Are You Setting Your Child On The Path To Success

In order to set your child on the path toward success, you have to provide them with a map and light the way. Children who are on the path toward becoming successful aren't there on accident. You play a huge part in launching them off in the right direction, so being intentional with the choices you make is crucial.
Here are five ways to set your child on that path toward success.

1. Define success.
Success is not reducible to the rewards that come as a result. Rather, it's found in the triumph that is performing at your highest capacity. If you achieve in any of your endeavors, rewards will come. But it's important to provide for your child a clear definition of what counts as success.

2. Envision the finish line.
It's important for your child to visualize the end result. As they develop educational and career goals, provide them examples that they can relate to. This is especially important for children from marginalized or minority groups. Present examples of female doctors, African-American lawyers and Latino engineers. By seeing success in action, they'll believe that they can go for what they want, too.

3. Teach them to believe.
Your child has to believe they can achieve success. Children on the path toward success tend to have an unwavering confidence in themselves. Research suggests believing in yourself and staying in a positive state of mind improves health, work habits, and overall performance. When students know exactly what they want, how to obtain it, and can express this with conviction derived from a sense of self worth, they are more likely to accomplish their goals. This may manifest itself in unrealistic, immature goals at a young age, but it's perfectly normal. What is important is that they know how to dream big. Encourage this mentality and allow them to explore these ideas.

4. Value learning.
Don't settle for the educational trajectory that the general public sets –– graduate high school, go to college, get a job. Many young adults use this template as a crutch and willingly put a stop to their own learning as soon as they are allowed. We have to provide a different paradigm for learning. Children who are bound for success constantly seek out new things to learn and master –– a second or third language, a technical skill, an individual sport or an instrument. Successful children become successful adults by remaining lifelong students.

5. Allow mistakes.
Wanting your child to be successful is great, but teaching them that the path toward success will be filled with potholes, hurdles, barbed wire and booby traps is key to their understanding that failure is part of the process. Success won’t come easy, and it shouldn’t.