Participate with your child in a “stretch assignment” that requires grit, failure, and the building of resilience. The best option for your child is something that takes practice, aligns with their interests, and won’t be accomplished perfectly the first time.
- Because you want the best for your kids, it can be difficult to know the difference between healthy protection and over-protection. It’s natural to want to keep your child from experiencing pain, sadness, and failure. When kids learn to fear failure, then their clearest and surest way to success has been blocked. It’s an unintended consequence of a loving motivation to care for your child.
- The most important lessons in childhood come from setbacks, mistakes, and failures, which are exactly what teach kids resourcefulness, persistence, creativity, and resiliency.
Here are some ideas:
- Do something difficult (e.g. run a 5k or obstacle race, go on a mission trip)
- Learn a new skill (e.g. music, cooking, art, athletics)
- Complete a challenge (e.g. do 100 sit ups, memorize a chapter of the Bible, raise $100 for charity)