Lessons Learned
As a parent I’ve had many situations where I’ve learned/taught lessons from/to my kids. Here are a few that I’ve found to be very valuable.
- All you can do is the best you can do.
Different people have different skill levels at different skills as well as different levels of knowledge in different areas. That’s a whole lot of different. We need to adjust our expectations of ourselves according to our own skill and knowledge levels but not so much that it inhibits our ability to continue improving ourselves in all areas. My daughter is probably tired of me saying this to her: “All you can do is the best you can do.” - Always try to do your best. The second part of accepting that all you can do is the best you can do is always trying your best. Don’t settle for anything less than your best.
- Always aim to do a little bit better than the last time. Any time we do something is a learning experience. Whether it is something we do every day like brushing our teeth or something we do rarely like changing the oil on a snow blower we are always figuring out ways to do things better for ourselves.
In the conversations I’ve had with my kids this lesson has been mostly applied to school work. Every time you get an assignment in a particular subject aim to get a slightly higher grade than the last assignment in that subject. Got an 85 on your last history test? Use that as a goal for the next history test and try to beat it!
- You may not get it right the first time. There is nothing embarrassing about not knowing something when you’re trying to learn. However, not knowing something you should already know may be embarrasing. Knowledge may not stick the first time you learn something so ask the right questions and try to get it right the next time.
This doesn’t just apply to school work. It could apply to just about anything. Learning to ride a bike. Putting together a piece of furniture. Programming an app.
- If you tell me a bad truth I may be upset with you but not as upset as when you tell me a good lie. As we all know by watching politicians when you lie about something you have a better chance at making it worse than if you come clean in the first place. When you do something that is ‘wrong’ (a very vague term) I’ll be upset. But when I catch you lying to me about it I’ll be even more upset because that shows me that you don’t trust me. Be honest from the outset and it will not only show me that you trust me but that I can trust you too.
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