Why do I do this? I’m enrolling my students in the mentality of greatness. I want to remind them that they are born great, but it’s their job to develop their greatness through daily discipline. I teach them that each day they have an opportunity to develop and promote their greatness. I asked each of my middle school students to list 50 qualities of greatness. You’d be surprise to know that kids, even as young as five, already have some big ideas about what it means to be great.
As a parent it’s important to name greatness as a core quality that your child has. Point it out when you see them operating from greatness. As you name it, you’ll give rise to their ability to see, believe in and own their greatness. If children know that their parents believe in them, they will believe in themselves. Conversely, if your parents don’t believe in you, who will? Laying the foundation of self-confidence is essential.
2. Brain training! The psychological and biological benefits of a healthy brain have been widely reported and are key to living out greatness. Since learning takes place on a cellular level, and is a highly emotional event as well, it’s important to engage in brain training to develop emotional confidence and cognitive dexterity.
Emotional Confidence
We want children to be bold enough to express themselves, yet wise enough to know how and when it’s appropriate to share what’s going on for them internally. Daniel Goleman, author of Emotional Intelligence, states, “[parents] need to be comfortable talking about feelings. This is part of teaching emotional literacy – a set of skills we can all develop, including the ability to read, understand, and respond appropriately to one’s own emotions and the emotions of others. When great people encounter resistance, they have tools to process their emotions.” Give your child a list of words to help them communicate their internal feelings. Dr. Gloria Wilcox developed what she calls a “Feeling Wheel” to help hone in on the exact language around the feelings one might be having. Use this chart as a guide to expand your child’s emotive language bank.
Raising Your Child To Have A Greatness Mentality was originally published on blackdoctor.org
