Chiswick Consulting I will be posting a series of blogs on resilience and optimism. As a start, and after a big dose of family over Christmas, it seems appropriate to reflect how much we can learn from our children.
1. Persistence
Have you ever seen a child at a task that seems impossible? If you have you’ve probably also seen them achieve the task through pure persistence.
Now how often do we as adults give up before we have begun? If we all try a little harder, we could achieve a whole lot more.
2. Enjoyment
Let’s face it, children have much better fun than adults. They fall down, laugh and get back up again. They learn from play.
We, on the other hand, moan about how life is so hard and seldom get back up again. Humour and laughing helps us deal with stressful situations and put things into perspective.
3. Strong ethics
Children understand the value of having rules to live by, they have a strong moral compass which guides them in their play and relationships. These rules provide a framework to work (or play) within and direct their behaviour. When they achieve something by playing by the rules, they experience a strong innate sense of satisfaction and wish to repeat the experience, time and time again.
4. Self belief
Children believe they can effect change in their environment no matter what size they are. If you need evidence just think of a baby who stops crying when they get what they want!
As adults, many of us act as if we have no control. However, as the Dalai Lama said ” if you think you are too small to have an impact, try going to bed with a mosquito in the room”. You’ll soon see that we all can make a difference.
5. One step at a time
Children can be very ingenious in breaking situations down into manageable pieces and then planning and coordinating action. They are not easily overwhelmed by the task at hand but are excited by big challenges. How many of us can say the same thing?