Keys to Communication: Spelling and Grammar

It’s summer and summer for many kids means being free of school, although I see it as an opportunity for different types of education and experiences that kids can’t get in the traditional classroom. As you may know, I’m not in love with all aspects of traditional education as it currently stands, but I do think we need something with a structure to help educate our kids about certain things. One of those important aspects even in 2022 with all our digital technology tools is spelling and grammar.

It may surprise you given how much writing I do, but I don’t completely freak out over the occasional spelling mistake that I get in newsletters or emails, especially if it’s not a frequent happening from that person (there’s even one newsletter I subscribe to that consistently (read: every time) shows up with spelling and grammar issues, but it’s part of the appeal and definitely doesn’t detract from the stories that are shared). I get that we sometimes make mistakes and sometimes the words sneak in there without us catching them, and sometimes we think we clicked the spell change for the word but for some reason it didn’t take, which is why I don’t completely get upset about it. But I absolutely notice it, and so do so many other people (including too many who jump down people’s throats over it).

Why do people make a big deal over it? Because it is such a simple thing that makes such a big impact. I recently read a set of documents someone received from a well-known organization which had multiple grammar and spelling issues in each document. We’re talking a really big organization that one would assume is professional and yet not only was the content an issue the details were. Spell check is a support, a tool, but it does not replace the ability to have basic spelling and grammar skills.

So how can we make this better going forward? One of the things I think has helped me with my skills is my love of reading. So over the summer and even during the school year encourage your kids to pick up all the books, work with them on their spelling words, encourage them to do well on the writings they do for school, and expose them to lots of adult conversation (including history and science TV shows) so that they can pick up what educated conversations sound like. Also encourage them to take their time with polishing their work. I know it’s so tempting to get to the point of being done, but that last polish, that spell check, that second (or third) read through, can make all the difference. It’s not about perfection, but about putting your best effort forward and having that attitude towards the work you put out into the world. Think about polishing your words like the cookies you make for the December holidays: sure they’re tasty without any toppings or decorations, but when you add them, the cookies are much tastier or special. What has helped you with your spelling and grammar and do you encourage your kids in this area?

Hook Your Customers

This month for our business book I read Hook Point by Brendan Kane. You may recognize his name because of some of the impressive results he’s gotten with social media (he’s known for generating 1milllion followers in less than 30 days), and over the years he’s worked on many marketing strategies that have been successfully used by celebrities, well known businesses and even movies. The whole premise of the book is found in the subtitle of it: how to stand out in a 3-second world. I know, 3 seconds isn’t long enough to really tell people what you’re all about. The good news for us businesses is that Brendan makes it clear that you don’t have to communicate your whole message in 3 seconds, but that first 3 seconds is the time you have to convince people either on or offline they want to read/learn more or stick around to hear the rest of your story. Let’s take a look at some other insights in the book.

One of the points in the book that stood out is the focus on the purpose of content. He emphasizes that it’s better to create quality content over quantity content. He also suggested that content creators focus on the goal of being able to satisfy the viewer as a way to understand if their content will resonate with their audience. What is satisfying content? It’s content that means the viewer will feel the time spent with it was worth the investment, the content was well paced and didn’t rush the point or take too long to get to the point, and finally the content was logically presented in an organized fashion that didn’t make the viewer have to figure out what was being said.

Second, successful businesses (and marketing campaigns) are built on relationships. What does this mean? It means that first and foremost you recognize that every person who sees your campaign or becomes a client is unique, which is why marketing campaigns have to change over time and no one campaign will resonate with everyone. One way of understanding this is to remember the concept that was shared in the early 1990’s and still resonates true today about the 5 love languages (Brendan’s book shared about a comparable communication personality types concept): what your love languages is isn’t necessarily the love language of your partner. And the same is true in marketing, which is why we’ve seen a huge focus (s0metimes with laughable results) on customized or personalized marketing. There are two important things to remember from this: first that what clicks with you won’t necessarily click with your audience, and second that the better you get to know your client or customer, the more successful you will be at convincing them what you’re selling is something that will benefit them or someone they know.

Finally, the reason that “hook points” work is because they focus on leveraging value instead of strictly selling a product or service. This ties in with the previous point because I think it’s hard to establish value for something if you don’t care about anything but the sale. And if you’re not establishing value, your potential customers will go to a company that is willing to communicate value. If you don’t care about the uniqueness, values, needs, life and concerns of your potential customer, you won’t make the effort to go over and above on understanding why they’re looking at your product/service in the first place and then being able to communicate back to them why your product/service is a good fit. And what we’ve seen over not just the past 3 years but the past decade is that the investment is almost the only way to really stand out in the market.

