A child is like a blank sheet of paper. How you fill it is fully in your control. All humans were once innocent children waiting for proper training that can shape their mindset. There is enough evidence that personalities are a result of childhood experiences. What a person becomes is in some way or other linked to what he/she went through in childhood.

Good parenting lies in the identification of your kids’ talents and passions and driving them to achieve success in them. Parents have a full role in a child’s education and that’s where kids become a person of their own.  Planning about the career paths of your kids is very important.

You can’t just give them money whenever they need it and then leave your assets to them in the future. Although to secure the latter, you can take advisory services for estate planning. For a career, you’ll have to consult your own kids.

How do parents contribute to the career development of their children?

While helping your kids in choosing an ideal career path, you might feel like you’re walking on eggshells. You don’t want your kids to feel that you’re forcing a career path on them. More than often, parents tend to be selective about what choices they make. Some parents make the greatest mistake of trying to fulfill their dreams through their kids.

This is detrimental to children’s growth. You must let them choose their own path and only guide them through it. Here are some points you must keep in mind:

What to do:

• Aid them while they’re trying to figure stuff out. Whether it’s the choice of a subject or university, you must take full control. Think of it this way — they must know that they are behind the steering of their life but you’re right beside them to provide support.

• Allow them time to discover their skills, interests, or passion. There’s no doubt that there are kids who know exactly what they want. They must have been following their passion all along and now they’ll choose a good university. But that’s necessarily not the case. If your child is confused about what they want to pursue, allow them time and support. A gap year after school works great in this context. But don’t let them waste this year and make them try different things to help them find what they like.

• Cut down on negativity. As parents, your words have great importance in your child’s life. Think a little before making a comment as it can be destructive to their dreams and ideas.

• Open up your mind to new professions as there are quite a lot of them. The world is a totally different place than when you were choosing a course. You might have been looking into medical science, law, or engineering but things are different now. There are tons of jobs on social media and content marketing that you must’ve not heard of. Take some time to research them in spite of declaring them useless right away.

• Research about colleges and courses that seem useful. It’s not only their job; as parents, you must be equally attentive when it comes to looking for courses and universities.

• Tell them that if they feel they need to review their decision, you’ll be therewith. Sometimes, children realize they’re not meant to do something when they’re halfway through it. It might come as a shock but it’s more common than you think. Be there if and when this happens.

Instill skills onto your kids

People are lost with degrees from top colleges. Students often find themselves in a bitter crisis as they have debt on their shoulders. In this scenario, it becomes very hard to leave a job they don’t like (if they have one). This is the number one cause of depression in young adults.

The solution to this is simple. When your kids are young, instill skills in them that can allow them to make a living.  In the era of virality, a popular video can change the life of an individual. If they are good at something like singing, painting, dancing, creating video sketches, or writing, they can make more than many people working in a conventional job.

This skill can get them tremendous opportunities in life, better than you ever dreamt of.  One doesn’t have to fully rely on skills as this path is quite flexible. You can do it with a job, as a side-hustle, to make some extra bucks or just for the sake of doing something that actually makes you happy.

Parents can guide their kids to bright futures by helping them choose a valued course but skills are important as well. Skills can be natural or learned. You must pay close attention to your child’s hobbies and things that make him happy. The real development happens when they’re in school. If you help them in choosing subjects, extras, and sports, they’ll thank you later.