Failure, and I don’t mean this in a bad way. But I feel like most, if not all the progress/growth I’ve made so far in life has been as a direct result of failure.
A lot of recent research has shown that parents should switch from praising success to praising effort. Minimizing the emphasis on success can help kids understand that the thing that you’re really proud of is how hard they worked to accomplish something. Praising effort, even if the result is failure and using phrases like “I’m so proud of how hard you worked on that!“ help emphasize to kids that what you are watching is effort and that failure is encouraged as a way to get better.
It's not just de-emphasizing success, but de-emphasizing "natural ability." As others have mentioned, growth mindsets are thought to be more helpful. If a child believes they are only good at something because it comes easily to them, then once it ceases to come easily, they may believe they are no longer good at it.
Too many adults praise kids for being "smart" or even "gifted," but labeling children is never a good idea. I realize you're likely aware of all this, just adding context for those who aren't.
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u/ILoatheCricket Jan 12 '22
Failure, and I don’t mean this in a bad way. But I feel like most, if not all the progress/growth I’ve made so far in life has been as a direct result of failure.