Success has so many individual and different meanings – my meaning is different o yours. It encompasses many different areas of life. It touches in different ways.
Family. Happy children. Education. Learning. Career.
It might be about raising smart, good hearted and generous children. Knowing your children will be well grounded, happy, and okay with themselves in this world.
Following your dreams. Being loved and giving love.
But to get to a point where individuals believe they are successful and have reached their best, is a journey that takes hard work, dedication and persistence. The saying is true… nothing comes easy.
A journey of different twists, turns, challenges, ups and downs. There is not always one way to reach the top of the mountain – you may go around, you may go straight up, you may do it in a team with each member hiking different sections. Did you know that the most high-powered, ‘successful’ people have a whole encourage of people…. we all know Lady Gaga has a whole team for her big extravaganza!
We all know it is hard to drive somewhere without checking the map or the GPS of the direction first. Without knowing how to get there… well we may just not get there.
So obviously we need the steps and directions to help us. But the big question is… what are these steps?
Children need encouragement, inspiration, confidence and reassurance from the ones they love and admire most. Discovering and exploring who you are is not an easy journey, and is even harder without support and assistance from others. If children and teens have a sense of what is important to them, deciding their destination and where they want to go in life can become much easier.
If they understand their values, strengths and interests, it helps in deciding which direction they may want to take. What success means to them. It is the fuzziness in not knowing that they then may feel stuck.
So here are my 11 top tips to inspire your children to strive for success
1. Have a regular dialogue about strengths, passions and values: Enquiring and asking about their interests not only shows curiosity but encourages them to think about their personal qualities that may make a difference in the world.
2. If you could change the world…: If you could make a change to one thing in this world, what would it be and how would you do it?
3. Focus on positive achievements: Even the smallest of smallest!
4. Don’t be perfect: we are not all perfect! So our kids need to know they don’t have to be perfect either.
5. Challenges are good: we all need challenges to help us make us stronger and wiser. This quote just sums it all up:
“I’ve missed more than 9,000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. 26 times I’ve been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life and that is why I succeed.” Michael Jordan
6. Talk role models: who inspires them? Who is their hero?
7. Being YOUR best: They don’t have to be the best, but they have to be their best: Only they will know when they have reached their best.
8. Make mistakes: shoe your kids it is okay to make mistakes. We don’t have to always make that perfect gorgeous cake… how many times have you missed the mark on your baking before?
9. Create a vision board: A showed an example here. They really are a wonderful way to put and see all your dreams on paper.
10. Encourage their interests: I remember someone once telling me her son was interested in dance. She was not so enthusiast about that growing interest. I reminded her it was her son’s interest, not hers.
11. Be mindful of the role model you are setting: kids pick up everything! What examples are you setting?
12. Have fun and be yourself: When kids and teens know they can have fun and be themselves… the world is their oyster.
How do you inspire your children?
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