“If you work hard and set that as a goal, YOU CAN DO IT, TOO.”
That’s what my buddy said, after my kids asked him, “How’d you do it?”
One of the things I’ve always struggled with… even to this day… is belief in myself and what I may be capable of. Frankly, way too many things seem so “out of reach for me” because I consider myself to be… well… average, at best.
I didn’t do well in school. I struggled to understand some – what seemed to be to others – simple concepts, and even now, when tasked with something I’ve never considered myself good at… I get a pit in my stomach.
Not to mention, I grew up in a less than ideal financial situation. Okay, okay… as a family, we struggled financially. Money was hard to come by. I never missed a meal, but I vividly remember the day I discovered we were eating… “welfare peanut butter.”
My friend, Gary was over and we decided to make a few PB and J’s. As I opened a new “can” of peanut butter and dipped my spoon down in to mix the “top layer of oil” in with the “bottom layer of ‘cement like’ solid” I glanced over to see him with a confused look on his face.
After a few minutes of vigorous mixing, I plopped a blob on to his bread only to see it “rip up the bread” as I spread it… because it was SO stiff.
As I turned to him, he looked at me confused and said, “What is THAT?”
Wait. What?
So, yeah… I wasn’t that smart and we didn’t have a lot and pinched every penny.
Things other kids took for granted – like “Jif peanut butter” – were a dream for me. So, when I dreamed… I didn’t dream of extravagant, or impossible things… I dreamed of just getting to the norm – just things I’d see at my friends houses – basic things.
I just wanted to be like everyone else. Average… was an upgrade.
And it wasn’t until years later when a friend of mine shared with me stories of trips and events that he’d experienced as a kid… and how they opened his eyes to what was REALLY possible… that I discovered that I DIDN’T HAVE THAT as a kid.
Once I learned that “seeing others” achieve was a way to plant in our minds the “belief” that “anything is possible” I decided that I – and ALL my family – needed to SEE more.
And that brings me back to my kids.
My youngest son Jack loves Porsche’s. And once a year or so, I take him over to the dealership to sit in them and “SEE” what is possible.
So, when a good buddy of mine bought a very expensive, really cool car – one that I knew would get ALL our attention (a McLaren) I wanted him to bring it over so my kids could see it, feel it, sit in it, maybe take a ride in it and build belief about what may be possible for them in their lives.
When Jack asked my buddy, “How’d you do it?” My buddy said, “If you work hard and set that as a goal, YOU CAN DO IT, TOO.”
Here’s my confession.
Ever wonder why we post so many things about our family thriving? Ever wonder why we try to make sure it’s all so positive and uplifting?
It’s NOT because we’re perfect. We’re FAR from it. We still have our struggles and always will. But you already see PLENTY of that (struggles) in families raising strong-willed kids.
For US… it’s not about perfection. It’s about intention. We INTENTIONALLY look for and INTENTIONALLY find the joy in our lives and INTENTIONALLY post it…
So you can SEE that it’s possible. And not just possible… but PROBABLE… IF… you’re willing to put in the work.
Just like us. A barely average family.
The good news… you don’t have to “start from scratch” like we did.
When we started more than 15 yrs ago it was the Wild West and NO ONE was doing what we’re doing – much less showing us it was even POSSIBLE… and we had to figure things out from scratch.
It took us almost 10 years and tens of thousands of dollars to find the answers. BUT YOU don’t have to do all that and waste all that time and money. You can short-cut the process and plug in to the system we developed and used – and still use to this day.
Want to know more? Simply type the word “more” in the comments and I’ll send you a free gift. You know… to get you started.
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