“I need to tell my daughter this, before she breaks down….” Yes, I confess, I have made a mistake…
It is time for ´The Talk´ with my daughter, Leyla.
Not that one. Another one 😉
Sometimes the hardest conversations are the ones we need to have with ourselves first.
I just read ‘The Gap and the Gain’ by Dr. Benjamin Hardy, and damn…
It hit home. Hard.
You know that thing most successful people do?
Always chasing the next big thing, never feeling quite “there” yet?
Mostly forgetting what has been accomplished already?
Yeah, that’s me.
And here’s the gut punch: We do it to others too.
Especially those we love most.
There I was in 2022, sitting on a terrace in Morzine, France, with my 15-year-old daughter.
My heart racing, knowing what I needed to say.
“Remember all those times since you were 8 that I kept pushing you to start an online business?”
She nodded, probably wondering where this was going.
God, this was harder than I thought.
“The bookstore ideas, the fragrances, the bath bombs, the jewelry….”
My voice started shaking.
Because here’s the truth: I had been projecting my own restless ambition onto her.
My own endless chase for “more.”
And suddenly it hit me – even if she had done it all, it would never have been enough.
There would always be another mountain to climb, another goal to chase.
I would have suggested starting influencer marketing, her own Youtube channel, Amazon KDP…..There would be no end to it.
I continue: “Well, that is kind of my thing. I understand if it is not your thing. I am sorry to have put this expectation and pressure on you.”
She smiles. I can see her relief. We hug.
Finally I said what she needed to hear all along:
“You’re already amazing. Just as you are. You have accomplished so much already. I love you. “
My eyes? Yeah, they got a bit foggy. Okay, a lot foggy.
Because sometimes our biggest growth as parents isn’t in what we push our kids to achieve…
But in knowing when to let them be exactly who they are.
A lesson I needed to learn.
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