10 Ways to Support your Childs Passions
.
I am the proud parent of four amazing children and four inspiring entrepreneurs. Each of my children is enterprising in their specific areas of interests. Funny all four of them have different dreams in different industries, some as far as the east is from the west. Irrespective of their different dreams they all need encouragement and support to make their passion and dreams a reality.
Children have an amazing special gift that gets lost as they age only because of many internal and external environmental challenges. Their special gift is their ability to dream without fear or reservation. Those challenges could come from their socio-economic status, or a traumatic experience in their lives, or even as basic and the folks they call family. The only protection from the environment comes from the seemingly simple but intentional actions for people that provide a gold nugget of support and encouragement to keep striving for their dreams.
If you, as a parent, want to be that nugget of support, here are 10 ways you can provide support for your child’s dreams and passions:
1. Never tell a child what they are not, instead tell them who and what they are.
So many times we believe we are guiding our children by telling them “You’re Not Tall you can’t be a basketball player…”, “You started too late to be a professional…”, “You are not smart, so you can’t go to college…” “Did you hear what you said, you’re just stupid!” All of these statements are telling a child with unique dreams what they aren’t, instead of telling them who and what they are.
It’s a shame that many adults feel that if they don’t give their children the “Tough Truth about Life, they will never find the motivation to achieve their goals! Actually, according to almost EVERY Child Psychology published research, this so-called “Tough Truth” does the exact opposite of what the parent claims to want to do, encourage their children to reach their dreams. It demoralizes them and causes them to turn away and not believe in their dream.
If you truly want your children to live their passions start by, ‘Telling them who they are!
2. Show them that you are a Dreamer too
Most children want their parent’s approval and acceptance. If you share with them the journey of your dreams, even if you have not yet achieved them, it tells them that you can relate to them. It also provides an opportunity to use your journey as a foundation, or step stool to achieving their dreams.
3. DO NOT USE YOUR CHILDREN TO LIVE YOU OWN DREAMS
Your children will completely resent the parent who uses them to achieve their own selfish ambitions. Children are extremely observant and receptive, even when we don’t want them to be. If your dreams, as a parent, are simply to be rich and famous and you see an avenue to make your kid a reluctant famous child actor you need to step away from that child’s career. You will inevitably be their demise.
4. Find opportunities to educate your child in their passions.
Thank God for Youtube, you can learn absolutely anything these days. If your child loves to sing, find them a learning program, suitable for them on YouTube and take the class with them. By taking the class with your child, they will see that you support their passions and they will be able to improve upon their gifts.
5. Keep your kid grounded!
Being grounded in a real family with real love and support helps a child understand what a genuine life looks like. Its filled with reality outside of their passions. It is a beautiful world of balance. When your child is solely focused on their passions and improving their skills without a break for fun and balance will inevitably burn them out on their passions and make them feel very lost and lonely because they have to develop a personality outside of their passions. If you provide a child, who is gifted in their passions, with an outlet of reality they will appreciate it for the rest of their lives and be able to replicate the balance in their adult lives.
6. Keep your child grounded in Faith
When the frustration comes, as we as adults inevitably know they will, a grounded belief in a higher power will provide their necessary grounding for your child. This grounding will keep them from exhibiting extreme behaviors because they do not know how to psychologically cope without having an appropriate grounding in faith.
7. Be Optimistic, especially when you are not sure how to support your child’s dreams
Just like love, positivity always Wins. Children generally think in those simplistic terms. When you don’t know how to give them something to support and advance their dreams, give them YOU! Be honest about your lack of knowledge but encourage them by being positive about either the child or their ability to always find a way to a solution. The child may be extremely frustrated at the moment you are seeking to be positive, but just stay positive. 10 times out of 10 if you leave them with positivity they will tell you after they have resolved their issue, that your positivity helped them figure things out.
8. Be a Risk Taker, even if it is only for your child’s sake.
I’m not saying to jump off of a bridge to show your child you care but support the risks they want to take. Many times, because it is not our dreams we tend to shoot down our child’s attempt as breaking past the barrier of status quo. If your child believes in the risk they want to take, even if you know in your heart it may not work, support them in the risk (not as the risk of making you homeless or destitute). The risk they take, even if it does not turn out the way they wanted, may be the leverage they need to take their dreams all the way.
9. Embrace your role
You are a parent, you will always be their parent, that means you are their foundation, their support system when no one else believes in them, their sounding board-especially when you don’t know what they are talking about, their confidant to express their fears and frustrations, and also the one they leave to start a family and home with someone else. But by supporting your child, they will always come back to you and be grateful for your love and support.
10. Use every birthday and gift giving opportunity as an opportunity to support their passion
Every Christmas and Birthday, my son, who is a storyteller and desires to be a director, I buy him gifts that allow him to take his stories in every direction. He may get Lego’s which he loves the character pieces the most, to become characters in his new action adventure story which takes place under water in space. I may buy him an inexpensive camera that he can use to film his Lego movies or even better buy him a $9.99 Udemy class on making animated short films or writing scripts. Every gift giving opportunity is a way to support his passions, and I can see the difference it makes in the development of his passions from one year to the next.