It is said that the future belongs to entrepreneurs and even if your child does not become an independent entrepreneur, companies will be looking to hire individuals with an entrepreneurial mindset. Resilience is an important trait any entrepreneur should have; they should be able to deal with uncertainty and bounce back in case of a roadblock. Most forward-thinking companies like Google and Amazon today are looking to hire people with this trait.
What is resilience?
Resilience is a neuro-cognitive characteristic that gives us the ability to bounce back from any adversity. Right from day-to-day stress to intense stress like adversity, failure, challenges, and even trauma. It is something we need when we fall emotionally, financially, or physically and have to dust ourselves off and get up again.
What can parents do to help children become resilient?
Life is not a straight line, there will always be ups and downs and as parents, we need to let our children experience all aspects of life and guide them to learn from the challenges that come their way and move forward.
Children are generally born resilient, if you notice a child, they will keep trying to do a certain activity till they have achieved the desired result. A child keeps making an effort to reach out to their favorite toys, they keep pushing themselves to reach it, they keep trying to get up and stand till they find their balance. They lose this resilience with our constant instructions parents give them of don’t do this and don’t do that.
Let your children fall and scrape their knees. Let them learn how to deal with pain and discomfort this will help your child in handling the more serious difficulties in life. If your child is going through a rough patch in their relationship do not intervene, let them find a way to deal with the situation at hand. Having relationships and other obstacles is what helps children build resilience and to develop coping skills when faced with challenges. Allow your children to think of strategies or solutions to cope with bullies, also teach them not to bully their subordinates.
The problem today is most parents have become overprotective and do not let their children experience any setback. Without experiencing suffering a child will not be able to build a coping mechanism. They need small doses of setbacks and failures to build immunity. So, the next time do not jump in and fix your child’s needs, let them figure out how to reach the desired goal, you need to be present and guide them but do not take over the situation.
Why is it Important to raise resilient children?
The future is uncertain and with the rising dependence on technology we do not know what awaits our children. Resilience is an important trait to deal with uncertainty. Developing resilience is important to lead a successful life. Resilient children and adults are more likely to take healthy risks as they are brave, curious, and trusting of their instincts, they can bounce back from setbacks that they encounter. That is why they are more likely to find success in their educational journey and entrepreneurial ventures.
Signs of a resilient child:
1. These children are problem solvers
2. They keep trying till they reach their desired result
3. They never give up
4. They are persistent
5. they come up with different strategies to reach their goal
6. They learn from their mistakes
Success in life is not about reaching your destination by following a straight path. There will be blind turns, curves, and hurdles too. If you encourage children to keep moving forward towards their destination, over time they will learn to overcome their hurdles and difficulties to keep moving ahead in life.
If you look at most famous leaders like Mahatma Gandhi, Amitabh Bachhan, Bill Gates, etc they all faced setbacks however they were all resilient and therefore bounced back and achieved their goals.
So here’s to building resilient children with an entrepreneurial bent to make sure they survive the uncertain future.
Here is a simple exercise to help your children find solutions to the problems they face.
