Six lessons children need to learn

[Isaac Odongo]

I hope this will provide value to the forum.
I hope this will help someone who's wondering something about this topic.

OUTLINE
1. The benefits of self-control
2. How to be humble
3. How to be resilient
4. How to be responsible
5. The value of adult guidance
6. The need for moral values

WHAT’S SELF CONTROL
It encompasses the following: delay gratification, refrain impulses, complete unpleasant tasks, put others before self(help others)

How to teach it.

• Learn to say no and mean it.
• Help your child understand consequences, both good and bad.
• Teach your child to prioritize.
• Be a good role model.

Saying no to a child now will help him to say no to himself later in life, for example, if he is tempted to take drugs or to engage in other harmful practices.

HOW TO BE HUMBLE
Humble people are respectful. Not arrogant in behavior. Not expecting special treatment from others. Taking genuine interest in others and willing to learn from others

Humility is not weakness. It is a strength that helps one to recognize their faults and acknowledge limitations.

How to teach it.

• Encourage a proper view of self. (avoid misleading maxims, praise specific actions and efforts, limit use of social media, encourage them to apologise quickly when needed)
• Promote gratitude. (gratitude for the natural world, gratitude for people, expressing gratitude)
• Teach them the value of serving others, helping others. (expect your child to do chores, emphasise that serving and helping others is a privilege). A child who learns to perform humble tasks at home is more likely to work well with others as an adult.

HOW TO BE RESILIENT
A resilient person bounces back from obstacles and failures. Resilience comes as a result of experience. A child must not be shielded from occasional setbacks.

Failure is inevitable in some endeavours​

Adversity affects everyone at some point​

Correction is important for learning​

How to teach and when

• When your child fails.
• When adversity strikes.
• When your child receives constructive criticism.

A child who is able to bounce back from disappointments and mistakes is more likely to persevere when learning skills to become proficient in them.

HOW TO BE RESPONSIBLE
People who are responsible are reliable. They follow through on tasks and complete them on time.

Children who are taught to be responsible will be more able to manage their life as adults.

How to teach it

• Assign chores.
• Help your child take responsibility for their mistakes.(to be honest and admit their errors, to avoid blaming others, to avoid making excuses, to apologise when appropriate)

THE VALUE OF ADULT GUIDANCE
Children need adults who can provide leadership and advice. Parents are in best position to do this. Yet other adults can be mentors to your child.

Why important

1. Children spend much time at school where adult presence and guidance is hugely outnumbered by students.
2. After school children may in some cases return to empty homes because both parents have to work.
3. One study found that in the US, children between 8 to 12 spend on average 6 hours on entertainment media each day.

How to do it

• Spend time with your children
• Provide a mentor
• Children are as well advised to spend more time with adults.

A child who looks to adults for guidance is more likely to display wisdom and maturity later in life.

THE NEED FOR MORAL VALUES
People with moral values have a compass firmly pointing North. Their moral code is founded on a firm set of principles that they follow even in private.

Entertainment and social media presents the alternative value and a so called new normal. Our children need something more strong and valuable.

How to teach it

• Establish a moral code. (build a moral vocabulary, explain the why for your moral code, emphasise the benefits)
• Make your moral code partof your family identity.
• Reinforce moral values. (commend good behaviour, correct bad behaviour)

Children who see their parents display honesty are more likely to resist temptations to be dishonest when on their own.

Thank you for reading.

Hope it helps.

~Isaac~

 

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[Isaac Odongo]

Hello,

Hope you are well and energized. Doing squats and push-ups help energize me to roll through the day. Whenever I don't do them, I begin to feel lazy.

How do these six lessons discussed at the opening post of this thread apply in entrepreneurship, unscripting, liberty and rat race escape.

Saying no to a child now will help him to say no to himself later in life, for example, if he is tempted to take drugs or to engage in other harmful practices.

If they is tempted to take the easy road, the direction of least resistance, they most probably will choose to take the opposite option. The hard road. Which road will most likely make their life easy. They will choose not to zombified by social media, enslaved by the video game industry nor imprisoned by Hollywood and its henchmen.

Unscripted Freedom will have been achieved. No matter what, our children will come out as different, more mature, stronger, resilient and proactive. The world is moving very fast. About 20 yrs ago Uganda was largely bush. Cities are now dozens of times bigger than they were then. Coping and flourishing traits are needed to thrive in this dynamic environment.

Humility is not weakness. It is a strength that helps one to recognize their faults and acknowledge limitations.

For a person to learn and grow, that person must be humble to appreciate their gap in experience and the need to fill it by listening to others who know or have seen and lived through it. No one book answers all questions. It's a sort of humility to pick up a book and learn something we don't know.

In entrepreneurship listening is life or death. Those who have been there know. They saw. They can tell us. But it takes humility to acknowledge ignorance and learn. It takes humility to put out our biases and do as the market says. To be a giver other than a taker. To accept that our world changing idea was dumb. No body wants it. We throw it away and take something else.

Children who are taught to be responsible will be more able to manage their life as adults.

Leaders appear here. Life is about leadership.
Train a child in the way he should go and he will not depart from it.

A child who looks to adults for guidance is more likely to display wisdom and maturity later in life.

Be quick to listen but slow to speak. Children need to listen as much as adult entrepreneurs do.

This involves appreciating that others are smarter, more experienced, more knowledgeable than us. We can't know everything.

Do not empty your mouth before you fill your ears. For when you speak, you open your mind for the world to view.

Children who see their parents display honesty are more likely to resist temptations to be dishonest when on their own.

Entrepreneurship is the providing of value to someone's life. Many people will express gratitude by opening their wallet. Integrity in entrepreneurship is vital for happiness and satisfaction. @Kak has very well championed this approach and philosophy here.

The world needs more givers who will really solve the problems of people than in does takers or grabbers.

Thank you for being a giver.

Most likely others can chime in.

~Isaac~

 

[Isaac Odongo]

I had missed this one in the above update.

Resilience

A child who is able to bounce back from disappointments and mistakes is more likely to persevere when learning skills to become proficient in them.

Life is full of disappointments. Some small and negligible. Some huge. We need thick skins to come out stronger and more determined. To face the wind. The storm. And come out with a smile and a larger heart.

Due to imperfection, we are vulnerable to making errors. Some tiny. Some enormous, life altering. Acknowledging this, and having awareness that we have infinite room to improve is a life jacket.

Bounce back ability from disappointments and our errors is an indispensable capability to possess. We need it and our children need it.

~Isaac~

 

[Isaac Odongo]

Humility is not weakness. It is a strength that helps one to recognize their faults and acknowledge limitations. The words below are from a newsletter titled FASTER THAN NORMAL. They bring home the point of humility simply and clearly. Confidence is a feeling and a belief, and beliefs and feelings are fallible.​

Hence why evidence is more powerful: It is proof.​

In this context, humility is key.​

Humility isn’t a bad thing. Humility is realistic knowledge of what you can and cannot do. It’s about knowing and understanding your capabilities.​

You don’t have to undermine your successes to be humble. Instead, you have to have a realistic interpretation of your own skills.​

In the business example, humility might look like consulting industry experts, gaining input from others, and accurately pinpointing areas of your business in which you’re not confident.​

To beat overconfidence, you have to be humble.​

 

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