‘To those who use well what they are given, even more will be given, and they will have an abundance. But from those who do nothing, even what little they have will be taken away.’

Matthew 25:29 ( NLT)

As parents we look for talent in our children and hope they can become a little more than ordinary, possessing some special talent that will provide them an opportunity to make something great of themselves. Sometimes we find some talent and other times we conclude that our children are ordinary. However, sooner or later we conclude they have no talent or  too little talent to become a professional or star in a specific field.  But hold on! before you make that conclusion, have you applied the 10,000 Hour Rule?

Excellence is a function of way more than talent. Studies have shown that providing the right environment and opportunities play a big role in the child’s development. And even geniuses and super stars are not entirely self made, but are a result of input from generations past, and present, cultures, legislations and  varying circumstances that have had profound influences on them. Most importantly, they are a result of dedicated devotion to their art. Perfecting the spark of talent into a fireball of excellence  by practice, practice, practice.

As a parent or guardian, you could give your child a comparative advantage among his peers. You can create the right environment and make the necessarry sacrifices to ensure your child gets the necessary exposure, kit and practice to develop his or her talent. The child’s age is irrelevant; they could be a teen or a toddler.

Here a 3 simple ways you can help your child’s talent develop into excellence:

1. Observation: Every child has a measure of talent. This is the starting point. Take the time to observe your child from an early age for where their interest lie. This might take some time. Every child has a talent/ gift, something they are good at, that they do with a bit of ease, that they enjoy doing. It takes a dedicated and observant parent to discover this. Sometimes, its glaring, but many times, you need to observe.

2. Exposure: once you’ve discovered your child’s talent, the next step is to expose the child as much as possible to  influences in this field, this could range anything from  classes, movies,books, mentors, fairs, exhibitions etc. Bill Gates was exposed to computers  at an early age at prep school in Lakeside. Computers were still too expensive to buy, the school held a fundraiser to provide their children that rare opportunity.

3. 10,000 hours: Here comes the hard work. Hours of practicing is the single differentiating factor between  laymen and  professionals . It is the horning of skills, by commitment of time, to practice, practice, practice. Detailed studies as those highlighted in Malcolm Gladwell’s book The Outliers reveals that practicing a skill up to the 10,000 lead to distinguished success in that field. Essentially, the key to success in any field is, to a large extent, a matter of practicing a specific task for a total of around 10,000 hour. Depending on the age of the child, that could be anything from 4 hours a day 5 – 6 times a week.

The 10,000 hour rule dispels the myth that a person can survive on talent alone. Talent requires hard work to develop into a meaningful skill. It requires practice. This is what distinguishes the champions from the wannabes.

‘If you don’t practice; You don’t deserve to Win! -

Andre Agassi’

Anyone can capture time in journals by recording thoughts and feelings in words. Writing thoughts in poems, expressing gratitude and ranting are positive methods of self expression.’

Journal keeping in children has untold advantages, as discussed in an earlier blog. There are untold benefits in getting your kids, be they toddler or teenager to start scribbling away regularly. There’s no better time than the start of a new year to kick start this positive habit.

Here are a few points to get them started.

First you need a journal. To encourage repeated entires, it helps to have an attractive journal. While a simple notebook from any store will do, the chances of carrying the habit on are a lot slimmer. There are several diaries and journal out there. Checking a bookstore will reveal a host of options; hardcover, gloss finish, lined pages, unlined pages and even drawing books for younger journal keepers who can’t really write much yet. The options are endless. There are also journal keeping apps out there that can easily do the job (Journal Apps).

I recommend that you choose something sturdy, attractive and interactive. to encourage continued entries. The Can Do Journal is quite the thing for this. It comes with a motivational planner in an attractive gloss hardcover. Designed for teenagers, it comes with additional planning pages for goals and inspirational quotes and ample ruled pages for daily journal entries.

What to write. What ever journal your child chooses, there is the question of what to write.

Songs are very popular with teenagers. They can write songs on how they feel or what they are thinking. Poems are another choice to ease them into the habit of daily writing.

I would also encourage that they periodically put in a gratitude entry. It’s so easy to get carried away with what’s not working. But taking time time to count their blessings will help them realize just how much they have going for them.

Journals are for all times, when happy, sad, neutral or even angry. Encourage them to rant in their journal,( be warned! it might be about you) but it helps to let off the steam and hopefully, they can look back at it and laugh at themselves. The key thing is that they are writing.

Good luck with kick stating journal keeping with your child this year!