Do you have a hook point or other quick method of catching the attention of and communicating to people that you’re worth 3 seconds and more of their time? Because without having a quality presentation that’s engaging, well put together and invites them in immediately, you are likely to miss out on an opportunity to work with a client/customer that might be a good match.

Ice Cream Sandwich Success Lessons

The other week at the grocery store I bought one of my favorite summertime treats: the iconic ice cream sandwich. Given how hot it has been lately when I had one the other day I went right to eating it so that I wouldn’t end up with a crazy mess all over my hands and table. But it wasn’t until I got to the last two, mostly messy, bites that I remembered exactly why I loved this brand of ice cream sandwich, because the vanilla ice cream they use is extra tasty when it’s a little melty. It isn’t just a cold ice cream treat, it has a depth of flavor that brings it up a level from the average sandwich. So the next time I had one, you know what I did right?! Yes, grabbed a fork, let the sandwich sit for a few minutes and enjoyed an absolutely delicious and very melty sandwich with my fork just like a proper adult.

There are two success lessons I want to take from this tasty summer experience. First is the lesson of patience. Did I really want to wait for the sandwich to get melty before I dove in? No, of course not. But it was so much better the second time around when I waited a bit even if I didn’t have anything on my fingers to lick at the end like a kid. As much as I love food, I know that some foods are worth the wait and rushing them just isn’t the best thing to do. Success is the same: sometimes you have to let things (or yourself) cook, develop, percolate, mellow or age before the best version of success can be brought forth. Another food example regarding patience is how we have to wait for foods to grow, they don’t just “poof” into existence and we can eat them, regardless of how fast we can eat them once they’re ready (i.e. apple vs chicken). When it comes to our success, maybe you just aren’t ready for that level of success and need to learn more or gain more experience first. Or maybe you’re trying to jump ahead on technology when what you should do is invest in transitional technology that will be more accessible to more people and provide the time for the technology and resources to catch up to each other.

The second lesson has to do with my choice to use a fork. Yes, I absolutely could have eaten my sandwich with my hands once it melted a bit, but I would have gotten extremely messy and honestly I think it would have taken away from the enjoyment of eating it with it being as messy as it ended up being. No, it’s not traditional to use a fork to eat an ice cream sandwich, but again, it made the experience much better. The lesson? Don’t ignore the new and improved tools that are available to you that might make your success journey easier or stronger, but also don’t be afraid to stick with the tools that you have available to you and you know consistently get you results. I’ve shared before about my preference to write stuff down rather than try and keep it all in my head, that’s a tool that works for me. You may benefit from the tool of a timer that keeps you focused on one particular thing for a designated amount of time. Or you may discover you work best when you’re listening to a particular type of music or audio. Or you may find that you are more productive when you start your day with water or a smoothie and have coffee later in the day. Or you may find that you are most productive having short strategy sessions with your coach or mentor each day rather than once a week for a longer block of time. Or you may be a digital tool person rather than a pen and paper, paper calendar tool person. The list goes on of course, because there are so many tools that we use throughout the day to help us be more successful.

To bring it full circle though, don’t get so wrapped up in the process that you forget what you’re working on or enjoying. Don’t let the technique of eating the ice cream sandwich with a fork distract you from the goal of really enjoying the ice cream sandwich. Don’t let the patience required or tools you apply become the focus instead of the actual work you’re trying to succeed in. The techniques, tools and patience are there to support your success journey, not be the journey.

From Fighting to a Better Relationship

Do you and your partner fight? Thankfully my partner and I rarely have fights but they have happened a couple of times during our 10+ year relationship. This past week we had one of those fights and he bought me flowers in part as an apology and in part to show that he recognized how much I’ve been doing to keep things together as he had another surgery and other things he’s had going on this year. I’m more of a plant person, as such I don’t have the best luck making flowers grow on plants, so every so often it is nice to have some cheerful colors in my office, especially when they come from him.

