Entrepreneurs shine even on the darkest nights. Life for them never sees a full stop. They are constantly dreaming, changing and molding, nurturing ideas into products. These are people with humble beginnings, who learnt to get to their destination the hard way.
Indeed parenting is a daunting task. Raising your children to fearlessly be the pioneers of their ideologies is far more taxing. Fostering entrepreneurial traits in kids from an early age allows them to face the world fiercely, instigating a never-say-die attitude.
Here are 5 ways in which you can ensure an entrepreneurial bend of mind in your child. Remember, it is an everyday task. See them flourish and grow with them.
1. Applaud Creative Minds
Innovation is primal to an entrepreneur. Most kids are creative by nature, until they are pushed to follow the standardized norms. Notice your child’s problem solving skills. Inspire them to think out of the box. Inculcate the importance of hard work in all their activities. Do not let them be overcome by the societal stereotypes. An entrepreneur is stubborn enough to get what she/he desires. They make the impossible look doable. Award your child when they come up with ideas and help them try their hand at it. Do not discourage if you cannot encourage.
2. Encourage Them To Push Their Boundaries
Entrepreneurs breathe courage. Even on days when they are afraid of losing it all, they still show up with a will to fight it right. Let your child take the hard way, and do not rush to rescue when they fall. See them make the effort to rise and learn believing their instincts. While self doubt cripples our actions several times, teach them at an early age that discomfort, failure and confusion don’t harm. And then, you are always keeping a watch, right? One day they will thank you for not being the umbrella when they faced the scorching heat and incessant rain.
3. Focus On Their Strengths
It is common to keep fretting about the bad grades your child gets in school. For a minute though, shift your attention to the subjects your kid is good at. It could be art or music. Sometimes kids deliberately don’t prepare for a paper, but otherwise they aren’t genuinely interested in it. Notice the trend. Take your time and make peace with it. If you force them to do things you think is right, your kid will start showing signs of rebellion. You surely don’t want that. Instead go ahead and motivate your child to master the strengths. They might be making a living out of it one day.
4. Let Them Bend The Rules And Take Risks
Rule breaker, they call your child. And unless it hurts other people, never punish the kid in any way. Entrepreneurs are often the leaders, challenging age old conventions upfront, continuously bringing about change. Do not dictate rules. Entrepreneurs do not like to go by the book. They’d rather learn to do it on their own. Create an environment where they can discuss their opinions freely and make choices based on what believe is right or wrong. Provide them the confidence to assess and explore new opportunities, in spite of the risks involved in undertaking the activity. Every risk is a lesson learnt. Don’t you want your kid to grow up and be a fighter?
5. Inculcate Optimism
The belief that things will work out in the end, is a day by day principle for an entrepreneur. They dream, plan how to make the dream and reality, and work incredibly hard to achieve it. Tell your child stories of successful people. Show them at an early age how they can begin tasks and finish them successfully. Instigate feelings of kindness and empathy. Give them real life examples of the less fortunate, and encourage their small acts of sharing and caring. Unless they know emotions of the under privileged, they won’t understand their peers and juniors in a workplace. And then, we all surely know the importance of a good boss.
If I asked you, “What do you want your child to become once he grows up?” While doctor, painter, writer, singer, photographer are common responses, a rarely included answer is entrepreneur.
Do you still think the same? Let us know in the comments below!
