I just heard about this young lady who accomplished something truly remarkable:  at 14 years old she purchased a house with money she made on Craigslist.  No kidding.  Read the article here.

There are three important lessons here:

1.)  An individual can do, pretty much, anything they set out to do.

2.)  Mentoring is vastly important to the fiscal future, but also to the emotional future of the world.

3.)  Family matters.

Clearly this young lady would have struggled to accomplish some of her endeavors without the help of her experienced mother.  That the girl chose to reach for the stars is a testimony to both the girl and her family.

There is not enough of this in the world today, I feel.  America has a history of success because people took risks, taught themselves how to achieve a goal and persevered until they accomplished what they set out to do.  Today our businesses are starving for skilled engineers and mechanics in a day and age where unemployment is holding at record levels.  Where is the mentoring?  Where are the apprenticeships and training.  Moreso, why are parents not guiding their children to be bold and work hard and succeed?  There is an absured prevalence in the American political climate to blame teachers for not educating our children; clearly we've forgotten that the most important education is at home.

Willow Tufano just bought a house.  What are YOU doing for the next generation?

If you've not seen the movie or understand the concept of Pay it Forward it can be summarized by doing something nice for someone else with the expectation that they will not respond in kind to you, but do something nice for someone else.  What a beautiful concept, and I believe one that we can easily insert into our daily lives.  Whether it is to compliment a stranger on the street by saying something kind, or to give someone a seat on a bus or to pick up something that someone has dropped these kindnesses are effortlessly accomplished and does nothing but good. 

I am proud to say that when it snows my wife almost always uses our snow thrower to plow the entire block and the music school across the street.  Some very dear friends of mine will often anonymously pick up the tab at a restaurant if they see naval cadets dining, knowing that many of them come from modest families and are doing a great service to our country.  These are things they absolutely don't HAVE to do, but are great things to do.  As some might say, "it is good karma."

For myself I have tried to mentor talented individuals in the performance arts.  Because I have business experience as well as entertainment experience I am able to build web sites, create marketing campaigns, help get bookings and otherwise get people started on their way.  In a smaller way I try to hold doors open, tell retail clerks when they do a good job, wave to the local police, say hello to the neighbors and otherwise be as positive as I can.  I find that even in this somewhat lengthy stretch between jobs I can keep up my outlook by being positive and interacting well with the folks that I meet.