Ownership

We have to remember that while ownership will motivate kids to take care of their stuff, they still have to actually learn how to do it.

Parents often find themselves selves urging their kids to clean their room or to put away their stuff, and then realizing that they don’t do it partly because they really have never been taught how.

Our friend Darren Hardy, now the publisher of Success Magazine, told us the story of his early love for cars, and of his parents early announcement that if he ever wanted one, he would have to buy it for himself. He started saving his lawn-mowing money when he was 11 and five years later, after he had his license, he finally bought an old, big (safe) car. Talk about perceived ownership! He cared for it like a baby, paid his own gas and repairs and an agreed portion of the insurance, and had a true case study of earning, saving, budgeting, choice-making and motivation.