Many people believe that success in life means living off passive income or accumulating great fortunes. You will indeed find many authors writing success books, in which they outline various recipes to build wealth.
However, this is not always enough. If you want to amass substantial wealth, there’s nothing wrong with it; undoubtedly, it can help fulfill an important aspect of life. But if your goal is to increase your happiness and that of your children, the path you need to take is primarily different.
Now let me explain what it really means to be successful and then provide you with some useful insights to guide your child towards the most effective direction for this purpose.
1. What does success mean in life?
In my book Fearless Parenting Method I explain very well how to allow your children to embark on the path to success in life. Note that I didn’t say success in work or in a single area; I said success in life overall.
This means that to achieve true success, it is crucial to achieve significant results in different areas of life.
Imagine how your life would be if you had a billion euros but no health. Now think about how you would be with robust health but not a single euro in your pocket and no one you can trust. Or how your life would be if you lived in a princely palace but were completely alone, without your loved ones (children, friends, partner…).
Probably, in none of these situations, a person could feel that they have achieved true success because they would feel unfulfilled in many important aspects of their life.
Not only that, but the news often reports stories of people who dedicated their lives to building significant fortunes, but then fell back into poverty or lost even more than their wealth.
So, in simple terms, achieving success in life means realizing oneself fully in many different areas of life. This way, even if something doesn’t work out as planned, a person can rely on what they have been able to build in other areas.
2. Achieving lasting success in life
Now that you have understood the importance of enriching your child’s life in multiple aspects, you may be wondering which areas are the most important.
You can already find some references on Wikipedia; in this post, it explains the things to do to achieve success in life. If you want to delve into the areas that scientific literature indicates as essential in a very specific way, you can browse through my manual on education.
In a nutshell, your family is one of the areas on which it is very important to invest energy, attention, and resources. That is why I insist that educating children, among other things, is a real investment for their own and personal success.
By continuing to read, you will understand well how to exercise your parenting role to achieve significant results from this perspective. But now, I want to talk to you about an even more important aspect.
If it is true that to achieve success in life, it is essential to realize oneself in various different areas, it is also necessary to ensure that success is lasting. Because the more stable your achievements are in a field, the less risk you have of losing what you have built.
3. How to be successful in life
In light of the things I have told you, you may have come to realize that truly succeeding in life is not an impossible thing. Now, let’s think about how to build the foundation for a path that aims for personal fulfillment.
Relationships are one of the most important spheres of life to achieve a good level of fulfillment. They are not the only one, but fostering your child’s ability to build stable relationships with others is certainly a valuable asset that you can pass on to them.
So, if work plays a significant role in your life, but you also have children, I suggest investing as much energy and resources as possible to help them find their way in life.
It will be valuable for them to achieve their goals, and it will bring you serenity to witness their achievements and setbacks. It will also ensure that you do not lose everything you have built in your life by having to readjust with your children when it’s too late.
Now, I will point out 3 essential aspects on which you can work very simply, for both your own fulfillment and that of your family:
1. Bring out your child’s potential instead of aligning them with your desires.
2. Foster as much self-control as possible in your child.
3. Offer your child quality time: it’s not important to always be with them if you are constantly attached to your smartphone or computer; make them understand that you are always focused on them and their needs.