I don’t know any couple that enjoys fighting or makes fighting a priority in their relationship, because fighting is stressful and usually causes more problems (which no one needs). So while the goal should be to have fewer fights with each other, don’t just write fights off as toxic and to be avoided at all costs, because even these challenges can do good for your relationship. The value in the time after the fight when you’re able to be rational with each other again and clearly communicate. It’s an opportunity to discuss the real issues at the heart of the fight and not the stupid (possibly even irrelevant) things you were fighting about to begin with. While fights are good at breaking up relationships, when you are able to have these debrief conversations after a fight it can bring you closer and strengthen your relationship.

And when you’re done with the fight and the after-fight discussion? Make sure you make up and show how much you still love your partner and how much your relationship means to you. Don’t carry the fight forward, don’t let anything that was said in the heat of the moment affect your decisions making in the future. Choose to make the best of the fight, learn what you can from it, be done with it and move forward with love. What good has come from fights that you and your partner have had?

Leadership Lessons: Nelson Mandela

This month I thought we would take a look at one of the leaders I greatly respect: Nelson Mandela. Nelson Mandela International Day was celebrated earlier this week on the 18th, his birthday, and as it has been every year for the past decade or so it’s always inspiring to be reminded of the work he did and life he lived and what we can learn from it. Whenever you look back at a leader from history (in this singular case defined as before internet existed or was really a thing) like Mandela or Dr. King or Lincoln or even Washington, I sometimes wonder how their impact would have changed or exploded if they would have done if they had internet. But it’s also impressive that the words they spoke, the experiences they had still speak to us today, are still relatable today.

Mandela’s story largely begins where many stories begin: with the decision to become better educated, and in his case he studied law. But Mandela’s story doesn’t stop with studying law when he was young and before he got into trouble/good trouble, it was something he pursued as seriously as he could throughout the years he spent in prison. Why? Because not only was it a good way to pass the time, a more educated person always has a better opportunity to connect with someone and understand what’s going on in the world. Mandela’s a great example to look at when it comes to education because he proves that you can learn even with lots of other stuff going on in your life. In his case it was the restrictions he had while he was in prison, but for us that’s the responsibilities we have in running our businesses. Even if you know you don’t have a ton of time each week to learn, subscribe to a handful of curated email newsletters (including like mine) that can keep you up to date on what’s going on and what might help you grow your business.

Which ties in with our next lesson, which is the importance of building relationships. Mandela was a master at building relationships, being willing to talk with anyone and one of the most important things it takes to have true relationships: willingness to listen and work together. One of the keys that helped Mandela do so well with relationship building, is that it wasn’t about politics, it was truly about working together for a better future, which is always a better foundation to build a relationship on than politics. Throughout his years in prison and then when he was President of South Africa and beyond Mandela made a point of getting to know people and the sheer numbers of people who honored him when he passed, speaks to exactly how effective he was at building relationships. His two keys to success can be ours as well: listen and be willing to work together for good.

Third, one of the funniest things I found in my research was that there 80% satisfaction rating for his presidency. If a president, someone in politics, can gain an 80% rating, can’t we do the same in our much less controversial fields of business? No, everyone won’t always love you or what you do or what you offer and you won’t always get it right, but that’s something that even Mandela recognized and accepted. But as I’ve dealt with more customer service issues this past week, I’ve been reminded that we shouldn’t be striving for an 80% rating once, we should be striving for that positive of a rating (or better!) all the time, which means continually working on it. And that high satisfaction rating should encourage you to keep those customers happy and engaged with your business, and you focused on making your business the best it can be for those customers.

Fourth, we can learn our place from Mandela. Mandela, like Dr. Martin Luther King Jr and so many others recognized that it was highly unlikely that he would solve all the problems he set out to fix in his lifetime. The fact is that even with the likelihood that many people today live beyond their 85th birthday, it still takes a long time for true transformation to take place. With all the setbacks and struggles that he experienced in life, it’s pretty incredible that Mandela accomplished as much as he did, and that impact was honored when he was given the title of the Father of the Nation. Now, I’m not great at history or keeping track of history’s timeline, but I’m positive that South Africa was formed and existed hundreds of years before Mandela was born. So it doesn’t matter at what point you come into the transformation, your job is to keep that transformation going, add the experience you can to things and be the leader that will help things get to the next step of progress.

