Читать книгу Handle money like Grown-ups. Financial education for Kids from the Mobiles - Aleks Gridin - Страница 4

– Well, my young financiers, the time has come to do the most important and interesting thing. Now we are going to draw a real map of your dreams, – Robby Star said secretly.

– Wow! There will be a pirate island on mine, and I will mark the spot with buried treasure with a cross! – Max exclaimed.

– And I’ll draw the flying fairies on my map, – Lera said.

– Wait, – Stanislav said, – we should let Robby Star tell us first what kind of a map it is. I think this map should picture something we dream of and what we want to achieve. We have the same one at home, on the kitchen wall. Parents have added photos of a beautiful house, a theme park of their own and their dream car. And you know what, recently they have bought the very same car that was in the photo.

– Well done, – Robby Star praised Stanislav, – you have got everything right. You must include something you dream about in this map. I also advise you to put the map onto your bedroom wall so you could take a look at it every night before bedtime, speaking your mind and imagining your dreams to come true.

– By the way, I heard an interesting expression from my parents:

“If one has no dream of his own, he will spend his whole life working on helping others pursue their dreams”, – Stanislav said, looking proud of himself.

After a little chat and a discussion of what should be drawn on their dream maps, the kids took their pencils and got down to work.

Lera was the first to finish.

– Oh, how marvelous, – she said, admiring her own drawings, – who would have thought!

– Cool! Can we have a look? – Daniel asked, trying to peek at Lera’s masterpiece from behind her shoulder.

– Alright, here you are, – Lera unfolded the poster on the table. – The green palm trees by the sea represent the Spanish coastline. My parents had promised to take me there long time ago, but father is always busy at work, and the tour price is so high that we have to delay our trip for two years in a row. The concert hall with figurines represents my performance at the ballroom dance tournament. My partner and I win the first prize there.

– And what are these wigwams on the right? Is it an Indian village? – Max asked.

– Oh, you don’t understand! I’ve always dreamt of a camp where kids could arrive from all cities and countries, where you could live in tents, cook food on a fire and swim in the mountain river! – Lera exclaimed.

Max was the next to show his map. There was a new car on it, a tablet and a hoverboard. The last to display their masterpieces were brothers Stanislav and Daniel. They both had a cottage by the sea where they both wanted to live, mountain bikes and a theme park that looked like Disneyland.

– Great drawings! – Robby Star praised them. Your dreams turned out to be so colorful and amazing that I want to have some of these for myself.

– Then join in and start dreaming with us. Let these dreams be yours as well, – Lera suggested.

– Thank you, I will think about it, – the Mobile thanked her.

– And now, friends, choose your top-level dream and trace it with a marker, drawing number one next to it, – Larry asked. – Try to make this red line bold enough, like this. Ready? Then put number two next to your other dream, the little less significant one. Do the same with all your dreams down to the last, smallest one. Done it? Great! Now your dreams have become clear-cut and turned into goals, the importance of which you have just determined. The first step is taken. But please, mind: you will have to work hard in the nearest future to achieve these. Perhaps, you will come across some temporary defeats and disappointments, but be sure they are only your point of leverage for the further achievements and success. “Give me a lever and I’ll move the Earth”, – Archimedes, the Ancient Greek scientist once said. Ordinarily, only determined people gain success, not afraid to fail or look ridiculous and different in the eyes of others. Those who believe their dreams can be real. You definitely know such people – Steve Jobs, Elon Musk and many others.

– Coca-Cola’s creation history is a clear example of how one man could fulfill his dream about creating a unique drink, and the other man had pursued his by creating one of the largest companies in the world.

– How did they manage to do it? – Daniel asked.

Robby Star started his narration:

– In the distant year 1886, an American pharmacist John Pemberton dreamt of inventing a multi-purpose medicine from all diseases and becoming famous. However, persistent experiments have finally led to the creation of Coca-cola drink. It was called this way because its main ingredient was the tincture of coca leaves mixed with the extract of tropical cola tree nuts. Coca-Cola has turned out to be a powerful tonic. The problem was, its taste had been quite unpleasant in the beginning, so Pemberton had to work hard, mixing ingredients and updating the formula for multiple times. In the end he succeeded in improving the taste, but unfortunately, John Pemberton wasn’t able to live to the moment when Coca-Cola became popular among the people. Long after his death, a talented entrepreneur Asa Candler had found a Coca-cola manufacturing company, and also registered the trademark. Coca-Cola has been acknowledged the most valuable brand in the world for multiple times. For many years this company has been bringing sufficient income to its shareholders.

– Cool! I had no idea Coca-Cola had been invented so long ago, more than 130 years already, – Stanislav said surprisingly. – Wish I could have that much success and own a company that huge!

– Success doesn’t come to you by itself. You are the one walking towards it, – Larry explained. – By the way, the road to success is not always smooth. But you should know, that first of all, you need money and other material possessions to gain more freedom and do more good deeds in benefit of your country and the world as well. Also, one should never forget that money could never replace solid friendship and true love.

– I suggest stopping here and “going beyond rhetoric”, or rather say, getting down to work, because only with the help of labor one’s dreams can possibly be achieved – Bobby said, interrupting his friend Larry.