Bill Belew has raised 2 bi-cultural kids, now 34 and 30. And he and his wife are now parenting a 3rd, Mia, who is 8.

I know a little bit about climbing the ladder of success.

“Been there, done that!” as my daddy would say.

Now, I don’t claim to be an expert. Gosh, I am only 3-years old. But I do know something. And beings this is my blog, I get to share the things I know here, right? And if I get something wrong, well, I have the rest of my life to straighten it out.

So, the ladder of success thing.

Here are my ultimate tips.

1. Aim high. If anybody can do it, then everybody will do it. The goal has to be something that not everyone can do, something to make me stand out, or stand above others.

Climbing the ladder of success

2. Be patient. I was wanting to climb the ladder at the park for a long time. I looked at it, climbed a few steps, then backed down, then went back a few days later and tried it again, going a little bit higher each time…till finally I could do it. I think it took me 6 months or so of just thinking and trying. That’s a big chunk of my life! But anything worth doing takes time to do. If it were easy to do, everybody would do it and it wouldn’t be a big deal. Hmmm…I think I said that.

3. Take one step at a time. “You can’t get there from here,” some say. I mean I can’t climb a ladder that is 3 times as tall as me in one step. My daddy has gone 100 miles in a day…by foot! I mean he ran that far. That’s like going back and forth to the big park again and again and again and again and again and again and…… And he said he did it one step at a time. Little by little is the ticket.

Bonus – 4. Celebrate success. When I reached the top of the ladder, you’d a thunk my daddy did it himself. He jumped and whooped and cheered and clapped. When I do things, I have someone there to encourage me and celebrate with me. He’s funny that way, or maybe it really was a big deal. Thanks, Daddy! It makes me want to try other things to have someone like him around me.

Celebrating Success

Anyway, there you have it. My ultimate tips to climbing the ladder of success.

Your turn:

What are your big goals? And what are you doing to achieve them? Wanna share?

Talk to Bill and others about their experiences raising bi-cultural Japanese-American kids.