One of the most well-known and top-selling motivational gurus of our time is Tony Robbins. His childhood proved to be challenging, but he came out of it strong after partnering with Jim Rohn, a self-help professional. It didn't take long for Robbins to start creating his own books and speeches to help others get the help that he had sought out.
Of course parents these days want their children to be successful, and Tony Robbins is offering some advice for this to happen. Robbins was recently interviewed on how to raise children to be successful entrepreneurs. Robbins advised parents to instill the growth mindset into their children in order for them to achieve success.
The Growth Mindset
The growth mindset is when children believe that they can always learn more and that the more effort they put into what they do, the stronger they will get. This encourages them to put in extra time and effort, leading to higher achievement.
When praising children, it is important to not focus on their perfection, but rather give them praise and encouragement about the effort that they have put forth to overcome obstacles. This includes characteristics such as persistence and determination.
Alternatively, a fixed mindset is when someone assumes that people can only be as successful or talented as they are born to be. Achievement is based on the innate talents that people are born with and cannot be learned. People who have a fixed mindset typically discount any effort, hard work, and determination that are used to achieve success.
The growth mindset allows people to believe that humans' ability to achieve is much more controllable, meaning people can increase their abilities and intelligence over time with hard work, perseverance, and determination.
Belief in Development
Many people are raised having a fixed mindset. While some may work to overcome this mindset later in life, when they encounter this idea for the first time, it is often questionable whether or not it is too late to change.
It is possible to redevelop one's mindset later in life, but it is more effective to learn this as a child.
In fact, studies have shown that parents can help their children develop a growth mindset as young as one-year-old. This will then affect how they tackle challenges and succeed in school. It is all about praising your children in the correct way.
Persistence, Hard work, and Effort
Robbins believes that the most important piece of parenting advice is that teaching your child to have a growth mindset will result in them setting higher goals, having a healthier attitude about how their effort effects their successes and failures, and will prevent children from being bored because they will not be scared to try new or difficult things.
So, rather than saying, "You did a perfect job!" say something more along the lines of "You did such a great job on that because you never gave up!" This type of shaping helps children grow up to value persistence, work hard work, and put forth a lot of effort. This is where children will ultimately find rewards once they reach adulthood.