Our final lesson for today comes from the fact that his life sentence was reduced to a 27 year sentence. One of the most important things I think we’re here to do as leaders is to bring hope and to never give up on being able to do better and be better for the people we’re leading. How do we keep the hope alive? With a change in perspective. Focus on one more happy customer, one more person who is passionate about your brand, one more person with a great skill set who comes on board with your team, one more year of helping people, one more person who you were able to help with an issue and therefore able to keep as a satisfied customer, one more person whose life you have made better. Focus on growing and being the best leader you can, not on the obstacles that are stopping you from being the leader you may dream about being of the business you dream about having. The best way to make your dreams a reality is one day, one person, one conversation at a time.

What wisdom have you learned from Nelson Mandela’s incredible life?

Tail-Chasing Success

Maybe the hot summer days are finally getting to me. Why? Because all I can think of are those funny sayings that I remember my parents and grandparents using as I grew up. The one that came to mind today was “don’t chase your tail” or “stop chasing your tail.” Of course it originates from our furry friends with tails who would just chase their own tail and either catch it or not be able to catch it, but either way all it did was make them (and us) dizzy. It’s just such a fascinating body part that is somehow attached and part of them as well as very different, so I can see why it would capture their attention and also be something they might forget is actually part of them until they bite it. Of course we could all be wrong and it could just be that it gets itchy just like any other body part might and trying to catch it is the only way they can think to get that itch taken care of.

The saying holds lots of wisdom for us in our success journey as well, even in the summer time when for some of us work is very different. One of the reasons behind the Great Resignation that we’ve been seeing in so many companies is the number of times employees have to chase their tails about a situation. They can’t ever get a boss to get back to them, they can’t get an answer from their team about when something will be ready for the next step, they can’t get a straight answer from the production department about when a part will be ready, they can’t get the opportunity to learn more or do more or get properly compensated for their work. All of that sounds a whole lot like chasing tails right? Going in circles, doing the same thing again and again, asking the same questions again and again, and getting absolutely nowhere.

The thing is, like so many other things, I think it’s easy to get caught up in the glimpses we get when we chase our tails. Sometimes we get really close or even catch it for a brief moment and the victory feels good. But all too soon we’re back to chasing the tail again and again. At some point we either have to accept that it’s part of our life and we’re OK with that, or we have to stop. Lately I’ve been thinking more about stopping, or maybe to put it a better way, about what I should be chasing instead of going in circles. I like thinking about it a lot better that way than just putting a stop to getting dizzy. Why? Because just like dogs can chase a ball or a frisbee for hours and get good exercise that they love, the issue isn’t repetition and needing to stop the repetition. The issue is what you’re chasing.

What success are you chasing? Is it something that you’ll never really achieve or nothing that will help you make progress on your goals? If you’re chasing your tail maybe it’s time to make a change and chase something else; something that will fulfill you more, inspire you to dream again, and help you see progress after this season of delays.

Try a Little Tact

How good are you at communicating with your partner? Or maybe the better question is how strong is your relationship with your partner? Because there will be times when you put your foot in your mouth when you try to communicate with them about topics that have either a lot of emotion wrapped up in them or you’re really passionate about. My partner and I had one of these “discussions” the other day that we went back and forth on a topic for several hours. We finally did come to resolutions for both the situation and our discussion, which meant that not only did we resolve the topic in question but we were both able to state why we were frustrated in the situation in terms that the other could understand. So it was really well timed to receive the following quote in my inbox in the days that followed:

“Tact is the knack of making a point without making an enemy.”

Howard W. Newton said this, and he’s right! Some people seem to be born with tact, while others of us (most of us) have to work to get to the point that we’re able to consistently communicate effectively without alienating people (unless we’re stating something in a certain way for effect or to make a point of course). Tact doesn’t mean that you aren’t honest, but rather that you are able to communicate that honesty in a way that others can understand and doesn’t inflame the conversation. There is a bit of bad news to this topic, at least from some people’s perspective: for most of us the only way to become tactful people is to do lots of communicating (it takes lots of practice to learn how to be tactful in communication), and you have to want to do something other than scream at people, feel frustrated, or waste lots of time when you communicate. The good news is that tact is another tool in your communications toolbox that can help you be happier and healthier in your life and relationships.

