FIParent Blog

Young Entrepreneurs: Doing Good While Doing Well

August 20th, 2006

Social psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, the author of Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience, points out that the less we rely on external motivators to motivate our children and the more we concentrate on helping them become internally motivated, the happier our children will be.  Parents who over-emphasize the importance of money or rewards in achieving a goal, rather than the process of achievement itself, run the risk of turning their children into a kind of money junkie who has no true enthusiasm for anything except more money.  This is not a particularly good recipie for a meaningful or happy life!

If you are the parent of a high-school or college student with an entrepreneurial bent, check out the Working for Good program.  Inspired by Csikszentmihalyi, such entrepreneurs as John Mackey, chief executive of Whole Foods Market, and Jeff Klein, chief executive of Cause Alliance Marketing, have created FLOW, a program which hopes, in their words, to use “free enterprise principles to promote sustainable peace, prosperity, and happiness for all within 50 years. “   The Working for Good program introduces teens and young adults to the concept of becoming “social entrepreneurs” who do good while doing well.  The program uses Webcasts, video-conferencing and seminars to, in the words of Aman Singh of the Wall Street Journal, ”encourage entrepreneurially inclined high-school and college students to go out on their own and do something for the global good.” 

To download the currciulum and sign up for live webcasts, go to www.workingforgood.com.   The fee is $50.  Fees are used to fund future initiatives and support student projects.  Check it out!

Entry Filed under: Charity