When I think back to TV interviews I’ve seen with athletes and movie stars, they always say that their mothers taught them to reach for their dreams and be winners,” says Nikki Lyman, a real estate agent from Oakhurst, Calif., winner of our Mom's Best Advice contest.

Nikki’s own mother, Gail Lyman, conveyed a more down-to-earth philosophy: Life is not about winning or losing, but being a decent person. As a result, “Everyday life became a workshop in love and kindness,” says Nikki. For instance, when neighborhood kids took off and left a child behind, Gail asked her young daughter to stop and think about the feelings of the kid who couldn’t keep up. “She said if I did this, I would have a friend for life,” says Nikki. One day, Nikki turned around to see the little boy in tears. “When I helped him to his feet, it felt really good — you could say I was hooked on kindness,” she says. Today, that boy is still her friend, and Nikki is married with a child of her own, her 15-month-old son, Isaac.

“I hope Isaac wins every competition he enters. I hope he grows up to be prosperous. Yet, while these things are important, they are not the point of life,” she notes. Taking a page from her own mother’s book of wisdom, Nikki says: “What I will teach Isaac, every time I get the chance, is to be a truly decent person.”