It’s every involved parent’s dream to raise a child who will succeed in life. But to build success throughout life, a child must have a stable and reliable foundation. A foundation built from curiosity, intellect and social skills.
Encouraging this foundation, there are steps as a parent you can take. To encourage intellect and curiosity in your child, for starters avoid talking down to them. Speaking to your child like an intellectual equal, answering their questions and holding stimulating conversations, is a great way to harbor curiosity and intelligence. Asking open-ended questions which challenge your child to think are much more productive than simple, yes/no questions.
But don’t forget you’re the adult. Children want to feel some decisions are being made for their innate sense of security. And when this is compromised, it undermines their confidence in the adult. So making decisions for them regarding where they go to school, a direction on extracurricular activity and even what to eat maintains that confidence they instill in you as a leader.
Among the many components going into raising an ambitious and successful youngster are encouraging quality accomplishments. When these are lost in a whitewash or awards and accolades for mediocre or just plain bad work, it is more of a challenge for the kid to strive to succeed. This is because if the child is frequently told their marginal work is “Great” (effectively lying to them), they lose their motivation to push their work to a genuinely great level.
If a foundation isn’t composed of curiosity, intellect and social skills, there isn’t much left to stimulate development, and subsequently success. As a parent, you have all the resources to raise a curious and inspired child who will grow into a successful and accomplished adult.