Business Lessons from a 4-year-old.

Enjoy.

RENinja

By Greg Habstritt.

As you may know, my wife Raylene and I have a thriving, creative little boy named Cooper — and today happens to be the day that he turns 4 years old.

As I’ve now learned, birthdays are a BIG deal to a 4 year old.

Like most dads I’m sure, I absolutely adore my boy and express gratitude every day for being blessed to be his dad.

What’s amazing to me is that as I reflected over the past 4 years of having him in my life, I’ve learned so many powerful things from him – not just life lessons, but powerful principles that apply to success in business as well.

The 5 Lessons I’ve Learned From My 4 Year Old

LESSON #1: Live In The Moment (There Is No Tomorrow)

To a young child who has not yet developed a true sense of “time” (nor patience), this moment is the only moment that matters. When Cooper wants to do something, his belief is that it should be ..

RIGHT.

NOW.

He doesn’t like putting off fun things until tomorrow or the future. On a daily basis, he practices the concept of living in the moment, and doing what matters today.

I think as we get older, we lose this sense of priority, and of doing what matters now instead of procrastinating, or allowing other people’s rules to delay what it is what we really want in our lives. I can’t count how many times he’s pushed me to play him, take him somewhere or otherwise engage with him NOW instead of later. And while it sometimes is inconvenient, I’m grateful for him constantly reminding me that life’s about the people you love, and that life is not a dress rehearsal – and why not doing the fun thing you want to do now?

LESSON #2: Persistence Wins Out Over Reason

As the parent of any small child can attest, persistence is one of the tools that we all learn very early in life – and as we grow older, we seem to lose that determination and focus in a lot of ways. I’m pretty sure that Cooper is the world’s most persistent kid. Yes, that becomes a pain in the ass sometimes when he won’t give up a negotiation to get what he wants .. but he ends up proving time and time again that the persistent one usually wins out, regardless of how much logic and reasoning is used against it.

(which explains why he ends up in our bed more than occasionally)

Life, and business, are no different – the people who end up succeeding are the ones who have persistence. I’ve long said that the most important characteristic of someone who wants to be successful is that of persistence, because it’s the person who does whatever it takes and will never give up that usually ends up winning the game or battle.

Are you willing to do whatever it takes, or do you give up when the going gets tough?

LESSON #3: Discover Something Every Day

I think one of the main reasons children seem to be so magical is because they’re constantly open to discovery. I think that’s the greatest joy I have with Cooper – when I have the chance to watch him discover something completely new. There’s nothing like seeing the look of amazement and his eyes open wide at witnessing something for the first time. Watching him connect dots he’s never connected before is incredibly powerful for me. It’s like magic, and the incredible innocence and being open to opportunity is such a powerful gift that children are given.

Sadly, as people get older, I’ve observed that this constant enthusiasm and openness to discovering new things slowly dies away. If only people were to retain that constant desire to discover, I think we’d see a much more positive and optimistic energy in our world.

Are you open to discovery, or do you stay within the same worn path that you’ve traveled 1,000 times before out of habit or comfort?

LESSON #4: Be Unreasonable

Cooper doesn’t really care about reality, about logic, or what’s “right” or “correct” in a certain situation. When he sets his mind to something, he doesn’t think about whether it’s reasonable or not. Most of us learn to become “reasonable” as we grow up, because we don’t want to create conflict or call attention to ourselves. We don’t want to be judged by others, and so we conform — which means becoming part of the crowd.

As an entrepreneur, your willingness to be unreasonable ultimately defines how innovative and creative you’re going to be, which drives growth and opportunity. Many of the world’s greatest entrepreneurs and innovators were considered unreasonable — until their disregard for being judged by others brought them a breakthrough or success, which redefined how people saw them. Steve Jobs is one of the greatest examples of this. Had Jobs not been willing to be unreasonable, Apple likely would no longer exist as a company.

Are you willing to be unreasonable when it comes to something that matters to you?

LESSON #5: Create Your Own Rules So You Always Win

One of Cooper’s greatest loves is playing with his cars and Lego, and creating simple little games that we can play together. What’s amusing to watch is how he develops the game so he’s assured that he’s going to win. Whether it’s giving me the race car with the dud wheel, or refusing to play if I try to create “fair” rules with him, he likes to set up his own rules, and then play the game he knows he can win.

Most people grow up in life playing other people’s games, working on other people’s agendas, and trying to make other people happy. They never decide what the game is they want to play, and how to win it. That’s one of the greatest gifts that entrepreneurs are given – the ability to set their own game up, play by their own rules, and radically increase the likelihood of their own success and fulfillment.

Are you playing by your own rules, or trying to play by someone else’s?

Today, as we enjoy the ice cream birthday cake and have fun at his birthday party with all his friends (including his 3 girlfriends), I’m so grateful to not only have such an incredible, thriving little boy to be a role model for .. but that he’s giving me back more than I could have ever expected.

Happy birthday buddy, I love you!

–