up, I told them I didn’t care about their grades, but I did want them to find something they loved and could build a career out of.
As entrepreneurs, we're different.
We want to do what we love and won't settle for a career that we hate.
I think that we're wired differently and fueled by passion.
The greatest gift we can give our kids is to show them that they can build a career doing what they love.
#2 Leadership Training
I've realized that I can either invest in personal development for my kids when they are children, or they will do it later in life as therapy.
Therapy is great, but I want to give them the tools they need to be a strong leader before they leave my house.
They're going to be making tough choices in their life and I want to teach them to be confident in what they choose.
When my kids were young I found a leadership program called Landmark Forum.
It was hard work, but my kids came out of it appreciating the things and privileges they have. It was very eye-opening.
When I joined the National Speaker Association, they had a youth leadership program.
Every year I would take my kids with me and they would spend the week listening to motivational speakers.
They've done many FCA and sports camps.
My son was in Boy Scouts and it really grew him as a person.
Yes, these leadership activities are an investment, but that's why I am so passionate about building a profitable photography business.
I want to be able to invest in my kids and I want the same for you.
#3 Treating Parenting Like a Business
I do not claim to be a parenting expert, but I love a well-run business.
I hate yelling and being crabby mommy, but I also hated when I would come home and things were out of balance.
Because of this, we started having family meetings.
The first meeting was out of desperation.
It went surprisingly well and the next meeting, my husband brought a typed up agenda and my kids came with ideas.
It was amazing.
Did the changes we planned always work out or last?
Of course not, but it made things better.
It also set a precedent that they could come to me if there was a problem.
I really believe that as a family, we are a team.
Having meetings and coming together to solve problems really helped our household run smoothly.
#4 We Live By Our Core Values
Kids need a life rule book and so do we.
When kids have a clear set of rules of core values to live by, it helps them make big decisions easily.
We live by the core values of family first and lifting as we climb.
Everything we do is for our Family, and we never need to hesitate to help others grow.
Another core value of ours is, the more the merrier.
I want my kids to know if they're ever in a situation where someone is at risk of being left out, they don't even need to ask us to invite them.
Having core values for our family has been a game changer.
Invest In Activities Not Things
Your kid doesn't need fancy things.
Invest your money into their character, and go on fun adventures with them.
I believe that there is nothing better we can do for the future than to help our children build a life that matters and only you can model for them what that looks like.
Raise your kids in a way that lets you feel confident in their abilities when they start leaving for college.
You can do it.
