Brought to you by the Every Dollar App. Start budgeting for free today. Jonathan says, without getting too deep in the weeds about my background, I've always had what I would consider a menial job on a help desk, and I don't see that changing in the future. My concern is about the example I'm setting up for my five-year-old son.
What can I do to ensure he succeeds at his chosen career when the time comes and how do I encourage him so that he actually does something meaningful with his professional life? I will keep his mind open to trade school possibilities and won't dismiss anything. He simply has to do better than I have. Wow.
Man, I wish I could give you a hug, Jonathan. I would say to those who feel like Jonathan feels, you can change your future. You can change your future professionally. But to the specific question, this is kind of a parenting question on how do we set our kids up so that they can do something meaningful in their professional life?
And I think it's a very simple formula that I teach and it's in a simple sentence. If they use what they do best to do something they enjoy, to produce a result that they care about, they're gonna be very, very fulfilled. That is the recipe to meaningful work. That's right there.
That is, that's right. The paycheck to purpose, we unveil seven stages that will get you there, a clear path to get you there. But that's the formula. So how do we do this with our kids?
So early on, mom and dad, pay attention. Pay attention to the things that have come easy to them. I mean from the time they were toddlers, all the way up through high school. What are the things that just have naturally come easy for them?
Maybe they're simply struggle, but it comes easy for them. Help them see that. Help them pay attention to the compliments they get. Where are they getting compliments in their life?
Okay, this is just basic awareness that you as parents instinctively are gonna be able to see, but you help your kids see this. And what this does early on, before we ever start thinking about college and a major and a professional life, we start to pay attention to what they're good at. There's a high correlation day between the things that we're good at and the things that we actually enjoy doing. And so you can get- You don't generally enjoy something you're stuck at.
That's right. The only thing- The exception of golf. That was what I was gonna say. And that's because of the company and the surroundings, right?
And so we start there. Let's not overthink this. And so as they're younger and they're beginning to age into, well high school and there's pressure to choose a college and then a major and a career path, hopefully as parents, we've given them this foundation that early on they're paying attention to. This is what I'm good at and this is what I enjoy.
And as they begin to experience more of life, let them test something. Here's one thing I don't think parents do enough of an America. And I think it's, when we get a kid who let's say says, I like working on machines. I'm good at fixing stuff.
One of the things I would do is I would allow them to spend time with people in different walks of life that are in some ways fixing something, solving a problem mechanically or maybe with their minds and begin to let these kids shadow and see the real thing. I think you'll see your kids eyes light up. So we've made this thing too complex because what we do is, is we put pressure on these kids to choose a name brand school and get a degree that seems to make a lot of sense according to Kiplingers and US News of World Report. Got it, I hope it's- And we push kids into a career that they end up in their early 30s regretting that they did and they can't use a degree.
So that's the answer. Now we actually have a student assessment. It's called the Get Clear Career Assessment. You get it at ramsysolutions.com and it's actually made for students.
We took the adult version which has been a wild success. Probably not for five years. And we simplified it. Not a five year old.
But as I'm talking to parents in general, this is a wonderful tool. If you've got a high schooler, get this assessment, the results will allow you and them to get on the same page and begin to talk practically through the advice I just gave. And I'm really proud of the tool because it actually works. Yeah, it does.
It's an incredible tool. So what you're referring to is what the old proverb says in the Bible in King James Version. I like the King James Version on this. It says, train up a child in the way he is bent.
Mm-hmm. The old other version saying the way he's train up a child in the way he should go and when he's all told not to part from it. But bent, meaning what is his natural bent? What is his giftings?
And find that and then accentuate that. And by the way, a kid that likes to work on things doesn't necessarily mean that he or she is a mechanic. That's right. They could be a mechanical engineer.
If you see things spatially, you could be an engineer. And by the way, engineers are the number one career category of millionaires. Correct. So high probability of being a millionaire.
So among our study anyway. So yeah, it's very, very interesting. I got a circle back though, Jonathan, and tell you, raising kids more caught than taught. And so if he doesn't see his dad going for it and stepping up and stepping out, instead settles back in that easy chair at the menial desk job and I'm just freaking Eeyore.
Get up, man. Get up. Throw your shoulders back. Suck it up.
Step out. I don't care how old you are. Some really great career start in people's 50s, 60s, and 70s. Colonel Sanders never fried chicken publicly until he was 72.
Leonardo da Vinci painted the Sistine Chapel laying on his back. It's the ceiling, by the way, boys and girls. At 78 years old. It ain't over as long as you're sucking wind.
So stand up, throw your shoulders back, suck it up, and go do something, buddy. Your five-year-old thinks you do that. That's what he needs to say you do this. I'm stuck.
It's always going to be this way. Oh, crap, man. Get up. That's silly.
Don't do that. Don't do that with your life. Your life is too precious for you to do this. Ken wants to give you a hug.
I'm kicking you in a butt. That feels about right now. I'm going to be coach Ramsey right here, man. It's halftime.
Get your butt up. You're behind. You need to catch up. Get it.
Get out there, man. That's what your son needs to see. He needs to see his dad do that. Even if his dad falls flat on his face, at least he's running.
At least you get your hand scratched when you fall. Hit the pavement. You get your nose bloodied when you fall. Hit the pace.
Shut up. Get up and do it again, man. This is how to live your life. This is how life, this email screams of quiet desperation.
Come on, man. Your kid needs to see that. More is caught than taught. They're not going to excel if they've never seen any adults excel.
If they're all the adults in their life settle, please expect them to settle. Please expect them to do that. If the adults in their life esteem academics expect them to do it, it's any academics. If the adults in their life fail in the blank, expect them to fail in that blank, whatever it is.
Okay. Hello. This is what these kiddos are. Now, some of them will revolt directly against it, but at least they got something to bounce off of.
So get it. Get it. Get it done. I got a friend that's a real estate agent.
A friend of my dad's. I used to do deals with him. And he worked all the time. He just passed away.
He worked all the time. He had two kids. One of them said, I'm going to be a teacher. I'm never getting a real estate business.
My dad worked all the time. You know what the other one does? Real estate business. That's right.
At least you got something bounced off of me. That's true. I think it's absolutely right. By the way, he in all reality, he's a very affordable tech certification program away from potentially doubling the salary because he's got a background in tech.
Say that. So he's not stuck. He's got a support desk, a help desk. Yeah, but that doesn't mean it's tech.
Does it? I'm assuming help desk means tech, but I don't know if it's tech that's even worse. Yeah, you're right. I've never heard that phrase used for anything else, but I could be wrong.
That's because you always need help with tech. Actually, I actually did email our tech team today. It's like, hey, we have one guy, his full time job is to fix the tech. I break.
I'm in the same category. You can't even retire all the phones and computers that I walk near. They all just blow up. Mm-hmm.
Like so. Yeah. We got our own help desk thing going here. I don't know what kind of help desk your own man, but go do something.
Go. Don't settle. Don't settle. Get back to your life, man.
Go have fun. Go have fun. Create your free every dollar budget today. The simplest way to budget for your life.