I don't want to have specific ideas about what I want my children to be when they grow up--what they will be has already been determined. I don't want them to think I expect them to go into a particular field where they can make lots of money and be that kind of successful either. I don't want to selfishly guide them. I want two things for them: happiness and success. But, for what I want for them, the two cannot be had separately. I think the only way for one to be happy, is to be successful in something that makes one happy. I want to know what their interests are so I can facilitate their quest. I want to help them build a bridge so they will be able to build one for themselves. I want them to know what they want, and go for it. They should be able to be independent and be good decision-makers that can take their dream and grow it into something wonderful. If they can do that, I guarantee that it will be a dream that is not only beneficial to them, but to their community, and the reward of that is success. A main staple in having that success, in my opinion, is to be involved and learn a variety of new things. They need to find out what interests them and
Now if one (or more) of them decide to be happy, successful bums, I may need to take a different angle. But I don't think that will be the case. If I teach them to ask questions and have a want to find answers while they are young, I think they will always be that way. I am trying to grow creative minds. Minds that are capable of thinking of many possibilities. Minds that can come up with theories. Basically, minds that crave "how's" and "why's".
Recently, a friend and I talked a minute about how the public school was doing some math and that they wanted the students to get the answer a specific way. Even if they used a different method to get the right answer it would be wrong. For me, that's crazy. If you get the right answer, and you had a method, what's the difference. I want mine to know that there are many ways to get to the end of a road....you can walk, run, skip, skate, bike, drive, cart wheel, etc. Think outside the box.
Employers probably like for people to be able to think outside the box, right? As far as that goes, maybe the person who can think outside the box would actually be a good leader---perhaps even being the employer themselves. =)