Whatever you take the positive meaning of passion to be, it can be very hard to find yours. Many adults struggle with this question every day. Part of the reason most people don’t know their passion is that they didn’t start searching earlier. Imagine how much easier life would be for your kid if they could find their passion at an early age. Sure, your child’s interests will most likely be in flux as they grow up and learn new things, but helping them lock onto the strongest ones will help them find the lasting ones – the ones they’re really passionate about – much sooner. Here are a few ways you can help your kid do that.
Encourage them to pursue their natural talents
Your child may begin to exhibit certain gifts at one point or another. When you notice these gifts, celebrate and nurture them. It’s important that you encourage your child to pursue their natural talents, as often their passion stems from the things they are already good at.
Is that you, Frida?
Now, that’s not to say that your child will become passionate about their natural talents as soon as they begin to exhibit them. That’s okay; they’re in their formative years exploring everything they can. They might not be quick to latch onto any particular thing. Even so, encourage them as soon as you notice they’re good at something. Let them know that you support them pursuing it, even if they might not do so immediately.
Challenge your kid
Once you find something that your kid is naturally good at, encourage them to also try out things that they are not naturally good at. The flip side of finding the things we’re good at early is that we might not want to try anything else. And yet, in those formative years, you want your child to try everything they can to unlock their full range of talents.
At the end of the day, challenge your child to try new things. Even if they’re not immediately good at it, they’ll most likely enjoy it.
Sign your child up for a sport
Sports are one of the areas where almost anyone can find some natural gift or other of theirs. It doesn’t matter whether they do tennis, basketball, football, soccer, gymnastics, or dance. The point is to let them try out different sports for the sheer enjoyment of it.
Apart from potentially finding something they’re good at, they will reap other benefits from sports, such as being fit and healthy, learning to work in teams, and socializing with friends.
Sign your child up to learn music
Music is yet another area where many people find their natural gifts. But it also goes beyond that. Learning music can have massive benefits for your child. It will improve their fine motor skills, memory, creativity, and many other cognitive abilities.
Help your child do their homework
Your child’s passion can take any form. One way to help them find it is to do their homework with them. It’s a great way to find out if they have an academic passion, such as one for mathematics, or science, or even history. Maybe they just like solving challenging problems and so enjoy the problem sets given during homework.
“Hey, I can’t be doing this by myself all the time! I need someone to help me out but I don’t know who… (hint: look at my shirt)”
It’s also a great opportunity to find out how your child learns new things and to introduce them to new and interesting subjects, or work with them on projects. There is a slew of paper writers online that write on many interesting topics for them to learn. School projects, especially, are an excellent way to find their creative spark and build cool things. At any rate, taking the time to help your child with their homework will be a great bonding experience for the two of you.
Have conversations often with your child
Our technology-filled world has its advantages, but one of its biggest disadvantages is that it can create distance between people who should be close. With so many parents absorbed by their phones, there’s a shortage of authentic parent-child conversations.
Parenting – as easy as riding a bike or a bit more complex?
Have regular conversations with your child. Talk to them as if they are a fellow adult, giving everything they say due consideration. Let the conversation be open so they can say what’s really on their mind without fear of judgment. They just might reveal their interests and passions to you.
Conclusion
As you can see, your child’s passion can be just about anything. The trick to helping them find it is to encourage them to embrace life and eat it with a big spoon, exploring everything they can and having fun along the way. They might stumble on their life’s purpose, or maybe not, but either way, the positive side-effects of the journey are worth it.
About the Author: Jake S. Platt is 31. He has a master’s degree in marketing and currently started his way as a content writer. He wrote his first story at age 15. Now he brings his decades of experience to inspire people to explore the world.