As parents you can identify and nurture the entrepreneurial  instincts in your children. Here are 5 ways to activate and nurture their entrepreneurial spirit!

1.Create Awareness.  Not every child is an entrepreneur, but then again how can they be when they don’t even know what the word means. Why would they want to make money when they don’t know what money can do.

Children need to be exposed an a early stage to the world of commence. Help them to understand the value of money and that people are rewarded  with money for solving problems. Daddy goes to work to solve problems everyday, and he gets paid at the end of the month. Mommy goes to her store every day to solve problems for people who need (fill in the gap) and they reward her by paying. Mommy and daddy can then buy lots of wonderful things and services with the money they have made.

Please adapt to your child’s age. You would be surprised at how many 10 year olds do not know the meaning of words like profit, salary, pension or recession. Suggested reads for Financial awareness- for you the parent: Rich Dad Poor Dad: what the Rich teach their kids about Money- That the poor and Middle Class Do Not!For the Teenager: Rich Dad Poor Dad for Teens, Can Do Journal, Can Do.

2. Don’t Rain on their Parade. Encourage them with their ideas, don’t tell them it’s impossible. How do you know, you haven’t tried it have you?

Kids come up with crazy ideas all the time and we keep telling them it’s impossible, you can’t do that! If we are not careful, they will eventually become normal like us and stop dreaming.

‘The future belongs to those who believe in the future of their dreams.’  The next time your child; be it teen or toddler comes up with a business idea, don’t run it down, rather help him or her to develop it into a business they can start at their level, offer capital, offer time, offer marketing ( tell all your friends relatives and co-workers) and help them get on their feet with the idea. If you can’t offer any of the above, offer encouragement.

3. Praise Praise Praise!  When your kids take steps in the entrepreneurial direction, praise them. Complement their efforts and success. Tell him/her how proud you are. Take pictures, tell grandma and grandpa. Celebrate!

4. Encourage Independence. Don’t try to micro-manage or push kids into interests you feel they should be pursuing. You should  rather recognize they are individuals and have their own strengths, weakness interests and talents.

As parents, our job is to make the tools available; resources, education,encouragement. These provide exposure, however, the eventual choice will be up to them.

5. Show them the future. If you don’t have a dream, How can you have a dream come true. There is nothing as enlightening as knowing others have walked the path you walk and succeeded. Tell your child about the Wright brothers( people thought they were crazy to even dream about flying back then). Tell her about Oprah, about Facebook’s Zuckerberg. Or buy them books that encourage the possibilities Recommenced books- Can Do , Can Do Journal.

‘The heights of great men reached and kept, were not attained by sudden flight, but they, while their companions slept, were toiling upwards in the night.’ – Winston Churchill

We live in a world of fast foods, fast apps, fast cars, the list is endless; so how do you convince your teenager that there is no such thing as an overnight success and that success comes from hard work, dedication and time. Here are 6 sure fire ways to get your message across.

1. Start Early: Teenagers were once babies and toddlers. Principles are better taught from an early age and continued as the child grows. People (and that includes teenagers – I assure you) need to be repeatedly exposed to an idea for it to become a habit or a way of life. That’s just the way we humans are programed. It’s a lot easier to bend a green stem than a dry twig( think about it).

2. Lead by example: Kids do what you do. Some (if not all) of your habits (good or bad), are picked up subtlety; they don’t even know that they do it. They have simply picked it up from you. If you believe in overnight success, it will show in your words, attitudes and habits and kids will soak this up like a sponge. They will believe this as a way of life. That is not to say that some will not grow up and eventually find a fault in your theories, but do you want to have your kids playing catch up?

As a parent, you are not just a care giver, your job specification also includes role model, coach, mentor and the list goes on. This really puts you on the spot doesn’t it? It means you have to ‘do’ and ‘be’ ( as much as you can anyway) what you are asking your kids to ‘do’ and ‘be’. Let me tell you, it’s not always easy, but children pick up non-verbal messages more that the verbal.

3. Investigate and Communicate: Talk about  their teen idols and the prep they have to go through to be and stay on top. It’s easy for kids to see celebrities and imagine that life is just a walk in the park for them. So talk about a celebrity they identify with.

Do your research (a 10 min google research can reveal a lot). This will equip you to  casually raise the fact with your child, on how many school plays, auditions, small roles they had to endure and for how many years they had to do this, before they got to the limelight.

