Tag: Parenting

Will Ahmed on Success

Published on by Kieran Johnson - The Generosity GuyLeave a comment

“Success is being excited to go to work and being excited to come home.”

Will Ahmed, founder and CEO of WHOOP, said this about a month before the birth of his first child. I wonder what may change over the next few months and years. Will has spent years working and building his company, I am sure with many long days and weeks working away.

Honestly, I think it’s too early in life for someone to claim they know what success looks like. He may be right, maybe success is being excited to go to work then being excited to come home. It sounds great, and I agree with it.

But I don’t know if that is the marker of success or not. In 20 years time when his first child has potentially left home will this philosophy hold up?

I can guarantee that if he wants to create a strong relationship with his son that is loving and supportive, then his time allocation between work and home will need to dramatically shift. By the time he is old enough to understand, his son won’t care about WHOOP. He won’t be impressed by Cristiano Ronaldo’s investment in the company. He’ll just see his dad with some dude who used to play soccer. Harsh but true. What does success look like then?

I think the only person who can claim to be successful is one who has lived the life and come to its end, looking back with gratitude recognising that they have lived it according to their values.

Success is less about the numbers and the profile and the opinions of others than it is about the family and culture you build around yourself…I’m pretty sure. I don’t fully know. I’m not there yet.

People and Things – Advice for Kids

Published on by Kieran Johnson - The Generosity GuyLeave a comment

When my older children were little and I would leave them in someone else’s care, be that a grandparent, an uncle or aunty, or some other trusted person, I would give them these instructions:

Treat people nicely.

Treat things nicely.

I was really worried about how they would behave, and how that would reflect badly on me. It turns out that I needn’t have worried because they are pretty awesome human beings, and also, parenting out of fear that your kids may make you look bad is a pretty toxic place to parent from.

Regardless, the two principals remain solid instructions that I now share with my younger kids.

Treat people nicely.

Treat things nicely.

I think it encapsulates the whole realm of instructions for how to behave in the presence of other people.

I understand the complexities of it all, though. Because if someone is hurting them, or putting them in danger, I really don’t want their response to be nice. I want their response to be more like running away. That is part of a deeper lesson of protecting yourself.

But generally, the message I have for my kids is to be kind to other people and to things. It shows respect, generosity and a sense of self-worth, and it shows other people that this is how they would like to be treated in return.