How to train your kid to think like an Entrepreneur and develop a million-dollar mindset?

“You don’t learn to walk by following rules. You learn by doing, and by falling over.” ~Richard Branson

Evan started his YouTube channel and managed to earn $1.3m in his annual revenue.

Now, for the interesting part. Evan was just 9 years old when he made his first million. Yes, Evan is just one example. There are tons of kids like Evan. Ryan ToysReview has more than 12m subscribers serving dollops of cuteness, while smart and loud-mouthed 2 year old chatty Mila can easily drive more than 800,000 views on her adorable witty rants. I mean, who can forget when Mila had budgeting blues, or when someone kept kicking her seat at the movies. Who wouldn’t want to vent out after that!!!

Who are these kids? These are ordinary kids with an Entrepreneurial mindset drilled into them. Just like adults, some kids are destined to make it big. Curiosity, self-confidence, and creativity are just a few traits that turn ordinary kids into prodigies.

Can your child be a budding Entrepreneur? Well, that depends on how serious you are to teach your kids to think and act like one! Here are 8 skills that you need to inculcate in your kids to help them become boss babies!

Resilience

A study conducted by Stefan Korber identifies six behaviors that guarantee Entrepreneurial success and one of them is resilience.

No great mind has ever existed without a touch of madness.

Kristen Hadeed in her book, Permission to Screw Up talks about her relationship with her father. “When I discussed my company name with my father, he told me to check if anyone else is registered with that name.”

“I chucked his warning out the window and registered my company anyway. One week later, I was holding a notice in my hand, with an order to dissolve my company name, as it was already assigned to someone outside our state. At that moment I looked towards my father to hold me and comfort me with warm nothings. But, my father strictly told me to “learn to deal with my demons on my own. “

As parents, it falls on us to teach our kids to get back up on their own after each fall. Instead of acting like a shield, let them become self-sufficient. Let them fail and learn things on their own.

Creativity & Innovation

“I spent all my summers on his ranch, from the age of 4 to 16, and [Jeff’s grandfather Pop] was incredibly self-reliant. You know, if you’re in the middle of nowhere, in a rural area, you don’t pick up the phone and call somebody when something breaks, you figure out how to fix it yourself. So, as a kid, I got to see him solve all these problems and be a real problem solver… We learned a lot of things from watching him because he would take on major projects that he didn’t really know how to do and then figure out how to do them.” ~Jeff Bezos

Most Entrepreneurs didn’t know what to do at the onset. But, one thing they all had in common was an inherent sense of wonder and curiosity to innovate and find new ways to do old things.

As an Entrepreneur, you’ll be forced to solve multifaceted problems on a day-to-day basis. And if you don’t teach your kids to move away from their comfort zone and get their feet wet with something new, you’ll not be able to bring out the best in them.

Instead of rushing to jump in every time you see them struggling, let them play, let them burn the midnight oil figuring out how to do something until they get it right. You’ll be surprised by the amount of energy these kids will put in to unravel out-of-the-solution solutions.

Industriousness

“In my first few years of the university, I used to code for 18 hours at a stretch.”

“I slept in my office and started work next day from where I had left off. “

These are not just statements. These are moments of inspiration that young people can garner from well-established Entrepreneurs.

To build a solid work ethic, kids need to learn the value of hard work. Nurture a sense of independence among kids by assigning them certain responsibilities, even as small as drying out the dishes daily or mowing the lawn. Instead of showering them with needless gadgets, give them podcasts to listen to or success stories to while away the time, to inspire and motivate themselves.

Ensure that your kids learn to do the day-to-day activities well so that when things go south, they can always surface on top of the wave.

Curiosity

“Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once he grows up.” ~Pablo Picasso

When consulting with entrepreneurs and executives, I start with something I call the Clearing Process, a route I developed to help people step more fully into the expanded possibility. The Clearing Process begins with clarity, and sometimes this is a challenge for new business leaders who are eager to launch their businesses without doing their diligent homework in their earnestness.

“Oh, I’m very clear about my goals,” they tell me. “I’ve spent years thinking about opening my own company.”

“Great!” I smile at them. “What greater purpose do you see your company filling?”

Silence.

The reason most modern-day Entrepreneurs don’t know what their company stands for is that they are not curious enough. Entrepreneurs are life-long learners.

Encourage your kids to try & learn new things, instead of settling into a routine. Try to take them out to tech-free outings. Take them to a museum, to a new country, or even to activity centers periodically to keep their creativity fueled.

 Empathy

“Empathy makes you a better innovator. If I look at the most successful products we [at Microsoft] have created, it comes with that ability to meet the unmet, unarticulated needs of customers.” Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella

Successful Entrepreneurs know the importance of being empathetic. Empathy is the core difference between a leader and a boss. Being empathetic not just towards other entrepreneurs, but even the employees of your start-up, is indispensable as it helps them foster a sense of team spirit.

With kids, don’t just wave off their ideas on-spot, no matter how silly and a child-whimsical-fantasy they may sound. Listen to them, discuss with them, and teach them about the pros and cons of their ideas like grown-ups. If you listen to your kids with a full attention, it can help build empathy in them, right from a tender age.

Giving back

True Entrepreneurs are veracious givers. They understand the importance of social responsibility. They don’t just work for themselves, they take what they do and work hard to give back to people in unimaginable ways.

Be it Bill Gates, who dreamed of every home using his windows, or Steve Jobs who revolutionized the way we listen to songs or use our smartphones, every Entrepreneur was a visionary once who set aside his feelings and did something for the greater good.

Teach your kids to help their friends and neighbors for a start. Pass on to them the habit of giving out a charity or helping the elderly while they are crossing the street. This will develop in them the spirit of giving back. And once this habit is well-established, kids can use it in their ventures to deliver the impossible.

In the end, even if your kids don’t succeed as Entrepreneurs, these skills can help them in different areas of their lives. As parents, it is your duty to train your kids well. Even if your parents didn’t train you, it is your job to ensure that your kids grow with the right Entrepreneurial outlook.