Don’t forget to remind them how hard they have to continue to work for them to remain in the limelight. Everybody’s talking about  Lady Gaga and Justin Bieber’s recent MTV awards, but do you know how much effort, practice, self denial goes into what they do. Some of these stars have to get to set as early as 3am or work late into the night to achieve their dreams. This should inspire your teen to wake at 7am to prepare for school or anything he believes in. Apart from speaking to your teen in a language he/she understands and can relate to, you score some points here, because your child will start to think you are really cool.

4. Encourage them to read biographies. You will be amazed at how biographies can spark interest and encourage them in their pursuits. By reading biographies, they can see that people that succeed were once just like them, with dreams fears and insecurities. Yet this did not deter them from achieving success.

Current mistakes or inadequacies don’t seem so fatal and their dreams won’t seem so out of touch with reality when they see successful people also went through these stages. Biographies if carefully chosen provide one of the greatest insights into the mind of a successful personalities. Recommended: Biographies Alan Sugar, Steve Jobs).

I find that when you choose the books together, they stand a higher chance of of getting read. If you find that getting them to read is challenging, try summarized books or even biographical movies. Can Do- a collection of motivational quotes for teens and young adults is one such book.

 5. Encourage them to follow their dreams. Teens are at a stage where that are picking careers and vocations. Everybody has a calling, a talent. Encourage yours to find where their passion lies and pick a career in what they are genuinely interested in. This way they are willing to give it all it requires to excel.

Do not force them into a career, or make them choose one for financial returns only. I believe there are great financial returns in every career, but these are only triggered by the individual’s talent. Talent=Interest=Innovation=Excellence=Financials.

 6. Be Positive. Don’t be a nagging parent. Try not to complain about every error they make. We are humans, and making mistakes is what we do, not only that, it’s how we learn. However, help them to learn from their mistakes. When they raise the concept of overnight success or they get weary in they own pursuits. Remind them of their own success.

My daughter had a particularly hard time learning how to ride her bicycle. She gave up on several occasions (especially after falling or riding straight into a tree lol). But I kept encouraging her, until she perfected her riding. Now years later, when she is faced with a challenge. I reminder her of the cycling. It took her time, it took her effort, it took her perseverance, but hey! she made it in the end. Reminded of this, she smiles or laughs, and digs into the current endeavor with renewed determination.

You  as a parent are essentially a life coach, so you need remind them of their past success.

Getting kids to write is one habit every parent wants their kids to cultivate. Keeping a journal is a great habit that has far reaching positive effects. Here are 4 reasons why you should encourage children of all ages to keep a journal. 

Encourages Writing:
When Kids are given the chance to write freely outside academic restrictions, and without the pressures that go with it, they begin to see writing as a form of expression. Journal keeping is strictly a personal activity, and because kids can write whatever they want, without correction or inhibition, they start to see writing more as a means of expression and less as a tedious task.Writing skills practiced during journal entries contribute to overall writing skills and hence writing and reading skills are improved. Any form of writing is better than nothing at all and practice (by journal entries) makes perfect.

Fantastic Tool for Self Expression
When given a chance to write uninhibited, and express themselves, kids will start to express themselves in the most interesting ways. They will write about their fears, joys and dreams. I recall last last year, when I encouraged my 3 kids to write down their expectations for the coming year – 2011. One of my son’s expectations was that he would stop getting bullied at school. Of course, this shocked me. Was he being bullied in school? I pride myself with being open and in touch with my kids and all that concern them, so, how could that have passed me by. The bullying was resolved appropriately, but had he not written it on his goal and targets list, I would not have known about it. Moral of the story read the lines and between the lines  of your kids journals-  It’s another communication tool into your child’s heart.

Goal Setting
Studies prove that those who write down their goals achieve significantly more than those who don’t. While we don’t want to make life tedious or overly complex for kids,the simple habit of writing down goals or ‘wishes’ or even drawing them, for younger children in a personal journal help to  provide a focus, and set an expectation for  fulfilment. It also helps older children to ask the question; what do I have to do to achieve this, hereby starting the process for its accomplishment.And of course nothing fills as fantastic as ticking of a completed item on the goals list. Read  more on goals writing/achievement study.

Self Discovery
A journal is a great tool for your kids self discovery. Once they have been keeping journals for a while, you will find a pattern emerge of their likes and dislikes, their passions and even their dreams. Reviewing it unveils their development, likes dislikes, and even some forgotten passions that could be rekindled. And since we are raising champions here, the journals will come in very handy when they have to write that autobiography in decades to come!

Watch out for our age by age guide on how to encourage children from toddlers to teenagers to  start and maintain a journal.