Focus on effort—not on intelligence or ability—is key to success in school and in life.
My parents were like most parents: they always told me how smart I was. The ACT test revealed otherwise: I was dumber than average.According to this really sweet article, you should praise your kid for effort, not intelligence.
The reasons are several, but perhaps the biggest is that if your kid believes his intelligence is innate (given, inherited, fixed) they might get the impression they don’t have to put any effort to be intelligent. If they already are intelligent (like their parents have told them) why should they try hard on an difficult assignment? Why should they push to achieve brilliance when they already are?
Granted, we all know men are not created equal; that some chickens hatch smarter than others. But having a 200 yard head start in a marathon isn’t much of an advantage. Intelligence requires constant attention throughout the entire race of life.
