Looking back a few decades is quite revealing. Recently I ran into a nice lady who used to live on our street and now resides in a retirement center. Why do I bring mention of a "little" ole lady? Simply because she was an awesome encourager when I was a teenager. Yes, a few decades ago but a very fresh reminder that people do matter along our path to success and sometimes failure.

Hopefully, you had a special encourager, too. Too often young people in particular have little motivation because no one bothers to give the atta-boys along the way. Why was my friend so special to me? Very simple and at little expense to her! She bought whatever I was selling that week, never questioned the price or the quality of the product, she just pulled out her cash and bought soap, socks, ties and more.

My point in mentioning my friend is about you, not her, and my own actions today. Recently, a young man showed up on my doorstep and said he was selling cheesecakes for his art school. Neither my bride nor I had ever seen this big boy in our neighborhood. Was he telling us the truth or was he collecting his own funds to have a great holiday? We didn't know but he seemed legit, telling us that he lived with his granddad in a house around the corner from us.

What would you do? He wanted $20 for his schools fund raiser selling cheesecake [something we certainly did not need!], he would deliver us a multi-cut cheesecake in only a couple of weeks. It took him a little longer than 2 or 3 weeks but about a month later he delivered. He told us that the factory in the Northeast had too much snow and got shut down for a few days. Sounded reasonable, fair enough.

My question or concern is..... too many of our neighbors turned him down for their own reasons. Obviously, I bought his cheesecake [didn't need it] because of my 90 year old friend who did it for me. You'll never know how important your actions are especially to young entrepreneur or school fund raisers.

Each of us can make a difference in the long-term confidence, encouragement, and self-worth of others, particularly in the lives of our youth. Your willingness to trust, to show interest, having an always willing spirit to buy whatever the youngster is selling is being a super neighbor. Maybe you had a lemonade stand with good success, your neighbors, friends, church members came by just because it was you. Awesome! Are you doing the same for youth in your neighborhood? The money does not matter nearly as much as who you are to the child or teenager.

Today, many of those teenagers are now successful home based business entrepreneurs. We encourage all of them and you to have a Plan B for personal and family security. One of the very best resources on the Internet can be found with minimum investment but sound advice. Try it for free then make your decision long-term.