“Behind every young child who believes in himself is a parent who believed first.” – Matthew Jacobson
It is tough being a parent and specially in current times as societal rules continue to evolve rapidly, fuelled by rise of technology and the Gen-Z peer pressures. There is no good parent who doesn’t worry about his / her child’s future and that is the core of all the problems which parents face. How do they make their kids future ready when the future itself is a big unknown.
It is not that this problem did not exist earlier. The challenge is that as we have evolved as a civilization the pace of change of change has continued to accelerate. We wrote about it here. There is a 100% chance that the kids, as they grow up will have to deal with distressing situations ranging from heartbreak, financial worries to the loss of a loved one. These are not easy things to handle and their impact can be life altering, especially if a person is immature or ‘lacks experience in ways of life’. So how do parents ensure that the kids are ready to face the future as they grow up?
The simple answer is that parents should try to get kids into schools which ensure such future readiness. However, there are too few such schools and most importantly a large part of formal education is highly academic oriented without significant focus on building “life skills” in students. Hence it is imperative that parents take out time from their busy schedule to share their life experiences in simple anecdotes and in a language which kids understand. These anecdotes could be related to important aspects of personal character or knowledge. We have a listed a few which we believe are relevant for character building and ensuring a content future for kids.
Habit of reading: Reading is perhaps the best habit to inculcate in a kid as all other habits follow it. As children learn to love reading they begin to appreciate others’ ideas, their own creativity and mind expands (giving them the ability to think outside the normal), and finally it leads to an accumulation of knowledge. As they move ahead in life, staying close to books will provide both comfort and direction in difficult situations. And we all know that almost all great leaders of the world (including CEOs) have this common habit.
Understanding and managing personal finances: Managing savings to work towards financial independence can be a harrowing experience if a person is not prepared. Complexity of financial instruments (including loans, taxes, credit cards, shares etc.) can really confuse the best. Imagine, that your child will have to deal with these as he grows up. It is also extremely likely that managing finances will continue to become more difficult as world evolves. It is really important that we spend time with our kids explaining to them the importance of managing ones finances
How to speak: Children learn discipline, order, and social relationships by associating with their peers. Developing communication skills and strengthening the art of expression is one of the life skills that children need to learn. As they grow older, the ability to communicate effectively will impact both social and professional growth. Effective communication is one of the essential ingredients for success in leadership roles. Being a good communicator shall position your child positively in the future.
Managing failures: As life as its ups and downs, there is a high likelihood that a child will go through failure in some form as he/she grows up or as an adult. While education system focuses heavily on importance of good marks, it misses the fact that failures are part and parcel of life. Kids are mostly un-prepared for handling and learning from failures (which are in-evitable). As a parent it is important to teach your child that failing to achieve desired results is not the end of life. It is an important aspect of personal growth and failures should act as a fuel for desire to succeed and do well in life
Gratitude: The world by design is highly materialistic and a by product of that is people attach their worth to objects. A person’s success is often defined by the house he lives in or the car he drives. Such attachments often lead to a person being miserable while chasing wealth to ensure a higher sense of worth in others’ eyes. A sense of gratitude towards life and the current situation ensures people remain calm in situations of extreme joy and sorrow. It also allows people to take dispassionate practical decisions which ultimately end up improving the overall quality of life. Parents can easily teach kids a sense of gratitude through their actions and ensuring they don’t attach kids’ success to the marks he/she gets in exams.
Having fun: Lastly, as parents we sometimes forget to teach our kids that it is important to enjoy what they do and have fun once in a while. Research clearly suggests that leisure time and a fun-approach to work creates better avenues for success and happiness.
At Glearnr, we believe that parents are a child’s first and best teachers. While parents will continue to worry about their kids, helping kids develop the habits mentioned above will go a long way in ensuring a more fulfilling future for their kids. Our hope is that if parents focus on the above it may just make their life less difficult.
