Tweet

Valentine's Day Memories: I (Heart) My Kids

Guest post by: Michael Hume

Article Overview: There are two kinds of people out there - "Victims" and "Entrepreneurs" - and only when we are operating as Entrepreneurs do we have the spirit to be leaders. And the truly inspirational leaders do what they do because they, like all Entrepreneurs, have a mission to contribute to others. To be inspiring, they have to start by being inspired... and working from a place of love is a great fast-track to inspiration....

Valentine's Day Memories: I (Heart) My Kids

We Made This Day A Family Tradition Happy Valentine's Day!

I heard a great little phrase the other day, in (of all places) a radio ad: "Valentine's Day isn't about saying 'I Love You,' it's about saying 'I Love Us.'"

I think that's a nice thought. It's great to say you love your sweetheart, but you should probably be doing that every day, in many ways. But are you also in love with the relationship you have? And are you in love with ALL your personal relationships?

I used to have four kids, but they all grew up. When they were little, I insisted on making Valentine's Day a special celebration not just of the romantic relationship I had with their mother, but of the loving relationship we all enjoyed as a family. I worked for a newspaper, so I got a nice discount on Valentine classified ads, and I bought one for each of my kids, each year. (I still wonder to this day if any of them ever read those ads.) And each year, Daddy took February 14 off, we all dressed up in our best clothes, and we went to dinner someplace fancy (usually up in the mountains - super special).

Mommy got a big box of chocolates, which she always opened in front of the kids. And each kid got a little box of chocolates. My hope, of course, was to celebrate our love as a family, and also to teach my kids about love, a little at a time.

These days, about once a month, we have a "family dinner" at our home in Colorado. The "kids" who live close enough make the drive down, and we have a nice home meal and a fun evening. They stay over, and we go to breakfast the next morning. This month's family dinner was this past Saturday, and it was great! And because of the proximity to Valentine's Day, of course, presents were handed around at breakfast the next morning. And it made us feel a little nostalgic, thinking about those other Valentine's dinners, many years ago.

I wish you health, wealth, and inspiration... and I hope you are living your whole life with as much emphasis on love as possible. In your personal life, start some traditions that celebrate love and teach it to your kids. I highly recommend it. Maybe my Valentine's Day tradition doesn't feel right to you - I can understand wanting to reserve the holiday for romance - but there must be something you can do to bring focus and emphasis to love and relationships within your home.

(If my family's tradition does sound good to you, feel free to steal it!)

And in your professional life, corny as it sounds, bring love to your work! This is one of the greatest recommendations I can make to my clients who want to be inspirational leaders. There are two kinds of people out there - "Victims" and "Entrepreneurs" - and only when we are operating as Entrepreneurs do we have the spirit to be leaders. And the truly inspirational leaders do what they do because they, like all Entrepreneurs, have a mission to contribute to others. To be inspiring, they have to start by being inspired... and working from a place of love is a great fast-track to inspiration.

It's a sad world out there, and we're troubled by everything from global economic chaos to fast-paced multi-tasking lives that seem to leave us with little time each day for the things that are most important. Let Valentine's Day be a reminder that we must not let the best parts of our lives slip away from us while we're distracted by things like work. Take personal responsibility to invest in inspiration. Make an investment in love, and in the important relationships you enjoy with the people in your life.

Related Articles
  You Must Learn To Be Resilient!
  Be A Model For Your Kids
  The Money Rules
  Fire Yourself and Fix Your Business
  Favorite Children's Small Business Opportunities
  Paying Kids to Study (An Early Business Lesson)
  WAHM Strategies When Kids Are Home During the Summer
  "Decisions, Decisions, Decisions"
  Kid’s Have Stress Too
  You May Think You Are Helping Others … But Find Out You Were The One Getting Helped!
  Rule of 3 not 2 not 4
  When you FEEL good not just think positive, you attract more good stuff into your life
  Good Day? Bad Day?
  In the Beat of a Heart
  Business and Life Strategies Taught by a 6 Year Old
  Overcoming Barriers and Obstacles
  CREATIVE POWER OF SLEEP
  Ty Warner Quotes
  NOSTALGIA, A POWERFUL BUT OFTEN NEGLECTED SELLING TOOL
  Protect Your Children and Their Teeth

