I wrote this piece back in 2006. It recently popped up while I was looking for something else, and I wanted to share it with you today.

My friend Pete and I were discussing our kids one night. 

We were both raised poor and were beginning to find some success in our careers. Finding ourselves in a position to do more for our kids than our parents were able to do for us got us thinking.

 We started talking about how much is too much concerning supporting our kids. Do you buy them a car? Help them buy a car? Is it new or used? Should you pay for college? Do you allow them to take loans for school and graduate in debt? Do you help them pay the loans? We discussed our dads and what they did for us as kids. As I said, we both grew up without much in terms of material things, and our dads were notorious for making us pay our way. Pete remembered my father’s famous line when, in 1975, I asked if I could drive his new 1969 Buick LeSabre to the junior prom; he responded with, “Frankie, you’re lucky I let you wash that car.”  

We laughed about that, but then Pete made a very profound point. He told me about his son (also named Pete), who met a couple of kids at school who were from very wealthy families. They began to pal around, and his son was struck by the difference in their lifestyle. Pee Junior lamented to Senior that having everything handed to you must be nice. (Junior’s new friend got a tricked-out Escalade for his 17th birthday and a gas card to go with it!) Pete deftly explained to his son the downside of getting too much too soon. 

 He said, “Pete, I am 48 years old and still have dreams. I still think about some vacations I might take or the new boat I want to buy. I think about those things when I am working. They motivate me to keep working hard. They motivate me to get up and out every day. What is the point of getting out of bed in the morning if you have no dreams, no motivation?”

I am sure many of you might react to this thinking with, “Try me, drop a few million on my head, and see if I wake up happy every day,” but Pete’s point is about purpose. Everyone needs a purpose. Why do Warren Buffet and Bill Gates still work?

If you aren’t one to set goals, perhaps Pete’s take will get you started. Attaching meaning to what you do daily makes every day meaningful, and for Pete’s sake, DON’T SPOIL YOUR KIDS!

Own Your Sales Gene…