I don’t know too many people who are fine with the fighting and the stress and don’t really care about how easily they navigate life or how healthy their relationships are, but I do know plenty of people who have gotten into a bad habit and have let their discussions get out of control. So why should you make the effort to be more tactful in your discussions on top of all the other things you’re working on and navigating through in your life? Because discussions and arguments and even decisions are about so much more than just who’s “right” or who “wins.” They can be valuable relationship building moments and opportunities to gain important insights into each other and how the other person thinks. They can also teach you a lot about yourself and how you work and room you personally have for improvement (including things your partner may or may not point it out). These discussions are also a very important opportunity for you to work on your communication skills and improving them so that hopefully some day you’ll be able to turn what once would have been a multi-hour or multi-day “discussion” into one that is resolved quickly with less back and forth and less of the toxic emotions that often accompany them like stress, fear, anger, and frustration, leaving lots more time for fun things and things that make you individually and together happy.

So the next time you and your partner (or even you and a coworker) have to have a discussion about something that you’re not both on the same page about, yes practice good listening, ask questions (and listen for the answer), and do your best to clearly and tactfully communicate your position and why it’s what you’ve chosen. But don’t just be satisfied with the decision being settled on, take a minute after the conversation to think about what you did well and could have been improved, and actively try to practice and implement those insights into your communications in the days that follow.

Your Timing vs Their Timing

Today I want to talk about two scary, even intimidating, words for business owners: realistic expectations. I was reading an email from a marketer who specializes in the real estate industry and they were sharing about a real estate agent client of theirs who had a client that was selling their home, and the client was questioning why their home hadn’t sold yet. Sounds fairly typical, right? Wrong. The time on the market? 6 days. 6 DAYS!?!?!?!?!?!?!? I know the market is hot but it’s not that hot anymore and honestly most people are happy if their home gets the offer that actually goes through in a month’s time, and there are plenty of homes that are still on the market for several months before it sells. But the point that the marketer was making was that the real estate agent didn’t make it clear to their client who was selling their home exactly what kind of timeframe they may be dealing with and how long the two parts of the process can take (the listing portion and the transaction portion with the actual buyer).

Are you up front with your customers about the time it can take to see results? Yes, many products and services can provide instant results. For example when you hire someone to cut your lawn it looks great after they provide that service. But if you also hire them to “feed” your lawn to make it healthier, that process can take weeks or months between giving it the nourishment it needs and doing any weeding and replanting of grass to replace bare spots before you really see the results. Or what about when you buy a new skin cream? Yes, you feel good when you put it on the first few times, but you won’t necessarily see or fee improvement to your skin until you’ve been consistently applying it for several weeks. And as a final example, what about if you hire someone to evaluate and advise on the office where you and your employees work and customers may interact with you? Yes, there will be some things you can immediately “fix” and see an improvement and increased satisfaction from your team and customers like disposing of and replacing the coffee pot that’s broken and finally fixing the leaking sink, but other things will take time to change or make decisions on or get into better habits like new welcome space furniture, new paint or hiring a better cleaning crew.

The reason why I think that realistic expectations is even a topic we need to talk about is because too often we feel nervous about being honest with our potential customers about how long it may take to get the results they’re looking for, especially in this fast food/internet speed world. In some ways I think the people who have been able to market themselves as having achieved a huge number of sales in their first year or gotten a huge number of fans in a month’s time or have all these high profile clients do the rest of the business world a disservice. Yes, it’s great that they have gotten those results, but as the fine print has been known to say: “results not typical.” So what I’ve learned in my years in business is that as hard as it can be to be honest about the fact that results can take time, I’d much rather work with a client who understands that and is willing to take on that work and invest the time, than someone who expects “viral” or instant results that are hard, if not impossible, to deliver just because they think that’s the way the world works today.

So let’s bring it full circle. How do we help our customers understand what realistic expectations might look like? One great opportunity is in outlining this as a PDF or white paper to offer as a gift to your newsletter subscribers. It could also be a resource you offer for free on your website (or at a minimal fee if you share details that aren’t offered generally to the public and easily found online), or it could be part of your actual website content that you outline it or state it in brief. It could be something that you explore in blog posts (with a new post about it every year or every couple of years depending on the industry and how much/fast things change and how often you post). It can and should also be part of every onboarding conversation so that everyone is on the same page before money exchanges hands. And beyond the initial conversation, a great way to manage customer’s expectations is to be in regular communication about what’s going on, what’s being done and progress that’s being seen/made.

What about you? Do you struggle to lay out realistic expectations for your clients? How do you communicate your process and time frame to your clients so they understand the commitment they’re investing in?

