This is Good. A Generational Mindset

You will come of age with our young nation We'll bleed and fight for you We'll make it right for you If we lay a strong enough foundation We'll pass it on to you, we'll give the world to you And you'll blow us all away Someday, someday Yeah, you'll blow us all away Someday, someday

~Dear Theodosia by Lin-Manuel Miranda from the musical Hamilton.

My eyes get a little sweaty when I watch or listen to Dear Theodosia.

Hamilton and Burr, through tears, hoping more for their children.

Every parent deeply resonates with this scene. Sitting by the bed. Watching your child. Full of hope, joy, and longing.

I remember some of these nights. Watching my children’s little backs move out and in as they breathe. Out and in. Out and in.

Each breath compounding my hope for their peace and prosperity.?Each breath commanding a sobering responsibility.

In these moments of longing, we tend to think more clearly. Our minds turn to the long-term. Something in us knows one day this child will be sitting in front of their child’s crib. We naturally adopt a generational mindset.

Our modern western culture is antagonistic to this way of thinking.

We swim in a current that focuses us on ourselves and the short term. Use your resources on your limited life. Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

This is why most of us can’t name our great grandparent’s names. We are not grateful for our generations’ past. We are not considerate of generations’ future.

Now, don’t get me wrong. The emphasis of the sovereign individual is a reason for great flourishing and wisdom. Get your self-mastery on.?Self-actualize with your bad self.?

Here is what I want us to know. The significance of the individual and the generational is not an “either/or”. It is a “both/and”.

In fact, the more we are living with a generational mindset the better we are living our best life in the present.

We are able to live in the day and measure in the decades.

This is good.

THIS IS GOOD: A GENERATIONAL MINDSET

Steve Jobs wanted to build Apple into more than a company. He wanted to build an institution. Something that helped people innovate, create, and think differently for generations to come.?Something that lasted beyond him. Imagine Apple, after Jobs passed suddenly ending.?All assets are sold/liquidated and spread amongst the owners.? The compound interest created by investing in the decades just suddenly ended.

While this is crazy, it is how many of us think about our lives. We do not think about how our lives might positively impact generations to come. What if we thought more about what lasts beyond us?

This type of thinking makes us better stewards. We see our actions today having repercussions for future generations. We are enabled and empowered to think long-term.

Think about the questions this could prompt for:

• Our Family: What dreams do I have for my great-grandchildren? How should I act now to help these dreams come to reality?
• Our Work: How can I lead my team for the long term? What systems and structures do I need to build for my work to carry on past me? How can I set my successor up for success?
• Our Resources: What if we extended our existing investing timeline 100 years? How would we invest differently?

Time is the most important variable. Families, organizations, and cultures, that think generationally tend to build more and build better.

What if we lived like this? Serving the future. Bleeding and fighting to lay a strong foundation to pass down to our future generations. So they stand on our shoulders and blow us all away.

POSTSCRIPT

Generational thinking is something fiscal conservatives and climate activists have in common.

We shouldn’t run up debt or pollution that will burden future generations. Short-term thinking is the root of most of our problems,

In the musical,?Dear Theodosia is Aaron Burr at his best.?He’s all of us at our best.?

Unfortunately after this song, Burr is bamboozled by false comparison. His burning priority to be short term signifigant led to unclear thinking. It ultimately led to him being the villain of the story.

Living generationally is an antidote to being a villain. This is because getting a taste of the eternal makes heroes instead of villains.

One of the best hours of my week is listening to a man in his eighties nicknamed “Brother E”. Brother E has more energy and vitality than most thirty-year-olds I know. He imparts wisdom and knowledge in this hour to a bunch of folks who are a few generations down for him. He is humble, bold, and wise. He is the hero of the story.

I know most of you. Some of you don't have kids. Some of you are great grandparents. While important to our family, a generational mindset transcends to all areas of life.

It is difficult to be in our Dear Theodosia moments and believe we are merely a random collocation of atoms.?We sense that there is something more. We sense the eternal. Having this reality in our hearts gives us more resource to grow in love. When we have a generational mindset we are more apt to be our best selves in the present. That is very good, indeed.