TripleAmommy

#RaisingCapableChildren: A is for Aiming High

Well so here we are! Day 1 of the BlogchatterA2Z challenge. This is the first time I am doing this so a little nervous about being able to write everyday of this month. Fingers crossed! I will be writing about raising capable children – a theme close to my heart. I firmly believe that as a parent our aim should be to bring up ‘capable’ children – children who are capable of handling what life throws at them, capable to decide what is right or wrong for them and capable enough to lead positive and fulfilling lives. Once we have equipped them with the right attitudes, tools and skills, we should be able to confidently let them set sail on the seas. For more on my theme, you can read my theme reveal.

So A is for Aiming High – and as you can guess, this post is going to be all about having dreams, aspirations and ambitions and chasing them. We would all want our kids to be successful and have happy lives. But what do we mean by success? (I had shared some of my thoughts here in an earlier post). I would say success is when someone has achieved what they set out to achieve and are happy with that. And the first step to doing that is helping your child find out what is it that makes them happy, where do their talents lie and what are their intrinsic traits. Each child is different and some may take longer than others to figure out what they want. As parents, our job is to support and guide them in this journey of finding themselves. What is NOT our job is to try and figure out their lives for them.

Many children have been burdened with the aspirations of their own parents and have spent their childhood trying to please them and turn into something their parents envisioned them as. I am not sure that would have given happiness to anyone involved in the process.

Let’s look at 9 ways to help your child dream big and have aspirations:

1. Understand your child: from a very early age, you will start to understand what gets them to tick. Watch what they pay attention to the most. Do they have certain skills, abilities, hobbies or interests. Talk to them about their interests, share your own. Allow them to express their feelings and fears. Find their weak spots and strengths. Encourage the strengths and work on weak spots.

2. Encourage their dreams – however small or big they may be, dreams need to be nurtured. Encourage your child to dream. Forget about what YOU think of their dreams – they may be silly or lofty or impossible to YOU – but then that is through your adult eyes that are biased by whatever life experiences you may have had. As parents we need to learn to be non judgmental and not nip their ideas in bud. So what if you believe that the big bucks are in IT or MBA – if your child wants to be an activist, so be it. My 10 year old son plans to become a paleontologist and a Youtuber – and if this interest continues, we will help him find out more about starting a channel of his own and paleontology.

3. Appreciate and motivate: it is important to continue to appreciate and motivate your children. Encouragement lays the base of self belief which is the ground in which dreams take shape. If your children do not believe in themselves, they will always be afraid of dreaming. I cannot emphasize enough, the importance of self belief and self confidence.

4. Give them feedback – provide guidance: this is as important as appreciation. We need to provide our children honest, constructive feedback. Feedback that can help them improve – don’t shy away from telling them if they have not done a good job. Just remember to combine it with ways to improve. Also remember that they are young and need our guidance. As adults we can help them figure out the pros and cons of an action or a decision or strategy. We can help them best by being their sounding boards. When your children doubt themselves or their capabilities we need to guide them how to aim for and achieve their goals and dreams.

5. Show them the possibilities: Show your children the world – through travel, through books, through meeting people. Open their mind to possibilities. Talk to them about the heroes and achievers. Tell them how all of these were people were little children like them once upon a time and believed in their dreams! Let them know what options are available. It is only when they know enough, that they can make an informed choice. For example, when my husband was trying to choose between architecture and design, his parents took him to various colleges that offered these choices which helped him immensely in deciding his career path.

6. Help them set goals: having dreams is not enough until we learn how to achieve them. Goal setting is a good habit to have and you can start as early as you want. The type of goals will change according to age. You can put in the concept of short or long term goals. Celebrate when a goal is achieved. In my son’s class (9 year olds), kids are encouraged to have academic goals and character goals which they then track through the term. Now that they are learning online, each child has identified weekly goals for themselves. This habit helps children learn to aim and then plan how to achieve them.

7. Excellence and Perseverance: Aiming high is good, but these two attitudes are necessary to achieve those aims. Excellence is the desire to do your best and continue to improve. Perseverance on the other hand is the ability and self control to continue to push through with a task, working to overcome challenges on the way. A combination of both is necessary to achieve what we set out for. For more on these, do read my blogs on both excellence and perseverance.

8. Challenge them: Once children learn about setting goals – you can start challenging them and try to help them aim a bit higher. I like the concept of stretch targets – tell them that if they over achieve that target or complete it before time, there may be an extra reward. This will help them learn how to push the boundaries of their physical strength, mental strength and even patience.

9. Let them fail: And finally, when you teach your child to aim high, you also need to let them learn how to fail. Make sure you do not criticize or discourage them if they fail or make mistakes. Making mistakes is normal, even necessary. Help them understand that failure will teach how to do things better the next time. Tell them that it may be easier to give up but then you miss out on achieving what you set out to do.

These are some of my thoughts in teaching children how to AIM HIGH. Let me know how you are helping you child do that. Hope you enjoyed reading this and will come back tomorrow to read about Being Brave.

