Your Mind Wants Achievement But Your Soul Needs Fulfillment

Whether we want to or not, we pass values to our children on a daily basis. As parents we want to teach our children the difference between achievement and fulfillment. So how can we begin this lesson?

For one, we can look at ourselves and see how we value each of these things. Achieving is for you.  You achieved your degree, you achieved a title at work, etc. Fulfillment is doing things for others. Feeding your soul and heart. Fulfilment comes when you have impacted another life with your positivity. It can be through charity, mentoring or simply by being a good friend or partner.

The Bookfair Lesson

We want our kids to know the difference and value of each. For this we seek to teach them valuable moments. My boys are ten and twelve, still young enough to teach them values. One day my ten-year-old needed money for a book fair. I only had two one hundred dollar bills. I gave him one bill. I didn’t really tell him what to do or what not to do. By doing this, I was silently telling him I trusted him. I gave him power. I believed in him to be responsible. When I picked him up, he gave me change back, but told me he had spent  money on a friend who had none for a book and then gave two dollars to another friend who didn’t have enough money for a book. He also gave money to his older brother. He showed me compassion, generosity, and courage by this. The lesson wasn‘t about him not asking permission, but that he felt fulfilled by helping others. He valued my praise and approval more than the money I gave him.

What Lessons Do You Want To Teach?

For me, I want my children to serve others, their community, the elderly, and themselves. These are personal choices that help me feel fulfilled. You might have similar but slightly different goals and wishes for your children, and that’s OK. Not everyone if fulfilled by the same things. The best take away that is true for everyone though is teaching children that success or achievement doesn’t always equal fulfilment. To reach fulfilment we have to engage with others and be in balance with our work and personal relationships.

Be different, to do something different, to have something different. Another great lesson to teach your children is to always be learning and growing. There is always something more you can learn from each experience. You are never too old or too experienced to learn new things.

Do you want to learn even more about fulfilment? If you want access to even more great content like this, sign up for my private global community. It’s opening soon. This is a place where we will learn to become visionaries. The group is called Achievement Accelerator and I can’t wait to see you there. If you are interested in pushing for success, this is a great opportunity for you.