All parents want to see their children grow up to be happy, healthy adults who achieve greatness. But, what is greatness? Although many have their own definition for greatness, I view greatness as that spark of innate genius which enables and motivates us to lead happy, fulfilled lives. Recognizing greatness as an inner quality that we’re born with empowers you as a parent to proactively and intentionally cultivate it within your children, so they can show up in the world with a daring attitude, prepared to face challenges, fortified to embrace their big visions, take big action and conquer what others say cannot be done. This is the essence of what it means to be mentally great.
Preparing your child to be mentally great is about arming them with a deep knowingness about who they are, what they can do and how they can use their power in the world to make it a better place. Children who are mentally great embrace failure, are resilient and become emotionally healthy adults who have the spirit, grit and drive required to light up the world with their gifts and unique capacities.
Over the past decade, as a family education consultant and classroom teacher, I have identified two key practices that parents can use to unearth the mentality of greatness within their children:
1. Name it! In my classroom I explicitly tell my students, “You are great. You are master students who are excellent, and because you’re excellent you have certain qualities and habits that other excellent people have. It’s our job to develop those qualities and habits, and to nurture your excellence and greatness every day.”
Raising Your Child To Have A Greatness Mentality was originally published on blackdoctor.org
