I’ve got five kids. Five! Most days this amazes me and makes me laugh when I stop and reflect on it. My three boys and two girls are all totally different. When I think about their little, unique personalities it makes me wonder how we can possibly teach kids in a traditional classroom setting when literally every one is different, but that’s a different article entirely!
What I have been thinking a lot about lately is raising my girls in the modern world.
See, I’m a feminist simply by being a dad who loves his girls!
To me, this means I’m raising women who want to be self-sufficient, strong, ambitious, empowered people who can be/do/have anything in this world they set their minds to.
An interesting phenomenon I’ve run across over the past couple years as I’ve worked on growing my own businesses and networked with other entrepreneurs is the sheep in wolf’s clothing. It’s “cool” today to be an entrepreneur. Telling people you’re the founder/CEO of such-and-such LLC or Inc is sexy AF, where a few years ago people would have labeled you a deadbeat hipster millennial that didn’t want to conform to getting a “real” job or finishing college. See, I’m not the traditional founder/CEO. I went to college—and graduated—three times! But back to the “cool” factor of being an entrepreneur…
See, today while it’s “cool” to be an entrepreneur; it’s also “cool” to be a wolf. It’s badass to be a trendsetter out there blazing trails and not following the herd. I see it every day on social media, those “wolves” calling out the sheep for their behavior—their herd mentality. The funny thing is, most of these “wolves” are really just sheep themselves posing as wolves. You can be anything you want to be on social media, and if you tell everyone long enough, and loud enough—people start to listen to you; they start to believe you. And most people start to believe themselves.
Here’s the truth though—when shit gets hard—they jump right back in line with the herd and ditch the wolf coat to blend right back in with their fellow sheep. I got to witness this firsthand myself over the last couple months and I sat there dumbfounded as I watched my pack mates fall out of line and scramble back to the herd. The same people that talk about being badasses in their fields, in one breath, literally claiming to be victims in the next. How TF does that work?
You’re either a boss or you’re a victim. You can’t simultaneously be both!
And this brings me back to my kids—especially my girls. As an entrepreneur, and a dad, my greatest responsibility is to the little minds at home watching everything we do. We set the example every day. And they are watching, every day! No matter what we are doing—good, bad, or otherwise—they are watching! My girls are being raised to be self-sufficient, empowered, ambitious, women. I’m proud of the conversations we have at home and the big thoughts and ideas they are having at such early ages and stages of their development. It’s one of the greatest things I’ll ever do in my lifetime, I’m sure of it!
Being self-sufficient is hard. Being an entrepreneur is hard. Being a wolf is hard! The real ones – I’ve learned – are rare, and I’ve found this out the hard way. Here’s to 2018, raising our kids the right way, living in truth and being transparent to ourselves, our associates, and especially our children.
It’s not easy, but it’s worth it!
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Original article appeared at Dr. Matt Motil. Republished to Medium.
Photo by Helena Lopes on Unsplash