Submitted by Simon Black via Sovereign Man blog,

When I was a teenager, it was pretty common for young people in my lower-middle class neighborhood to find work.

I was a waiter myself… though probably one of the worst in history, as I may still hold the record at Tippin’s Restaurant and Pie Pantry for the most cups of coffee spilled on patrons.

A lot of other kids would do odd jobs like cutting the grass and whatnot. And some of them were pretty successful at it.

I remember two kids in my class, Ryan and Will, had a very successful lawn mowing partnership.

One of the reasons they did so well was because they realized how much more efficient and profitable they could be if they could maximize the number of clients within a single neighborhood.

Instead of wasting time driving around from neighborhood to neighborhood, they could focus on servicing as many yards as possible within a few blocks.

This was an extremely important lesson for them… and one they would never learn in school.

It’s obvious that doing things like this provides incredible and in many cases life-changing lessons for kids.

It’s the whole idea of having the freedom to start something from scratch out of your own sweat and labor, to provide a valuable service and to work hard, and stake your reputation on the quality of what you do.

This concept is at the very foundation of the American Dream. Or at least it used to be.