You Can't Read, Talk, Wish, Or Hope They'll Assume Behaviors You Want Them To Emulate.
You must model the behaviors and traits you want them to adopt, daily.
“You can’t read about, talk about, wish for, or hoper they’ll assume behaviors & traits you want them to emulate.
You have to live them.
They cannot be something you do sometimes, but become the fabric of who you are all the time.
If not, they’ll always see through the facade.”
-Ray Zingler on X
As a species who is continuing to devolve (not a typo) to take the path of least resistance, do you think they’re just going to wake up one day and decide they should probably start paying the man?
Do you think in the middle of a video game, they are going to get the sudden urge to put the controller down and head outside in the heat to run hills?
Do you think, for one second, they’re going to stumble upon prioritizing hydration and nutrition when they are one click away from having chemicals branded as food delivered straight to their gullets?
Of course they’re not.
They’re not going to that because it’s “inconvenient”.
The only way they would ever trade the latter examples for the former is if they’re taught the importance of them.
And when I say teach, I mean actively witnessed, daily.
Reading some bullshit inspirational article or watching a YouTube video on the importance of hard things doesn’t do it for them.
Talking about going outside and humping it up hills isn’t going to encourage them to turn Fortnite off.
Wishing they’d get excited about eating healthy is exactly what is going to keep them fat and unhealthy.
“Hoping” they’ll pick up on this “adulting” behavior (that the VAST majority of immature, irresponsible adults suck at) isn’t how it works.
For them to adopt these behaviors “you know deep down are important” requires you to live them.
Not when it’s convenient.
Not sometimes.
All the time.
You can’t even just live the code.
The code must become who you are.
From the bottom of your feet to the top of your scalp.
How can you reasonably expect them to do what you won’t even do?
Playing make believe as if a lived personal example isn’t the only way to (truly) teach kids is exactly what is setting them up for failure.
Do you have to be perfect?
Of course not but recognize this:
The world and all of it’s troubles is coming for them regardless of how we live and lead, but ask yourself this:
Whose team are you on? The world’s or theirs?
Are you empowering them or are you aiding the world in their ass whipping?