My teenage son has a girlfriend, and today my wife and I suggested that he should take his younger brother with them on their date. They were getting smoothies from Roxberry. And his 6-year old brother would love to go with them.
Of course, that did not sound amusing to him.
“Why would I do that?”
“It’s gonna be fun and different.”
“No. I don’t think so.”
“We still think you should.”
He left irritated. Didn’t take his brother. Didn’t say a word to us.
When kids are little, they generally obey what an adult tells them. Often they don’t question their parents and just do as told. They take us as their role models and even copy us.
When they become teenagers, they suddenly know more than you. Telling you things like “they can take care of themselves” and “stop telling me what to do.”
But when these same kids turn to their 20’s, they realize parents aren’t as dumb as they thought. Oftentimes, this is the time they go to college and get more responsibilities. Parents know what they’re talking about most of the time.
10 minutes after my son left, he texted me.
“I’m coming back to get my brother.”
My younger son got very excited.
That may be him thinking it can be fun. Or that he should be obeying his parents. Or him realizing that my wife and I know what we’re talking about when we recommended it.
He came back. Took his brother with them.
My younger son left excitedly but came back even more ecstatic to be included in that trip.
My wife and I thought it was an interesting experience for all of them. And it’s gonna be a memorable “remember when you took your little brother with you to get smoothies?” story that they’ll have growing up. The whole thing got better, because he listened to us.
I often feel like if people would follow directions from those with more experience, people who know what they’re talking about, then there will be fewer mistakes in the process and it’s gonna be easier.
I have gone through the journey of outsourcing, far more than a lot of other people. I’ve made the mistakes, learned from them, and gotten more experience with dealing with them for over a decade. I’d like to share with you the same knowledge so you can hire the virtual assistants you and your business needs with less mistakes. I’m offering this information for free in my book, The Outsourcing Lever.
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John