Article Tags: entrepreneurship, health wealth and happiness, inspirational leadership, personal responsibility



Related Forum Posts
Re: THE SECRET TO SUCCESS IS ALL IN YOUR HEAD...RIGHT NOW!!! - Success = Thinking (Head) + Heart (Feeling / Interest) + Hand (doing/ action). Success - H3 Robert
Re: Is it better to become an entrepreneur at an early age? - The younger you are the better you are at learning. I just posted a new thread that one of our teams won 2nd place at the FLL competition. these kids are at age 11-12, and they learned most of the skills by themselves. They know how to read and write in English. Kids in Israel just start learning English at the age of 10. They learned programing skills, etc. One of the kids learn how to use the Gimp program in one hour! That was amazing, all he knew before is how to work with windows' paint, and I downloaded gimp and he made posters for the team. This is why there are many schools for 3 years old, teaching them English and math. To answer you question, Kevin, I thing young is good, after you learn different skills, you can start at an early age. Kids in my country have a little advantage, they have to go to the army for 2 years, this experience is preparing you to life, and you have to mature early. And the best thing about it the early retirement too. A good entrepreneur will be able to retire early, this is everyones dream.
Re: How did we Live before Electricity - Hi Michelle, It's hard for us to think about life without electricity, like the Kids today can imagine their lives without a mobile phone. I do remember years we didn't have to use heaters and air conditioners. 2 days ago it was so hot here I couldn't breath. In my country the electric company is now paying to those who install solar panels an reduce the use of electricity. It is still very expensive, many still thinking if it worth it when think on the money they are going to spend, but if you think about the global worming, that we caused be cause we use electricity, I think it worth it.
Where to print a book - [quote:39vg8s93]So, writing a chapter a day, I finished in a month, and Kidpreneur: Genius Ways for Kids to Pay For College was born. Currently my book is self published -- I just printed up 100 copies to give to all the people featured in the book, teachers, and some more to sell at $20.00 a piece (it costs $10.00 a copy at Kinko's, so it's not really an outrageous price). [/quote:39vg8s93] If at all possible, you need to stop using Kinko's now and go price some real printers. It should cost only a couple of dollars a piece, if that, to print your book. Admittedly you'll have to buy in bulk, but the overall savings - selling a $2 book for $20 so that you make an $18 profit instead of a measley $10.... is something every kidpreneur should think about!
OT: TV Shows Teaching Inappropriate Behavior - I just saw a commercial a few minutes ago for a tv show called Queen Bees. Five or six beautiful young women, all full of themselves, saying stuff like, "I'm going to get what I want and if you get in my way I'll hurt you." Every single woman's comment was in that vein - promising violence to anyone who stood in the way of their ambition... to be some sort of "diva." Then there was a commercial for a show called "Be Diddy's Assistant" which showed some woman attacking and hitting a guy in a chair... Then we get Dragon's Den from England... entrepreneurs come to a group of people and make their pitch, and most of them get insulted and ridiculed and tossed aside (again, based on the commercials I've seen - never watched it and never will) And then there's the shows I've heard discussed here.. The Apprentice, etc., all teaching people that violence and sneaking around and in-your-face arrogance is acceptable behavior. And I find it very frightening! Kids are vicious enough just as they are, without being inculcated with this stuff so they grow up and start implementing it!


Share this article with your friends. Fund someone's dream.

Leave a comment below or share on the left and you'll help support entrepreneurs in Africa through our partnership with Kiva. Over $50,000 raised and counting - Please keep sharing! Learn more.

Newsletter

Get advice & tips from famous business
owners, new articles by entrepreneur
experts, my latest website updates, &
special sneak peaks at what's to come!

Name:
Email:

Popular Articles

Maximum Impact Restaurant Greening

Link Pyramids

Presenting Yourself With Impact at Work

Suggestions

Email us your ideas on how to make our
website more valuable! Thank you Sharon
from Toronto Salsa Lessons / Classes for
your suggestions to make the newsletter
look like the website and profile younger
entrepreneurs like Jennifer Lopez.