Ever wonder how to teach the right values to your kids if you live successfully? Jonah Engler shares some parental advice on this presentation.

1. Teaching Values to Privileged Kids Who
Seem to Have it All
You’ve had a good deal of success in business. Your children adore you and life is good – you
may want to take a closer look. Your assessment may be 100% correct, but there are still some
questions you should ask yourself.

2. Are you the fun parent?
Being the fun parent is amazing. Your children love to be with you, and you never have to hear
any negative words coming from their lips. But even if we remove the fact that you’ve thrown
your life partner under the bus to become the mean parent, what are you teaching your sons and
daughters? Do your sons grow up thinking that men don’t have to do the hard stuff? Do your
precious daughters believe that once they are adults then there will be no more fun unless
someone else supplies it? And for your family, are you telling them that being happy is only
about having fun?
When you think back to memories from your childhood, what are some of the things you
remember? Was it always about fun adventures or was it sometimes about just sharing time, even
in hard work with others you loved?
Have your children personally encountered how people with less have to live?
While their children were young, one family spent their Christmas day every couple of years by
packing up a big homemade Christmas dinner and all the presents under the tree to drive across
the border to a nearby community where families often lived in homes made of cardboard. There
they would distribute their dinner and presents to people they encountered – all of it. They did
not eat until they got home, where they would enjoy a late-night bowl of cold cereal and talk
about their day and how they felt as people received food or gifts. The parents didn’t warn their
children in advance, they just packed everything up and started driving.

3. Talking with those now adult children, they speak of those memories with smiles, tears, and
gratitude for the opportunity to share. They also remember that 364 days a year they were
sheltered, fed, and nurtured.
What do you gain?
It’s a simple question that might seem silly to ask, but if you aren’t aware of what the goal is, it
is hard to attain. Do you want to look with pleasure and joy at your children once they are grown
and on their own? Do you want to know that they are making a positive difference in the world
and will be great parents to your longed-for grandchildren? And do you want to know that your
child can provide for himself and his family, but can also contribute to those who have needs that
would go unmet if not for your child’s generosity? Those would be worthy goals though yours
may differ from those listed.
The truth is that even if you made all the right choices, sometimes a child will go their own way.
But you owe it to yourself and your children to give them a strong foundation and values that
will help them if they choose. Yes, it will take time, but time passes anyway. Do you want it to
pass for greatness or for dross?
Jonah Engler is a successful entrepreneur who loves his family more than anything.