Getting
Your Kids to Reach for the Stars
When we were children, we had big dreams and
our whole lives ahead of us to make them come true. We wanted to climb a
mountain, be a fireman, a ballerina or be a movie star. Nothing was in our way
and nothing was going to stop us.
And then we became adults. The dreams vanished
as life got in the way. Those dreams we had seemed silly and we let them fade
into the distance. As parents, it’s important to not let this happen to our
children – but how? Here are a few ways to teach them how to keep reaching for the
stars:
- Teach them that Rome wasn’t built in a
day. Neil Armstrong didn’t wake up one morning and decide he was going to
walk on the moon that day. Reaching for the stars doesn’t mean making one
giant leap – it means taking lots of small steps in the direction of your
goal.
- You aren’t going to learn everything you
need to know to reach your goal in one sitting. The knowledge you need to
learn to will come with each tiny step you take forward. Slowly but surely
you will build up your bag of tricks to get where you need to be.
- When the going gets tough – keep going.
Perseverance is key to getting where you want to go. There will times when
they will feel that their efforts are pointless or they aren’t seeing any
progress. That’s the exact time to hunker down and keep moving forward.
- Just do it! Don’t overplan yourself right
out of your dream. Yes, plans are important to have an idea of what you’re
doing and where you’re going, but you don’t have to know every step of
every path you’re going to take. Planning and then planning some more is a
surefire way to kill your dream.
It’s ok to dream the impossible dream. It’s ok
to reach for the unreachable star. It will hurt sometimes and it will take time
to get there but you can pursue your passion and live your dream.
