5 Fundamentals for Raising Happy Children
I believe there are 5 fundamentals for raising happy children. It almost goes without saying that these 5 things come after creating a loving, low-conflict family environment. However, I would be remiss if I didn’t state the obvious by saying that none of these things below matter without having that first.
1) Develop your child’s talents into strengths
Children do their best when you empower them to do what they’re best at. What they’re best at is their innate talents. However, a talent is just another way of saying he or she has potential. Reaching this potential largely depends on how you invest in your child’s talents to turn those talent’s into strengths.
2) Apply the right methods of discipline and structure
Discipline is not a punishment. The point of discipline is to drive a change in behavior and changes in behavior take time. The best way to apply discipline is to create structured routines, establish habit forming schedules and don’t expect immediate results.
3) Set high expectations that are realistic and attainable
Setting expectations that are too high and unattainable is demotivating. Furthermore, expectations like this typically drive unhealthy behaviors. High expectations are important, but it’s best to start by setting the bar at an easily attainable level and incrementally adjust upward as success builds.
4) Push your child to develop self-motivation, without pushing too hard.
The harder you push your child, the more likely you will push them away. The only thing you should push your child to do is develop the self-motivation they need to push themselves. This means you must focus on modeling and teaching the values that lead to self-motivation. Values such as purpose, sacrifice, preparation, discipline, creativity, helping others, work ethic, commitment, community, and team work.
5) Teach your child how to pursue difficult goals with the right mindset
Pursuing difficult goals starts with having the right mindset. This mindset is called the growth mindset. Having a growth mindset means you believe you can get better at something through hard work and effort even when facing failure after failure. Its important to encourage your children to have this mindset by rewarding them for effort and process instead of rewarding them for outcomes like getting the right answer and winning.