Although I say I work from home, I really do most of my work at a coffee shop close to home. When the clutter and laundry starts to look at me in that accusing way and starts to pull me away from working, I skedaddle out of the house. I lug my computer, my notebook that has my to do list in it, a couple of books, and a snack and I’m off. I find a quiet corner and get to work.
Every once in a while an old acquaintance or friend spots me and we chat for a bit. Oftentimes they give me an idea for a blog post. So the other day, I met an acquaintance of mine, who asked me what I was working on. I told him all about Parentingsimply.com. So since his kids are older,(I happen to know his kids and they are a wonderful bunch and told him so) he told me that he wished he had encouraged his children to feel good about “failure”. This caught my interest and I asked him to explain.
“Well, I read this story about the creator of ‘Spanx.’ She said that every night at dinner, her father would ask the family, ‘What did you fail at today?’ I wish I would have done that. I wish I would have given my kids a better way to view failure.”
That, of course, brought to mind, Carol Dweck’s research on helping kids develop a “Growth Mindset.” She encourages parents to do that as well, to help children recognize that failures are often just stepping stones to success.
It reminds me of this video:
I hope you enjoy! Don’t forget to enjoy your “failures” today!