Title: Teach Your Child to Find Their Talents and Use Them
Category: Positive Parenting
Many motivation books today stress finding one's unique talent, and working hard to develop it into a success. I think it is important that we challenge young people starting at a preschool age to think about what they want to do in their future. Most children will change their mind a hundred times. Nevertheless, the fact that we are asking them to focus on their talents, their inner drives, and their dreams is a good thing. When young people do find their talent it helps them to have direction and purpose in the long tough years of school. This can mean the difference between making the cuts, getting the scholarships, and ultimately reaching one's dreams. Most people go through life without ever setting goals or considering their God given talents. I believe that each person has at least one special talent and most people have several. I encourage parents to nourish their children's talents from infancy onward and to challenge them each step of the way to develop them. It will require them getting out of their comfort zone and overcoming the fear of failure. By getting involved and getting into the ring we are all winners. Life is not as good if we spend it all on the sidelines. It's much more fun to be in the game. Challenge your children to find a dream and to develop the skills, assets and talents needed to reach it. Inspire them to give it all they have, working hard and long to reach it. Once those goals have been met, new goals can be set and new dreams sought. In a lifetime, any average person can accomplish great things with this formula. In addition to being an active goal setter and hard worker, we should pray for guidance in the use of our talents. Many times God has new and special plans for us with talents that are yet undiscovered. Constantly encourage your children to pray for God's plan for their life. Pray along with them as their school and future plans unfold. The average child will have three or more careers in his lifetime. Don't focus on one single interest at the expense of five others. Try to develop the whole person and thus broaden the opportunities for future careers, hobbies and dream achievements. One of the best ways to teach our children the importance of using talents, working hard and asking for God's guidance is to do so in our own lives. By modeling that type of example our kids will almost automatically follow us. They will probably give it all they've got in the use of their special talents throughout their life.