I had a massage a couple of weeks ago and got into a fascinating discussion about self-reliance with my masseuse. Turns out she was raised on a farm in Oregon, too far from town to get there easily. So, aside from school, she and her sister and brother and parents pretty much hung out together until the kids got those magic escape cards issued by the local DMV.
The farm was the family’s livelihood and cows and the proceeds from milk and selling calves was the primary source of income.
The parents, intent on creating strong, self-reliant and capable kids came up with the following innovative method to teach their kids about money. When each child was eight years old s/he was given a cow to own and take care of. If managed well, this cow could supply the child with spending money all the way through high school. Cows could be bred and calves sold, cows could be milked and milk sold, cream could be made into butter or cheese. And the kids had full control over how they wanted to manage this resource and they would have full control of how to spend the money they received from their efforts.
Now this seemed to me like a pretty amazing challenge. If anyone reading this has raised kids, you’ll know what I’m talking about. Expecting an eight year old to have any capacity to W A I T shows a very optimistic nature indeed! Most young kids just can’t delay gratification but if they can, they payoff is enormous. Research points to a compelling correlation between a young child’s ability to defer enjoyment and his or her success in later life. If you want to know more about this study read Jonah Lehrer’s great piece in the New Yorker called Don’t: The secret of self-control. http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2009/05/18/090518fa_fact_lehrer.
Anyway, back to my masseuse and her sibling and their cows. The older sister got her cow and, completely uninterested in growing a small business at eight, sold the animal the same year. She pocketed a wad of cash which was gone within the year. And that was it for her for allowance. Forever.
Next in line was my masseuse, and she totally got the concept. She loved her cow, had it bred with a bull on the farm and the next year had a baby calf. She fed and cared for the baby and sold it the next year to a local farmer. Meanwhile, she bred her original cow again. You get the picture. A young entrepreneur at work, intelligently managing resources, pouring time, energy and money back into the business and creating an income stream that took her all the way to college.
Her brother fell somewhere between the two in terms of success. He followed his sister’s lead the first year but lost interest by year two– so he was pretty much in the same boat financially as the eldest girl.
While my masseuse was kneading her way through my tight shoulders I started to think about all of my clients who have constrained resources to carry out their goals (that would be all of them!) and why some of them thrive and some stumble. I think the distinguishing trait is that the ones who keep managing to create success keep their eye on the mid and long-term plan. They do not take near terms wins that may sabotage them down the line. And so though their progress can be quite slow at times, it is inexorable. And they’re the ones who like my masseuse, end up taking money to the bank.
