Millennials do
not stay long in jobs. They often seek new positions, looking for the job that
makes them happy at a company they believe in. Some people admire their
persistence to find the right position, while others see it as a lack of grit,
or an unwillingness to put in the time to move up the ranks.
Parenting
strategies shifted to the believe that every child deserves a trophy for
participation, that a child should never fail, and that our children can do
anything they try. This shift led to, in many cases, young adults who are less
prepared to cope with adulthood and real-life challenges in and out of the
workplace. In short, young adults seem to lack grit and resilience, two
characteristics key to a successful professional career.
The parenting
pendulum seems to be swinging back toward teaching independence and valuing the
importance of failure to learning and growing.
However, it’s
important to note we live in an age of instant gratification and overnight
successes. Millennials and younger individuals see people become overnight
sensations on Youtube or on the latest reality show, and many are accustomed to
getting something they want when they want it.
To balance
parenting styles with cultural factors, it’s important for kids to learn grit
as they age. Here are a few strategies to cultivate grit in your child:
1. Have Them Make Their Beds Each Morning.
Okay, it doesn’t
have to be the bed. But make sure your kids start each day right. Whether it
means making their bed neatly and tightly after they wake up, or packing their
own lunch, or tidying up their room, make sure they’ve done something
productive and done it well first thing in the morning. That way, if at the end
of the day, nothing seems to have gone right, at least they made their bed, ate
a good lunch, or cleaned their room.
2. Don't pack their suitcase for them
Whether you’re
going camping, sending your child to a sleepover, or going to a weeklong camp,
have them pack their own bag. It’s fine if they forget something. They likely
won’t forget it again, and they’ll have to learn to cope without the forgotten
item or find a way to procure a replacement.
3. Encourage them to problem solve
It is not
unusual for kids and adults alike to feel overwhelmed when they see a problem.
Often we become paralyzed by the problem and are not able to figure out a
solution. Encourage your kids to find smaller problems within a challenge, and
find answers to those questions first. Help break it down for them if
necessary, then let them propose a solution.
4. Don’t focus on the result; focus on the
efforts
This is
especially important in our test-focused, competitive culture. There is heavy
emphasis on passing tests and achieving a good GPA. Schools also teach
resilience and grit, factoring efforts on activities into grades. Similar
praise should be awarded for working extremely hard as for getting an A.
5. They can all learn grit
No two children
are the same. Some may have natural grit while others must develop it. For
those children who must develop grit, the trick is to allow your child to
occasionally fail. Help them find the lesson in the failure, and move on. Also,
help them find things they love and are good at. Working at something they love
inspires grit -- if they fail or hit a setback at something they love, they’re
likely to pick it up again and try until they are successful. These lessons
carry over to activities they find tough.