Pace Yourself

Have you ever had surgery or broke a bone? What about ended a long-term relationship that really meant a lot to you (your heart broke)? Even when you get a “simple” paper cut you know that it doesn’t get better/heal instantly, right? Modern medicine has certainly had many advances over the centuries, but we’re still not at the place that we can instantly knit together bones or veins or muscles to the way they were or the way they’re supposed to be. Sometimes we can give our success journey a big push and accomplish a ton all at once, but often it’s something that we need to be slow and deliberate about, especially if it involves your habits.

Let’s look at four examples. If you want to become a healthier cook it will take time to learn and consistently produce tasty results that you and your family will eat. You’ll have to figure out what seasonings and spices appeal to you, and how to cook different and new-to-you proteins and vegetables so that they’re not just edible but enjoyable. If you want to become good enough to do well on one of those knowledge-based game shows on TV you can’t just read a couple of history books or spend a couple of days exploring the internet, you have to consistently invest in learning day in and day out and being open to all topics for months and years. If you want to lose weight you have to change your eating and exercise habits so that the pounds not only go away, but they don’t come back on too. If you want to play with some really great musicians you have to practice every day for years to not only be able to keep up with them but to be able to produce the quality of sound that they do.

The point is that sometimes there is no short cut. You can’t just give it one big effort (or several) and be where you want to be. There is no one-and-done. Yes, you may still need to give your success journey some big efforts from time to time (for instance there usually is more work in the beginning than there will be down the road as you adjust to this new path), but those big efforts alone won’t be enough to really get it done and get it done right. In fact, it’s often even better if you don’t try to do it in big efforts because it can frustrate you that you’re not seeing the results for the effort you’re putting in. To use a phrase you may be familiar with, you can’t build “muscle memory” with two really big workouts. Muscle memory only happens through repetition over weeks, months and years. It may not make us happy in this instant age, but that’s the way it is.

So what about your current success journey? Are you trying to rush or push and not seeing the results? Do you need to do a better job of consistently pacing yourself to reach success? Don’t be discouraged that it takes time, get in a rhythm of making consistent efforts and you’ll be able to appreciate your progress and success.

Can We Still Dream about the Future?

You’ve heard the saying “If it’s not broke, don’t fix it” right? I think for many years we were under the assumption that things in our world weren’t broke, but then the pandemic came along and then the economic issues came along and both revealed exactly how much was broken or how easily things in our world could break and leave us with a huge mess and few resources to clean up the mess. The logical and business sides of me say that this is exactly why we shouldn’t go back to “life as it was” in 2019 and earlier, because we were practically running around using miles of duct tape to hold our lives and world together and now we’re paying the consequences and therefore we need to stop using duct tape and start doing things right. But the parts of me that are human and compassionate are having a much harder time with where we’ve ended up as a world at this time.

One of the topics that got me started exploring this whole discussion again are the kids who are in high school and looking ahead to college and would be using their summer vacation for college visits and planning their futures. But the past two and a half years haven’t given them a whole lot of confidence and security in the future, haven’t put them in close proximity with guidance counselors, and haven’t given them the freedom to explore who they really are and who they might want to grow to be as an adult. So I can understand why some of them are struggling so much with what the future holds for them, and not anticipating it with more excitement and hope as I remember myself and my friends feeling when we were at their age.

But it doesn’t end with the teens not having the usual foundation for the future that so many of us experienced at their age, it affects us adults as well who are naturally concerned about their future prospects and not wanting them to struggle through life with so much uncertainty that doesn’t seem very typical/normal/healthy for the advanced civilization that we live in. So part of the message is to be as strong and supportive of them as you can. Don’t berate them for their lack of confidence and direction in the future, choose to support them and encourage them to explore and plan as best they can. Second, remember that in this day and age very few people have lifetime careers, and most change jobs and even industries several times throughout their working years. So they don’t have to get it “right” the first time, they just have to find something that will give them a place to start and hopefully a foundation to build on. Maybe that means taking the basic classes at a local/online community college and working a job or a couple of jobs to get experience and try things out before they make a decision about more formal education. Finally, if you’ve been doing your job as a responsible adult in their life right you have given them the tools, knowledge and wisdom to trust themselves and have a solid foundation to work with regardless of what their future might hold.

Yes, this season in our lives will forever shape and change the kids of the world and how they see the world and the future. But that doesn’t mean that we should give up on a better future for them, and we should encourage them to dream and find at least some interest in what the future could hold for them. Also, I’d say the same holds true for us: we shouldn’t give up on our futures either, and instead we should keep working just as hard as we always have to create a future for the next generations that we’re proud to leave them.