Not following one’s passion is a mistake that the majority of schoolgirls make. As a matter of fact, 84% of young people end up not following up on their passions. Sometimes they can get in their own way. Other times, external forces such as a guardian or parent can also be the stumbling block that forces them in another direction. Yet, they must pursue their interest to ensure better job satisfaction and avoid a future filled with lots of regrets, stress, and anxiety. As a parent, here’s how you can nudge your girl toward her passions so she can pursue career options that she’s bound to love and enjoy.
Let your daughter try it all
Most parents often say no to ideas that their daughters would like to try out because they may sound silly and unsustainable. But shooting down your daughter’s ideas can stunt her desire to pursue the things she likes.
One of the best strategies in terms of nurturing girls’ talents is to allow them room to experiment. Give her the space she needs to try everything she wants to and here’s why so:
- It allows her to discern fleeting interests from her true passions
- It enables you to gauge her fatigue levels and persistence
- It solves curiosity that can often lead to poor career choices
Be there for her during setbacks
Life can get overwhelming even for school children. They might come quickly out of the blocks but they will hit their lows where they feel it’s no longer worth the effort to follow their dreams.
One of the best parenting tips for school girls that we can give you is that you should offer that shoulder to lean on when these difficult times come. If your daughter decides she suddenly wants to throw in the towel on a certain activity or hobby, don’t be so quick to judge and condemn.
Peel back the layers to understand why they want to jump ship. Perhaps, it could be a roadblock that you can help her get past. In case the decision is written in stone, it’s important to understand and accept it.
Offer real-world inspiration
The future of our country is in the hands of the generation of tomorrow. Encourage your schoolgirl to understand and keep up on real-world challenges, and how they may offer innovative remedies for these very real problems.
For instance, if your daughter has developed a passion for climate change, here’s how you can get them even more motivated to follow through on that interest:
Provide examples of how this challenge is affecting their lives and those around them
Encourage her to offer a few solutions to these examples you’ve provided
Help her put it into action in simple steps, e.g. increasing awareness among her friends, planting trees, etc.
The point here is to help your daughter to understand real-world challenges and how their passions might make a difference. Motivating school girls is all about helping them to figure out the value they can provide to society, which will only increase her determination to go the extra mile.
Encourage her to find similar-minded friends
Good social and networking skills are crucial to keeping that fire burning. When motivation runs low, similarly minded groups of friends can be just what’s needed to stock those flames. Therefore, encourage your daughter to be a sociable person and make friends.
There’s power in numbers and the more the merrier. Pals with the same interests can motivate your child to work hard at her dreams. They can also enable healthy competition which can push girls to pour extra effort into everything they put their minds to.
Moreover, when in groups, girls can also appreciate the value of teamwork, while inculcating a sense of respect and unity toward others. It will indoctrinate dedication and build up ethics as well.
Cultivate optimism into her mentality
It’s a highly competitive world we live in today. No matter where your daughter’s interest lies, it’s likely that she’ll face a ton of competition from her peers. This can be good, no doubt, but it can also have a negative impact, dissuading interests and eventually leading to an abandonment of her passion.
Consequently, you need to nurture optimism in your schoolgirl. Turn her into a half-glass-full kind of person who always sees the probability of success rather than the possibility of failure. Here’s how to make your daughter more optimistic-minded:
Provide examples of success stories in whatever she’s passionate about
Give examples of how people in her shoes overcame challenges she may be facing
Offer compliments for the progress she’s making and respond with empathy for those tough times
Building positivity is essential for motivating school girls to explore their passions. Always use the lure of a happy ending to help push through those tough moments.
Be hands-on in the hobbies
When you get involved in your daughter’s hobbies, it sends a strong message. It shows that you not only green light that activity but that you mean what you say. It is a strong show of support too.
Parental involvement is important for nurturing girls’ talents. It can help bolster their interest in the activity and even increase their interest levels in the same. Besides, it’s also a great way to understand your child better and spend some quality family time together.
When you do that, you’ll also be best placed to determine what they need in terms of resources. So always grab the opportunity to be involved, more so in DIY projects she may be working on.
Allow your daughter to explore independently
I know we’ve mentioned the need to be hands-on in their passions, but sometimes we tend to hover over our kids too much as parents. It’s an intrinsic human instinct to watch their every step and try to be heavily involved in everything they do. But sometimes, helicopter parenting isn’t ideal because independence is a key part of empowering school girls. Instead, provide a safe environment where they can explore by themselves, and make their own choices and learn to prioritize their interests.