As a parent, you want the best for your child. We want them to be okay and safe. At the same time, we are worried about their future.
The reason is simple, the economy is more competitive, and the minimum requirement for success years ago is not enough today.
While there is no trophy for the best parent, you will surely experience inner peace and satisfaction in old age when you see your kids doing wonders in the world.
Parents play a significant role in the lives of exceptional adults we see thriving today. Various research works have shown that how you parent your child is vital to their educational success and career path.
What does success mean to you?
As a parent, your definition of success will influence the environment you create for your child to thrive. Your children’s success should not be aimed at ensuring they excel in activities or career paths in which you have failed.
To raise exceptionally smart and high-achieving children, you must help them develop their innate talent and creativity. No two humans are the same. What will help child A become successful might differ from what child B needs.
An excellent way to identify a high-achiever adult is someone who revolutionizes their field.
Tips for raising exceptionally smart and high-achieving kids
If you want your kids to grow up to be happy, healthy, and successful adults, it is simpler than you may think.
Be an accepting parent
Developing a strong physical and emotional bond with your kids can set them up for success. This was evident in a 1938 Harvard Grant Study that tracked 268 male students, including John F. Kennedy and Ben Bradlee, over the next seventy years.
The analysis of the Crimson Men revealed that those with strong relationships live a healthier, happier, and more successful life.
Another study also found that children who grew up with parents who showed “sensitive caregiving” have healthier relationships and more remarkable academic achievements.
Challenge your kid just enough
Kids will need to compete in the real world. However, it is best to teach them how to compete healthily. Effort is required to sustain motivation when a task is too easy or difficult to handle.
Present your kids with challenges they can handle and teach them about being optimistic. The challenge can be as simple as making them do chores or organizing a family game with a trophy as a prize.
Chores can help them develop self-confidence, while family games can train your children on self-control, as you will need to be focused to win a game.
Provide prompt feedback and encouragement. Focus more on the process than the result.
Praise your children whenever they handle any task perfectly. If they lose the challenge, praise their effort and let them see the failure as an opportunity to learn and improve.
Match your kid’s innate skills with an appropriate career path
Every child has a gift, usually in the form of an advanced skill in an area, compared to others.
To identify this, you must be a vigilant parent. Once determined, help them nurture the skill by getting them involved in activities of related career paths.
A typical example is Magnus Carlsen, a Norwegian five-time World Chess Champion. His father discovered his unique ability to solve puzzles at a very young age. He then leveraged Magnus’s skill by introducing him to chess.
However, do not force the idea of a career on the children if they show interest in another career.
Give room for late specialization
Some adults are able to decide on what industry they would like to specialize in early in life. For others, it may take longer and lots of trials and errors.
Do not pressure your kids into choosing a career path or forcing them to settle for a specialty even though they showed little interest.
Be supportive, even if they have to try lots of different things. A time will come when they will be able to choose.
Most top performers today were lat specializers. Most of them discovered what they wanted to do in adulthood and not while growing up.
Boost your child’s self-esteem
Kids develop their sense of self right from infancy through their parents’ eyes.
Young children learn a lot about how to act by watching their parents. They keenly watch your body language, tone of voice, and facial expression. All of these play a vital role in their self-esteem development.
Appreciation and praising accomplishments will make them feel proud. Assigning them chores gives them a sense of being responsible.
On the other hand, yelling and use of abusive words on your kids can make them feel worthless.
