790… That was my SAT score.

I just read a post of a parent from my school who is asking other parents to ask their kids not to share their SAT / ACT scores.  The reason was that this parent’s child was feeling bad about their own score because it was low.  C’mon.  Stop this madness please.

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There are so many lessons this parent could teach their child rather than asking the world not to be brag.  Here are a few lessons you can teach your kid should they not do well on their silly standardized test.

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1. Stop giving a shit about what others think of you.  People are going to try to be better than you all the time.  The minute you stop giving a shit about what others have or score, the better off you will be.  You can start focusing on what you are good at.

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2. Standardized test scores are really worthless.  There are thousands of colleges and universities that hardly look at them anymore.  It is mostly a money maker for big companies to have you pay to take them and pay to study for them.

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3. One score does not define you.  My SAT score was 790 out of 1600. That’s right.  790.  I lived.I went to college.  I got a great job.  I have a beautiful home.  I have earned, passive, and investment income coming in.  So that 790 does not define me.  As a matter of fact, I remember not giving a shit about the test and was more focused on a baseball game I had that Saturday afternoon.

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As I was driving my producer home today, I saw one of these “math extra study” places full of kids around the ages of 7, 8 and 9.  It was 4 o'clock in the afternoon on a beautiful day and these poor kids were sitting in this place.  I know why they were in there.  Their parents want them to score higher on their math tests.  Let that sink in.

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Go teach your kid how to start a business, care for others, work on a team, or work on something with their hands.  Don’t be the parents that gives a shit about what other kids say about your kids test scores.  That will just teach them to be insecure.  Find the lesson here and pass it on.