I was a lucky kid. I had loving parents, a stable home and a middle-class upbringing. That doesn’t mean that things were easy. My parents, Kiran and Pratima Patel, were loving, but they were also demanding, in a good way.
As a kid, I didn’t always enjoy the way that they raised me. But looking back, it was the best thing that ever happened to me!
I know this is going to sound awfully cliched, but I would be nowhere near as successful as I am today without them. Here’s why.
They taught us all the time.
Most American kids go to school for nine months out of the year. Not the Patel kids! My parents thought it was a waste of time to take the summer off. That was a solid three months of lost learning (including holidays)!
During the summer, Mom would have us do all the reading and learning in preparation for the next year’s grade. We got a whole year of learning in a single summer! And, over time, all those extra months of schooling added up. Over four years, I received the equivalent of one year more education than my peers.
My parents showed me how to improve.
I grew up thinking that an “A-” wasn’t good enough. Why? In my parents’ view, an “A-“ means you missed something (the minus part). So, the logical conclusion is that Mom and Dad focused on what we got wrong rather than the 92 percent or so that we got right.
Of course, they didn’t yell at me or get angry if I got an “A-.” Instead, they taught me to view that imperfect grade as a learning experience.
I remember when I brought home a report card with a “C” in Spanish. My parents weren’t happy. “But Dad,” I complained, “At least I’m making money!” By that point, I was still in high school but making $20,000 a month doing marketing consulting.
My dad showed me that it wasn’t about the money; it was about the value of learning. Because my parents showed me how to improve, my high school GPA was 28 percent higher than that of my high school peers. By knowing what to improve and how to improve it, I’ve been able to achieve greater success than have my peers in other areas of life, too.
They invested in learning.
As a business owner, I spend a lot of money on typical business expenses — data, hosting, contractors, employees, etc. But I also spend a lot on personal and professional development. And I mean a lot!
I owe my parents for this. We didn’t have a lot of money. We couldn’t afford private schools, so that was out of the question. Name brand clothes? Rarely. Vacations and meals out? Nope. (I thought California Pizza Kitchen was an upscale restaurant.)
But there was one thing my parents were happy to spend money on:…