Self-made millionaire: 3 of the worst lessons you're accidentally teaching your kids

Grant Cardone
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The things your parents taught you are now affecting your marriage, your business, your friendships, your income, and everything else in your life, and not in a good way. A lot of the guidance your parents gave you became useless as you aged.

Your parents were operating on a fear level for survival. They taught you things that were relevant for their lives, in their time. Those lessons aren't applicable to the world we live in now.

Now that it's your turn, don't blindly teach your own kids these principles without thinking more deeply about these yourself.

"Eat everything on your plate"

If you feel like you have to eat everything on your plate, it leads to a scarcity mindset. The scarcity mindset is the opposite of the abundance mindset, and it stems from the small things you were taught as a child.

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A scarcity-based mindset is what I call a "not-enough attitude." The people who have it are the ones who complain about not having enough time, money, energy or resources to achieve their goals.

Typically, people with that attitude approach their challenges by focusing on what they lack. As a result, their businesses and the people around them choose the wrong priorities: Preservation rather than growth and familiar surroundings instead of new frontiers.

"Don't talk to strangers"

The truth is you need to talk to strangers because strangers have everything you want. Think about it. If you're not talking to strangers, you aren't going anyplace in your life. You aren't going to venture out into the world.

You need to talk to strangers because strangers have everything you want.

My 7-year-old daughter was on a plane with me back when she was younger, and she wanted a cookie. I told her I didn't have one and wasn't going to give her one. She needed to find one from someone else. I had her go up and down the aisle asking people for a cookie. Strangers had what she needed.

Don't encourage introversion and shyness by telling your kid never to talk to strangers.

"Be patient"

You need to move with speed and urgency in life. You want to teach your kids to move with hunger, like, "I've got to get this done, I've got to get it done now it's urgent!" Why do you need to encourage this? When things are urgent you're going to find your true potential.

Self-made millionaire Grant Cardone
Courtesy of Grant Cardone

The truth is most of the planet is not operating with any sense of speed, much less any sense of urgency on any given task. The faster your kids learn to move in life the better off they'll be. Let the masses move slowly at normal levels of actions. Normal is average, and average is poor.

Here are a few more bad parenting tips to watch out for:

  • Play it safe
  • Buy a house
  • Be careful
  • Don't talk about money
  • Don't blow your own horn
  • Don't rent
  • Don't speak unless spoken to
  • Fly under the radar
  • Set "reasonable" expectations
  • It'll all work out

Grant Cardone is an entrepreneur, New York Times best-selling author, and sales training expert.

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