Raise a Child by Developing his Strengths

From the Heguru handbook.

Every child has strengths and weaknesses. For example, some may be good at sports but weak in their studies, while others may draw well but are poor communicators. No one can be great in everything they do. Parents, however, fearing that their child may lose out because of these weaknesses, then attempt to implement solutions to overcome these weaknesses. Unfortunately, it is impossible to completely stamp out weaknesses. And there is a danger in focussing too much on a child’s weakness.

When raising a child, it is important to build his confidence and initiate motivation. Excessive correction of a weakness can end up demotivating a child by creating loss of confidence because there is too much focus on the weakness.

Einstein’s Story

Einstein was very weak in subjects like history and foreign languages. Because of this, he earned the nickname “idiot”. In secondary school, his Latin tacher said, “Absolutely nothing has gone right with him.”

But Einstein has a strength in solving difficult equations. By focussing on expanding his strength, he was eventually noticed by a university in Switzerland.

What parents should do is focus on building their children’s strengths first so that it becomes a remarkable. This gives a child confidence which can then be used to help your child deal with his weaknesses. Having already developed confidence in another area of their lives, these children  can then appropriate their weak subject with an appropriate mindset.

The goal is not to ignore the weakness, but to focus on developing your child’s strengths first and then work on his weakness.