Hanging out with my boys last week really started me thinking about the lessons of rank advancement.

I’m blessed to work with professional network marketers everyday.  And I learn a lot from them on growing and advancing in the ranks of his amazing business.  Yet, sometimes, the best lessons of life fundamentals come from our children.

We learn the value of rank advancement at such a young age.  Think about it.

My boys are in the Boy Scouts of America.  Eagle Scout is the highest rank attainable in the program and our son, Cayden, is going for it.  For his Eagle Scout project, last week Cayden arranged for church and community members to come together to assemble blankets to be delivered to children in an Operation Smile mission.

It was wonderful to watch him work.  He started out the project driven by the goal of the Eagle Scout rank.  Cayden faced challenges along the way.  He had to give up time with his friends to organize the project.  Some people of the people he invited didn’t call back.  Some couldn’t do it on the scheduled day.

As he put the blanket project together, he learned to leap over those hurdles.  He met a lot of new people.  He learned the value of getting a “yes,” and his reward came from the fruits of his labor…knowing he was making a difference and driving such worthwhile work.

As we all gathered to sew the blankets, I looked around the room and realized…my son brought all of these people together…he made it happen.  I scanned the room and found him moving person-to-person…introducing himself…saying thanks…making sure they had thread and materials.

In that moment, he advanced to the rank of a “young man” in my eyes.  I was proud and humbled.  He did this on his own personal drive.

There’s still a lot of work to do and Cayden seems thrilled by the challenge of it all.  I have the feeling that, on the day he gets his Eagle Scout rank, he’ll look back at his road to the rank and wish he could go back and do some parts again just to get the feeling and thrill of accomplishment along the way.  Then he’ll set his sights on his next  goal.

I think of all the people Cayden has touched along the way to reaching his initial goal…the people he reached out to be part of the project…his family and friends who watched him work and grow…his dad who had some trouble writing this post (there was something in my eyes a few times)  ?…the volunteers and organizers at Operation Smile…and all the children who will receive these wonderful blankets.

Think about this as you consider your own next rank advancement move.  You’re about to touch a lot of people along the way.  And I’ll bet, as good as reaching your goal is going to feel, the points of accomplishment along the way will feel even better.