Not A Fan

Ok, at the risk of alienating long time friends and some of my family members, I have to clearly state my position on this issue.

I’m not a fan of the game Monopoly…

There, I said it.

My opinion — not fun to play.

I know it’s a classic. I started playing it when I was 5, and I would play the game solo, playing as the hat (obviously) and having two other pieces playing that I would control.

Spoiler alert — I won pretty much all of those games.

But if I’m being honest, I just don’t have fun playing Monopoly.

Before you send that email you are thinking of right now, let me also say that I have protected my children from my negative opinion of such a hallowed game.

I’ve played the game with them many times. They play it with each other and have lots of fun. I am leaving it up to them to decide if they like it or not.

They don’t need my old curmudgeonly opinions to ruin a good time for them.

So when I noticed them playing the other day, I paused and popped in to see who was up and who was down.

Except that they weren’t playing according to standard rules.

They had borrowed the money from the game of Life to use in their Monopoly game.

You need to know that the smallest denomination in Monopoly is $1. The smallest in Life is $1,000.

Curious, I asked why they had swapped out money from one game to the other…

“We are playing Monopoly, but we are buying apartments, not hotels. So we had to get bigger denomination money because the apartments you buy are really expensive.”

My brain had to shift gears to keep up with the smile on my face…

My two oldest sons were playing a classic board game they had modified to mirror the work that I do.

For real, my smile was ear to ear!

“Oh yeah? tell me more!”

They explained that they weren’t just buying properties and then houses and hotels, but they had added…wait for it…RAISING CAPITAL as a variable in whether to purchase properties or not.

(cue the proud dad-tears-of-joy music)

Now, I didn’t get all the modifications they had made because I couldn’t sit down right then and learn from them. But I was in awe of what I was seeing.

My two sons, who know the work that I do in buying apartments, had modified a board game the enjoy playing to reflect what I get to do in the real estate industry.

And they had even factored in investors into their game!

In that moment, I was reminded of how much my children watch me and what I do. How much of an example my life is to them.

They see when I take a phone call to talk with an investor. Or when I’m talking about an apartment deal with Jessica, my wife. Or whatever the new venture is we’re working on at the time.

They watch my life, and soak up my behavior, modeling their lives after me.

No pressure…right?

Thinking about the boys modifying Monopoly, I starting thinking about just how much our lives influence those around us, for good and for bad.

My kids know that I buy apartments, so they put a twist on a classic to reflect what they see in me.

But children aren’t the only ones who watch us to see how to get through life.

At every turn, we are examples. Sometimes a small one, sometimes really large. We are examples to our partners, employees, clients, colleagues, the list goes on and on…

Ever day we have the opportunity to encourage or discourage, to lift up or tear down. To exemplify persistence, diligence, hope, courage, OR…fear, anger, discouragement…

It’s a decision we have make every day.

Today, when people see you, what example will they see?