In my last column I shared about a YouTube video by John Maxwell, “The Five Levels of Leadership”, in this video, he shares, anyone can be a leader…that was very encouraging to me… however, they must want it, and do the work to be it. The ole’ BE – DO – HAVE, unfortunately, no matter who I chat with, where I am, the conversation goes something like this…this “Millennial Generation” just does not get it, they want to BE, skip the ‘DO’ and then Have it all…
OMG, what this generation does not get…without the DO, you will never get to the full potential of HAVE. To really appreciate life and be grateful for the things you do have and appreciate the people in your life. Rolling up our sleeves, getting down in the trenches, feeling a bit of pain, and really working through a project, staying with it, to get to the other side of succeeding, builds up confidence, character and growth that does not happen without the “Do” you will NEVER, earn the stripes.
I am pretty sure the parents, teachers and our “Society Mindset” certainly played a role in these young lives. I remember a moment in time when I was putting our son Michael to bed, and he had just had his first practice of touch football. So we were discussing his day, and he shares, “I am not sure I really like touch football, and do not want to play it.” So, my response to this 9-year old BOY, “Well we had talked about this, and it is really hard to determine you do not like something when you do it only once. Let’s do this, if after you have finished the season (which was 6 weeks long – not going to kill him) you still are not liking it, you will not have to sign up again.”
So, he finishes out the season, ended up loving it, and went on to play foot- ball at Carroll College, played in 3 National championships, and won two!! Our Society Mindset, and it still is out there today…as parents, Teachers and other Adults in their lives, we make it too easy and then they do not learn the confidence or the self-discipline to succeed in life when they go out on their own. Our goal as a parent is to guide our children…what does a 9 year old little boy know about life that he can just quit if the going gets a bit tough. We must allow our children to participate and fail, in order to succeed.
To this day, one of the “Stupidest” sports concept that my family was exposed to, is NOT keeping score when they were in grade school and played Soccer, REALLY!!
I would like to find the parent(s) that came up with this wonderful idea and see how successful their children are once leaving the “Hovering” of their parents. Evan though this was a “RULE”, I, my husband and our children and most all the other parents and players STILL kept score. Life is all about winning and losing and learning how to pick yourself up and try again. My children have been on winning teams and losing teams, they have had good teachers and not so good teachers…’HELLO’, that is called life. When they enter the ‘REAL’ world without their parent’s hovering, life hits them in the face, and now we have the same parents writing articles on how to best employ this Adult generation.
Our daughter, Lauren, is going to be doing an internship in Seattle this Summer and currently has a lot going on as she is working on her Master’s. Meanwhile she is looking for a place to live, and was sharing how really time consuming it is to find something that will fit her budget and within reason to where she will be working. And through our conversation, I did think briefly that I could take this on for her, and just as I was thinking this,
out of my mouth comes, “Well, this is just one of those things in life that does take a bit of time, but when you find the right spot, you will appreciate it…Welcome to Adulthood.”
Dan Sullivan, the owner of a company called, “Strategic Coach”, shares, “I just really do not want to really engage with any one until they really get into their forties. As we are in our twenties we are still operating off the values of our parents, good or bad, and then we hopefully get a job, may get married, have a few kids and then in our thirties, you really have to start designing your life and what it will be…our real life experiences are what shape us and then how we ‘DEAL’ with life, is the true essence of how successful someone can be. Do they just let life rule them, or are they making sound decisions to grow, build a strong value base for themselves and their family.”
If the Millennial are from the years of when they were born, 1982 – 2004, their ages today are 13 – 35, we may just need to see how they grow as they enter into their forties.
Whether you are in Kalispell, Whitefish, Bigfork, Columbia Falls or anywhere else in the Flathead Valley. . .As always, Your Comfort is my Central concern for all your heating, cooling, plumbing, electrical & drain cleaning needs. And no different than how I raised my own children, I am committed to our Team members to have the opportunity to grow, not only professionally, but personally as well, everyday.