September 20, 2021 Darron Rowley

The Lessons We Learn From Our Kids

It’s amazing how much we can learn from kids.

A few months ago, my little boy taught me an important lesson.

He is 4 years old.

All spring and early summer we had been working on baseball.

As he was hitting off of a tee, I was giving him pointers on his stance and how he needed to hold the bat.

My guidance was persistent but without excess pressure.

I didn’t want him to learn bad habits, but also felt like too much pressure at that age would push him away from wanting to learn.

But he just wasn’t listening.

He was getting frustrated by not hitting it as far as he wanted to and when I tried to explain to him what he needed to fix, he just wasn’t having it.

Every parent knows this feeling.

It finally dawned on me: maybe I haven’t given him a reason to believe I know what I am talking about.

After all, he had never really seen me hit a baseball (we were actually using a tennis ball on this specific day.)

So, I casually went over to him and asked him if he thought I could hit the tennis ball over the house.

Not sure where this idea came from, but it seemed like a reasonable one.

His eyes got big, and he said, “that would be awesome, I wanna see you do it.”

Now, don’t get me wrong, I am not a pro baseball player by any stretch of the imagination.

But I also knew hitting it over the house was not a big deal for most adults.

But to my boy, it was a big deal.

So, I picked up the ball, threw it in the air, and hit it over the house on the first try - luckily.

The look on his face was priceless.

He couldn’t believe what he had just seen – it’s a lot easier to impress your kids when they are young!

He ran to the front yard so excited to find the ball.

And for the next hour he stood on one side of the house while I stood on the other as I hit the ball to him.

From this day forward, my son has listened without reservation to any tips I give him about baseball.

Not only that, but he also improved rapidly from that point forward.

He is loving baseball!

Why am I Telling You This?

The first lessons I learned was how important it is to not just tell our kids what they need to be doing, but to show them.

Now, we may not be able to do everything our kids are doing, but many things we can.

If we are going to mentor them, they have to see that we are living those same principles.

My son just needed to see me hit a ball once to know that I was able to do what I was asking him to do.

From that point forward, I had his full attention.

The second lessons I learned is that we need to see success to help propel us forward.

Whether we are seeing something work for someone else or needing to see it from ourselves, that success is a motivator.

As human beings we need to see that ‘proof.’

I believe this relates closely with money – and almost every aspect of life.

If you are struggling with something, you need to see success.

Start by either watching someone who has mastered it, or just take the first step yourself.

As we see that success in others, it is much easier to image it for ourselves.

As we take that first step ourselves, and see even small success, that gives us confidence and motivation.

It’s also a very important principle for raising children or influencing others.

Be that level of success that you want to see in others.

They will take you much more seriously if they see you living what you are teaching.