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.

What qualities make your child a hero? | How to raise a well-respected child (Part 2)

Not everyone would want their child to be a hero.

If you can remember the song “Billy, don’t be a hero” My daddy says he’ll know how old you are. If you can’t, give it a listen and you’ll know what I mean.

But we do not just want to stand up, but to stand out as well. And stand out in a good way.

Quality 2 – Persistence

Daddy teaches people marketing among other things. They come to him to learn social media (I am not sure what that is but it must be valuable to know or daddy wouldn’t waste his time on it).

Daddy teaches that there are four keys to standing out in the marketplace.

The last one is called Longevity.

Daddy tells his students and his clients, “Everybody gets tired. When you work hard, do your best and put yourself out there day after day after day, everybody gets tired. When your competitor gets tired …” (daddy pauses) “Don’t get tired.”

Carrying on when everyone else sits down, lays down, backs off or throws up their hands because yet another obstacle is in the way makes the difference.

The guy who used to be our governor in California (Ed. Arnold Schwarzenegger) used to be Mr. America and Mr. Universe. That means he had more and bigger and prettier muscles. When he was asked how he was able to separate himself from others:

“When the guy next to me quit, I did 5 more.”

When we can learn to do more than the person sitting next to me, to not give up, we will learn persistence.

And that will make the difference.

How do you teach your child persistence?

Read also:

What qualities make your child a hero? | How to raise a well-respected child (Part 1)

What qualities make your child a hero? | How to raise a well-respected child (Part 3)

What qualities make your child a hero? | How to raise a well-respected child (Part 4)

What qualities make your child a hero? | How to raise a well-respected child (Part 5)

What qualities make your child a hero? | How to raise a well-respected child (Part 6)

What qualities make your child a hero? | How to raise a well-respected child | Summary

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