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Liked this blog? Do consider buying my book “Raising Capable Children” that shares hundreds of tips and ideas on bringing up confident children. See below for buying options.

India – Amazon: https://amzn.to/3j3QSrx ; Flipkart: https://www.flipkart.com/raising-capable-children/p/itm2134c13e7108f?pid=9789390267033

For US and UK- https://www.amazon.com/dp/939026703X ; https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/939026703X

Thanks so much for reading! Please comment, share and spread the word! 

Regards, Sakshi aka tripleamommy
You can find me at:
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37 comments

  2. To me last point is very important. We often tell them to work hard to achieve success and in that they don’t understand the true meaning of success. They keep running behind something one after another. If we want them to dream big then we must teach them to rise after every fall.

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  7. Hi Sakshi – Thank you for putting this together. Great thoughts and tips that we can put together to raise children.

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  8. Dear Sakshi! This is very well written. Parenting is a very tough job. We have just one boy.. can’t imagine how you manage three!!!!

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  9. Actually it’s important to let them fail at times. To me that’s the most important lesson for children.

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  10. Wow wow wow
    It was a lovely read and many parents will relate ( while those who can’t relate might twitch their facial muscles!-they need to concentrate!!). I truly agree with it and remember the day Stuti decided to become an architect 😂. I didn’t understand the “A” in Architecture and we both hunted out people who were architects to understand. The next one -Samanyu was even more difficult- he too did Architecture (must get our genetic composition read out!) and wanted to begin his own firm!! Beyond our comprehension- We both, as parents, just held our breath and let him sail. We are proud parents today 🥰
    Sakshi, you have a way with words and while reading I keep telling myself-Yes , yes, so true, how thoughtful, etc

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  11. Great Sakshi !!!

    I am sure by them time you complete your challenge you would have sufficient material to publish book. All the very best !!!

    I feel satisfied hiving fathered two children who becoming successful in their life. Few thoughts I would like to share

    a) Understand you child is foremost. Reminds of Steven Covey 2nd Habit (I think so) “Seek to understand First..”
    b) Expose them to world which will help them to dream. I think trip to Disney World boosted their dreaming power
    c) Celebration of goals is very important – how so ever small goal is. Bigger goals call for bigger celebration. My daughter always remember Mauritius trip which she won (it was challenge) when she scored over 90% in 12th board.
    d) Most important is last point – let tem fall & teach them to take failure with stride. At younger age they learn, better it is since handling failure at later stage (like unable to qualify for job or loosing out promotion to classmate etc.) can be very painful
    Thanks
    Pankaj Gera

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    • Thanks so much for your thoughts…. I agree with all of them and you will see them also in many of the blogs…. You are also right about the book …. Have now put them together as an e book. 🙂

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  12. Hi Sakshi! Very well articulated. Parenting is not only a tough job but also very critical in deciding what kind of society we are going to create. Afterall, today’s kids are tomorrows samaritans, if well parented. You definitely have your way with words. Best Wishes

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    • Thanks so much. I totally agree that we are not only raising children but future citizens of our society.

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  18. Wow what a post. I agree as a parent we all have big dreams for our kids and sometimes many of us put those ambitions unknowingly on our kids. In reality it is very important to know and understand what they actually want to do in their life and what is their unique talent and capabilities. I had not get a chance to read your posts during a2Z. glad you share in group and I get a chance to read it.

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  19. Very well articulated! While reading each point I was nodding my head, each and every word makes sense. As a parent, it is our responsibility to teach our kids how to dream bog and help them show the path to success. Also, let them fall so that they can understand the true value of success.

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  20. We often forget these things but they are so important. Kudos to you for highlighting them for your readers in this informative post.

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  22. I totally agree with a your points that parents should not force their decisions on kids but should support them to attain their dreams. The ups and downs will teach them about life and prepare them to face all sorts of challenges.

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  24. I agree with your view . We parents shouldn’t force them to see the world in our point of view. Afterall with failure they will understand the things in a better way.

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  25. I love your blog positivity, you always come with the great and innovative ideas by following that one can teach their kids positivity in a very simple way. In this post too your point out of accepting failure positively.

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  26. It’s really great that you have written this post, as a parent we need to make sure that our kids have positivity and aim in life to do better!!

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  27. Working hard towards a goal and giving it our best is what I teach my girl. Failures are a part of life but rising after every fall and having a positive attitude is what I emphasize on. Nice blogpost!

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  28. yes letting them fail and appreciating them on their successes both are important for making kids aim high and soar high.. great tips for the same..

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  29. Let them fail is crucial life lesson.Thats the only way to help them grow and learn. Its not easy to teach kids anything without setting an example the right way

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  30. While reading your post I keep on thinking oh I could do this, why I didn’t think of that. I think that’s what a blogger should attain. Congrats to you

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  31. You have pointed out some valid facts. Especially about failure. Our current generation needs training badly. Your post is full of positivity. Loved it

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  32. I am a firm believer of the fact that how children turn out in adulthood has some reflection of their parents. What they say or what they tell their children constantly gets imprinted on their minds. Choosing words, language and tonality wise is the key to having any conversation with them.

    Reply

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