Raising Children Who Succeed

It is one of the most powerful things any person alive can do, to choose to raise a child. Whether he or she is a genetically related child or one you have gained from another family, a child is a lifelong commitment. It’s worse than a puppy!

There is a well known saying that to have a child is to wear your heart forever outside your body. TO some extent that is true. Think teenage angst was bad? It’s nothing on the first time you have to deal with your own child’s heartbreak!

With our busy lives it is so easy to become geared up to making sure our children have all the essentials covered, such as food, shelter, learning to read and write, and all those important jobs were done, that we forget that so much of what our children need us for is for us to impart a spark of desire for them to succeed, to become all they were made to be.

It’s the drive of many parents to watch their child surpass them in their life in some way. Whether it is a talent, a discovered passion, or their standard of living, children should be able to combine what they learn from our mistakes, and our life lessons with the lessons and opportunities they themselves face and collate them together to succeed.

To have a successful child we need to create a childhood that breeds success. The best part about this is it doesn’t cost you thousands of dollars in private school fees or in plenty of extracurricular activities. In fact, with just a little time, some listening and a whole lot of talking you can beat those things in most part hands down.

Helping a child succeed in today’s world is a little different than it was a few generations ago. Back then, it was considered wise to teach your child to become a salary and wage earner, working in a stable job from the moment they left school until retirement. Success was measured by how long you stayed in the same job. Consistency and stability were the favoured attributes.

Then it was all about working your way up, about starting out in the business, any business and working your way up to the top, not worrying about whose toes you may step on the way.

More recently things have changed. The more recent generations coming out of school accept they will probably have at least four to five career changes over the course of their life. They know how to flaunt their talents and sell themselves and aren’t too scared to do it.

These kids, the ones who succeed today, are good at finding the gaps in the market and driving towards them. They’ll walk from a job that doesn’t offer them a good mix of lifestyle opportunities, perks and career advancement. They often prefer to work to contract than be tied to a permanent position. Security and consistency aren’t words in their employment vocabulary.

This is important t understand as you look at raising your own children. This current generation seeking employment may have different attributes than the one your child will be in, but it’s likely to be more in mine with how it will be than the generations of your parents and of yourself.

Our children today are growing up with a very different worldview than the one we once had. They want to be self-employed, own their own businesses, and pursue creative endeavours. While of course some children still veer to traditional roles, the majority of children feel attracted to roles that were previously seen as just for those creative types. Even jobs in IT can be incredibly interactive and creative, and children in our technological ages are attracted to them

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