What Are Two Of The Most Important Habits To Teach Your Children?

I hope that, by now, we all understand the extreme significance of building within our children (and ourselves) the proper mindset and how it is the single most essential ingredient to wealth building. As a parent who came into this world of wealth building already having learned bad habits, I experienced more times than I’d like to admit, the rude awakening of the fact that I absolutely had to unlearn some fundamental beliefs and horrible habits in my daily living. But, also as a parent, I found myself more easily motivated to struggle through the mindset changes for the sake of my children and teaching them the right way; so that they wouldn’t have to wait until they reached adulthood and go through the agony of such drastic change. No, I would go through that and teach them good and profitable habits early, so that they would grow up with the advantages I simply didn’t have. Today, we want to cover two of the most significant of habits we should nurture within our children in our How To Raise Your Black Child To Be A Millionaire journey #RaisingBlackMillionaires.

Habit #1: Daily Self-Improvement Is A Must

We’ve touched on the value of reading over watching mindless television. But, really, at the root of that is feeding your mind with nourishment by in-taking materials that enrich your perspective, your thoughts, your energy, your being. This is a habit that the poor don’t have and often are never made aware that they don’t have. It’s important for us to train our children to take up this habit, because it will serve them throughout their entire lives and provide them with endless opportunities during periods when most will only see the opposite.

In a previous article, I introduced to some and presented to others, Keith Wyche. In his book Good Is Not Enough (http://www.amazon.com/Good-Not-Enough-Unwritten-Professionals/dp/1591842913), he made the dedication out to his parents for “never allowing me to settle for just being ‘good’ when better was obtainable, and great was within reach!” Keith and I discussed that in the book, How To Raise Your Black Child To Be A Millionaire, so look out for that. But the beautiful point I’d like us all to get is that better is always attainable, and great is always within reach for those who perceive them to be. It’s always a matter of perspective, perception…mindset. So train your children to improve daily through reading, listening, experiencing something enriching EVERY SINGLE DAY (for my fellow Saint Louis natives, you may prefer “errrday”), and you’ll gift them with a world of endless opportunity. This is a topic that deserves further discussion at a later time. Stay tuned.

Habit #2: The Spirit To Serve Will Take You Far

All of my wealthy friends have this and pass (or passed) this on to their children. Having the spirit to serve often develops and strengthens within us the beautiful attribute of humility. The humble are able to handle criticism that can evolve them into someone better than they were before the criticism. The humble don’t take everything personally and are able to find and focus on the outcome, without allowing mishaps to distract them. If you’ve ever heard a self-made millionaire talk about their journeys, without fail, they mention how many times they didn’t meet their objectives, but they learned from the experiences and gained greater success, as a result.

Additionally, when we maintain and act on the spirit to serve, we activate the Law of Reciprocity in our favors. In simple terms: sending forth service and a wiliness to help others, without seeking gain, really sows seeds of fruit that we will one day enjoy. I know, it’ a bit metaphysical; but, I’m sorry, it’s true! Often we’re so caught up in survival and the mentality of lack, that we aren’t able to see small ways in which we may serve others; but it’s worth trying and teaching our children to do the same.

Personal anecdote: One day, my husband took my youngest son to this restaurant to get some fried okra, one of his favorite cheat treats (I was out of town when they snuck this dietary faux pas in…I’m just sayin’). There was a brother outside saying that he was hungry, so my husband told my son to give the man his food. He reluctantly complied. When they got in the car, they talked about how he was feeling and the importance of what he’d done. Then, my husband went and got my son two servings of his beloved fried okra. He’s been looking for opportunities to give or serve, ever since.