Happy Monday and a happy President’s Day! In honor of a day that celebrates our forefathers I want to talk a bit about leadership.

You might not believe you actually are a leader, you might not have the title or you believe you lack the skills. However you still have a “circle of influence.” What the heck is that, Dani? A circle of influence is quite literally the circle of people, friends, family, children affected by your thoughts and decisions.

And surprisingly, 98% of people ignore their circle of influence, as if it’s of no consequence. But everything you do, from your lifestyle down to the restaurants where you prefer to eat, is spread throughout this circle. While most of this influence might seem minor, it can also lead to major, important, big BIG things.

One major influence you constantly broadcast to the world is your financial choices. The clothes you wear, the food you buy, the photos you post on Facebook of new purchases or the fights with your spouse over it all.

You see, your kids will spend over 14,000 hours in school through the 12th grade. But there won’t be anyone teaching them how to balance a checkbook, how to save and invest money or how to make wise purchases.

Most likely they will pick up all of your habits and their ideas about money from you. Mix those habits with the constant stream of consumerism from the media and your child has just been groomed to fail financially. Before they even think about higher education, student loans, home mortgages or retirement they are already being groomed to fall flat on their face.

The worst part is most parents hide their true financial status from their kids. So not only do you have possible bad habits, but now you are hiding them and giving your kid a false view of finances. As a parent, you have to be aware that you have one of the most important leadership positions of all. You are grooming the minds of the next generation! In fact, even if you aren’t a parent… you might be a teacher, a nanny, a pediatrician, a coach or anyone who has frequent interaction with today’s youth.

You might be freaking out a little that the damage is done – but it isn’t too late! The truth is, you probably inherited your mindset on money from your parents. But don’t panic… you have total control over changing it! You have total control over influencing your kids.

Stop hiding the truth or constantly fighting about your finances! This is big-time stuff they need to know and it’s never too early to start including your kids. Let’s do what we can to help groom the next generation for success. Leave me your comments and be sure to Like and Share today’s message.

Some of you might have the day off today and I hope you are truly enjoying a little extra rest or time with the family. When you get back to work tomorrow be sure to join us on The Dani Johnson Show at 12 pm ET/11 am CT.

In great faith,

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