My son, Kevin, was 10 years old when bicycle motocross (BMX) racing burst on the scene in our home town of
Bowling Green, KY. Kevin had a bike but certainly not one of the new, fancy, light-weight and expensive models designed for the sport of BMX. The little boy across the street from our house got one immediately. His parents simply went to the local bike shop, let him pick one out and brought it home. From day one that neighbor kid left that gorgeous bike out in the rain or even lying in the yard overnight. No sacrifice had been made for the purchase, thus there was no pride of possession or motivation for caring for the bike.
Kevin also asked for a bike and expressed his desire to be able to race at the local BMX events. So we went down to the local bike shop and looked at those shiny new racing machines. But the price was $400 for the new Redline Kevin had his heart set on.
One of the old clichés my kids got tired of hearing from me was “Give a man a fish and he eats for a day. Teach a man to fish and he eats for a lifetime.” Rather than writing a check for the shiny new bicycle I asked Kevin what he was going to do to get the $400. Perplexed by the question he assured me he didn’t have that kind of money. A few days later I purchased a Honda motorcycle that obviously needed some restoration. For the next 2 months 
Kevin and I worked on that motorcycle, carefully sanding, polishing and renewing its original look. We had some parts re-chromed, bought a new seat, painted the major components and meticulously applied pin striping for the final touch. Then we parked it in our front yard with a “For Sale” sign on it. The very first day a buyer stopped and gave us our asking price. When we deducted my original purchase price and all the costs of all the restoration we were left with $410. I then asked Kevin what he wanted to do with that money. He could hardly contain himself as he told me he wanted that new Redline bicycle.
That night a new Redline spent the night in Kevin’s bedroom where it was valued and treated with tender care. The time and discipline required for the purchase served as a stimulus for Kevin to practice daily as he gradually became a nationally ranked BMX racer. Meanwhile, the neighbor kid quickly lost his enthusiasm for racing as he discovered that success required time and discipline as well as a fancy bike.
Kevin continued racing competitively for over 20 years. Those early lessons of having clear goals and clear plans of action have now translated into his success both as a businessman (FreeAgentAcademy) – and as a very successful daddy himself. And I frequently hear Kevin telling one of his seven children — “Give a man a fish and he eats for a day. Teach a man to fish and he eats for a lifetime.”
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