Effort and attitude.

Those are two of the core fundamentals for success in anything you do.

This is something that has served as my North Star my entire life. And I’ve tried to instill the same in my kids.

Recently, this has been a real struggle.

Both of my kids are very gifted. They are both very different kids, but gifted, nonetheless.

So how does one instill these core values?

We have done a great job with device management. Both of my kids sit at the dinner table in a restaurant without tablets, phones, etc. They are engaged (most of the time).

But the principles of always having the best attitude, especially when things are hard, have been tough to pass down.

And challenging them to give the maximum effort in everything they do – well, that’s even more difficult.

Now, I know you can’t expect perfection.

But you can expect effort and attitude.

I believe that we demonstrate this every day and in everything we do.

But the struggle is real.

We all want to give our kids everything. We never want them to struggle the way we did.

But there must be a line, and rules must be followed. You don’t get to do everything you want all the time – that is not real life.

So, the path I have chosen is to make sure they understand that these two core fundamentals are non-negotiable.

That’s really all we can do.

Lead by example and never lose faith in what is truly important.

After all, our kids are the leaders of the future.

-J.D.