Are You Pushing Your Child to Peak Too Soon?
You would probably be over the top happy if your child was:
- a youth national champion,
- the valedictorian of their senior class,
- a National Merit Scholar,
- the #1 recruited athlete in the state or country,
- a Rhodes Scholar,
- or the CEO of startup with a billion dollar valuation before the age of 21.
However, would you still be so happy if that was the highlight of your child’s life? Would it still be a proud parent moment if you knew that moment represented your child’s peak, and it was all down hill from there?
If your child achieved one of these accolades based on their own self-motivation, then it’s unlikely that this would be the case. On the other hand, if your child achieved one of these accolades because you pushed them to the brink of their potential with no holds barred tiger parenting, then there is room for concern.
I share this as a follow-up to my warning about the curse of high achieving young athletes and students. This is an addendum to that warning.
The harder you push your child, the more likely you will push them away from what you really want for them…long term and sustained success and happiness. It’s one thing to raise a teen world champion. It’s another to raise a mentally and physically healthy adult whose life continually gets better with each passing year of adulthood.