Pretty much every morning between about 8:30 and 9:30am, I sit on the couch with my little buddy Caleb, who’s 5 years old (Holly’s older son), and we watch the stock market together.

People have lots of different hobbies. For me, the stock market is my hobby. If you were to ask me what I do outside of work, outside of spending time with Holly, her boys, and our friends, following the stock market is where it’s at for me.

So, as I spend my mornings with Caleb, it’s really interesting to watch him soak up knowledge and information.

…And to see how quickly he learns.

Just the other day, his online pre-school teacher Mrs. Henegar was sharing with us a story from class that week. The letter of the week was “W.” Mrs. Henegar was asking each of the kids to share words they could think of that start with the letter “W.”

Suddenly, Caleb had an intense look on his face. He kind of paused to make sure everyone was looking at him and listening.

He then intently said, “’W’ is for watching, like watching the stock market.”

…But it didn’t end there, and this is where it gets funny.

After Mrs. Henegar said, “that’s right Caleb,” he then piped up and said, “Mrs. Henegar, can I share something with the class?”

And she said, “of course Caleb.”

“You know iPhones and tablets, that’s Apple. You need to watch Apple (*as in watch the stock lol*) ...”

He then went on to say, “You know Mrs. Henegar,” and he started to make this upward motion with his hand.

“When the stock market goes like this,” and he then made a quick downward drop with that same hand, “that’s when you need to buy.” (Lol.)

We’ve only been watching the stock market together for maybe a couple of months, and he has already picked up on that concept alone, which, might I add, many adults still don’t understand.

Now obviously, investing in the stock market requires a lot more understanding than just knowing when to buy, but that is a pretty profound concept for a 5-year-old to have grasped.

By the way, in full disclosure, this is not me giving you investment advice.

I just thought that was a pretty funny story to share with you. And also, what I took away from this incident is the importance of having an open mind to new ideas and new concepts.

Isn’t it interesting that when we’re young, we really do soak up whatever is being taught in our environment, like a sponge?

Whether what’s being fed to us is positive or negative; whether that information serves us or plants a seed of limitation in our mind;  at that age, our little minds just soak it up and accept it as truth.

Now, as adult learners, we have the opportunity to take what we were programmed to believe as little humans, and to re-evaluate and ask ourselves, is this serving me?

Is this helping me move forward in the direction of my dreams, or is it holding me back?

And if you find that it’s holding you back, then I’d say it’s time to do some reprogramming. It’s time to plant some new ideas; some new beliefs that will support your dreams and goals – rather than hinder them.

So, take a page out of Caleb’s book, and just ask yourself the question, what can I learn today that’s going to help me move forward in my life tomorrow, a year from now, ten years from now, and beyond?