“There are no shortcuts to anywhere worth going.”
– Beverly Sills, American Opera Singer
When I was growing up, I showed beef cattle at the Bremer County Fair, and I had the time of my life. I dressed up in my nicest 4-H exhibitor shirt, jeans, and boots for my judging, and I dressed down to my sh** kickers and barn clothes for chores and everything in between. Showing steers was one of the few places where it didn’t matter if you were male or female. It didn’t matter if you came from money or started from scratch. It didn’t matter if you were new to showing or in your final year. Everyone helped each other, and we each had the same pursuit of growing, breaking, and exhibiting an animal 10x your size ( and making it look easy!).
I loved showing and competing at the fair.
Now, my kids have been involved for the last two years and are beginning to form their own friendships and memories, and I have the pleasure of watching it all unfold from a different view.
At one point over the summer, I asked them if they’re enjoying what it takes to show animals at the fair. It is a ton of work, and if we are going to continue, I want it to be because THEY want to do it and not because I want them to do it. I expected a quick YES! But I got a lackluster “I don’t know…” My heart broke a little, but just like my work as an advisor, this is supposed to be about what is best for THEM. Not ME.
It made me pause and reflect on my own 4-H career from 20 years ago. While my memories are all so good to look back on, maybe I felt the same way my children do now when I was going through it. The more I pondered and talked to my Dad about it, the more I remembered I didn’t love every moment either. How quickly we forget…There are probably a million memories that involve bumps, bruises, blood, tears… but none of them come to mind when I look back at my experience. I see all the good that came from those lows, and I appreciate what it has done within the four walls of my house, as well as the greater community we live in.
Looking back, I think my involvement in 4-H made it very easy for me to work as an advisor and put serving others ahead of serving myself. I think showing steers and working in the barns with other cattle people made me very stubborn and willing to be creative and persistent when I have a clear goal. (Also, I am more un-offendable … listen to “what” is being said, not “how” they’re saying/yelling it at you! Ha!)
I think the connections I made outside of my own bubble of a school district have impacted who I am and who I want to be more than anything my immediate peers could have ever shown me. I think learning how to track purchases of animals, grain, etc. was a lesson that taught me respect for finance in a way that no classroom ever offered.
I think anything that focuses on our youth and our futures is the right thing to pour your time and energy into.
Everything worth having requires some level of discipline, stubbornness, and sacrifice. It doesn’t matter if you are trying to break a steer to show at the fair or if you are saving an extra 5-10% of your income to get better control of your future. Your goal is important, and you deserve to be honest with yourself about what it takes. Some people can formulate and execute their goals and plans on their own… Some need a parent/coach/mentor/advisor to tell them, “You don’t have to like it; we are going to do it anyway because it is what’s best for you.” If you want REAL advice and partnership from someone who has her hands literally in the dirt and her heart in the sun, please let us meet you where you are and get you where you want to be!
Ashlea (Kleitsch) Jones
Financial Advisor
Prime Capital Financial
Cedar Rapids, Iowa
primefinancialcedarrapids.com
(319) 269-7143
This information does not constitute legal advice. Prime Capital Financial and its associates do not provide legal advice. Individuals should consult with an attorney regarding the applicability of this information for their situations.
Advisory products and services offered by Investment Adviser Representatives through Prime Capital Investment Advisors, LLC (“PCIA”), a federally registered investment adviser. PCIA: 6201 College Blvd., Suite#150, Overland Park, KS 66211. PCIA doing business as Prime Capital Financial | Wealth | Retirement | Wellness.
Ashlea Jones