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Key to Write Something Exceptional…

Today someone mentioned an article that my son wrote on Forbes this year. This brought me back to the words that I once shared with them.

On May 23, I had a conversation with an old friend back in Kansas. She had posted in a group chat, asking for summer job ideas for her high school kids who wanted to earn some spending money.

I shared with her a thought I’ve been returning to often: by high school, kids should begin identifying skills they can offer—whether it's teaching piano to beginners, tutoring math or Chinese, or making crafts and selling them online. 

The point isn’t necessarily to make money, but to discover themselves, find out what they are good at and their ability to create value. Let them explore, experiment, and begin to see themselves not just as students, but as creators, contributors, and producers.

Even if their efforts don’t turn a profit, the process is what matters most. They learn who they are. They build confidence. They become mature through setbacks, small wins, and persistence. 

By summer’s end, they’ll have more than just a line on a résumé—they’ll have stories, insights, and self-knowledge to carry with them into adulthood.

This, I believe, is especially urgent today—not just for teenagers, but for all of us. In a time when both youth and adults are increasingly pulled into passive consumption. The screen gives us endless input but demands nothing back. Purposeless, they fill their time staring at screens, yet haven’t really lived their lives.

That’s why it's crucial to encourage young people to produce and create rather than simply consume. To initiate rather than wait. When they take ownership of their summer, set a goal, they reclaim the ability to shape their own lives and create a story of their own.

This is what I once told my children: If you want to write something exceptional, first live something exceptional. The same goes for all of us.

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