Recently our 10-year-old son asked what I meant when I would say "You come from a long line of hard workers and goal achievers". His nose all scrunched up to let me know the part of long line of hard work, didn't sound very appealing to him. Although, he enjoys the extra money he makes by helping out on projects, the work itself never sounds very fun to him. Below is a picture taken of him helping me at a home in Bella Vista, Arkansas.
I couldn't help but smile as I am pretty sure I had the same look on my face when I asked my dad the same question years ago. I decided the best way to explain to him how work effort and goal achieving are directly related to income, by getting out some old family photos...
First, I started with the photos of him helping me in Bella Vista. The before, during, and the after pictures seemed to only reminded him how much he dislikes sanding cabinets.
So, I started explaining how our family came across the water to settle as poor immigrants, to achieve great things, by applying great work effort. As I was talking with my son, I went through and continued to show photos of great, great grandparents, great, great aunts and uncles,my own grandparents and aunts and uncles.They used educational goals, and steadfastness to obtain and reach each goal. My father's father was a farmer, most likely a genius in business. They saved every penny and invested wisely. My favorite person on dad's side was definitely my aunt Cleta and her husband uncle Roy. I loved visiting them as a child, because Aunt Cleta always made sure to listen to any of my nonsense and seemed to enjoy my ornery sense of humor (at least she tolerated it well). As our conversation continued, I came across a photo of my mom and her younger siblings. There, I stopped to reminisce a little in my own head. I have some wonderful memories of everyone in that photo. All were entrepreneurs.
Several years I was away from my family, during this time I often would share some of their stories with my daughters (grown) and now our late in life, young son. So, he was pretty familiar with everyone in each of the old pictures.
I began to go off on a rabbit trail with him when I started talking about my aunt Pat and her husband uncle Jim. As a young girl (around the age of 9) she would help her dad and granddad on different construction projects they were working. My aunt Pat as a young woman, was a designer, although she didn't have a degree in the field, her natural raw talent was off the charts! Their first home, she redesigned and they both implemented the makeover. They made a good profit from the sale, so they continued to do this with many other homes. Her husband, my uncle Jim, was an electrical engineer and worked for NASA.
I shared with him the only time I was blessed enough to have the opportunity to work with them was on a home renovation in Texas, a few weeks ago. We sent him to visit family in Kansas City and we headed to Texas to meet up with family there for a new project.
My aunt Pat now 79 worked harder and longer than anyone else. I was so impressed by her work ethic that I wanted a video of the project made from the few pictures I had taken.
I rely heavily on CAD and floor plans that help me know exactly how we implement a design. She literally designs it out and implements on the fly. LOL Although, next to her I was feeling like a newbie, she was kind and humble enough to include me in each of her design processes.
As I showed him the raw pictures from where the old cabinets were removed to the updated plumbing and finally the new cabinets. I noticed how my words sunk in more with the pictures of the renovation. These pictures showed not only the people, but also the hard work and the end results of their work. I could tell that he understood, from the examples in the photos how goal setting, and hard work come together. Also, it made him proud to know that my aunt Pat is also his (great) aunt Pat. He pointed out proudly that he too has started in the construction and design business as a kid.
As any parent, I want my son to grow up to be healthy, happy, and productive.
I look at our grown girls and how proud I am to be their mom. Although, I strove to be the best mom ever, as with any parent, I know I made plenty of mistakes. Raising them was such an honor, and now that I see how productive and amazing ladies they have each became, my heart soars with thankfulness and pride.
Setting goals with your child, implementing a plan on how to achieve the goal, and then some kind of a reward after the goal is achieved is important. I believe it helps them later in life make better decisions and life choices.
~Trish Whitsell
Was this blog post enjoyable? Did it inspire you to make some goals with your own child? Maybe it inspired you to set a goal for yourself? Might even inspired you to remodel...lol If so, you know who to call to help you achieve that last goal, and make that remodel Beautifully Done.
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