It’s so refreshing to watch children learn how to navigate the world.
How they go about the world with their wide open eyes.
No preconceived notions, no comparisons. Just wide-eyed openness.
Yet, we often discount what kids say and do, not realizing the power their traits and outlook have on their world, and on themselves.
And their belief, their capability to do anything, and to grow.
Unfortunately, these traits are either nurtured, or stamped out by the child’s environments and influences growing up.
What are some traits children have that lead to success?
Curiosity
Children have this wide-eyed curiosity to learn about their world. To uncover the workings and secrets that are just scattered all around them.
They have this drive to know, to find out. Absorbed in the who, how, what, where, and why.
They have openness, a capacity to observe, accept, question, make connections, and integrate.
As we grow old, we lose this wide-eyed curiosity. We let our education and experience do the talking and make the decisions.
We get stuck always looking for what we already believe to be the right answer. We look for confirming evidence, and we listen for what we want to hear.
Sometimes, guiding people to say what we want them to say.
We’re closed off to possibilities. We’re closed off to what could be.
We’re closed off to the truth that could be contradicting what we believe.
Instead, don’t assume that you know everything.
Be open to accepting the fact that you don’t know everything, and that we should be open to what is, what was, and what could be.
For real. Not theory or speculation.
If we don’t know, we find out.
We’re open to finding out, and facing the truth.
That all starts with being curious.
Genuinely curious.
no expectations curious.
Adventurous
Children also have this sense of adventure, that pushes them to try new things, and that makes them test their limits.
Children have no fear. They just go out there and learn what they can, and find out whether they can do something or not.
As we grew older, we learned to fear, we learned to be afraid of what we don’t know.
We learned to shy away from pain, from rejection, and from ambiguity.
We learned to play it safe, To stay within our comfort zones.
Children aren’t limited by that. They are always stretching themselves, discovering, growing, and learning.
And it all doesn’t have to be done outdoors.
It’s harder to navigate the internal world.
It’s easier to build muscles by lifting weights, than it can be to build your internal muscles.
Adventurousness helps with that. It helps us to stretch our mindset, our beliefs, and our inner world, bit by bit.
By seeking and doing new tasks and experiences.
By overcoming limiting beliefs and mindsets.
By working on being a better person, day by day.
Be adventurous.
Being
Children don’t think about what image they’re trying to project.
Or how they want to be seen.
Children are just themselves. They just be.
Who they are, authentically, no pretensions.
Haven’t we experiences times when kids say the darnedest things? They have no filter, no censor, at the same time, no inner critic, and no image to uphold.
All the conventions of how we should act, and what we should say, is all learned. We lose the freedom that we were born with.
Instead of doing their best to conform to a mold of what should be, children focus on being in the moment, on what is. What they are.
Again, it’s the outside environment and caregivers that teach children that they have to be a certain way.
Instead of being more of who they are.
Instead of being more of who you are.
Focus on what you’re good at, instead of trying to always shore up where you’re weak.
Manage your weaknesses so they don’t stop you, but focus instead on where you’re naturally great at.
Instead of asking yourself the question: “What do I need to fix?”, ask yourself this question instead:
“What can I be the best at in the world?”
Chances are, the answer to that question is so closely tied to who you really are, naturally are.
Just be.
Keep on being you.
Honesty
Children are honest.
They say what they mean, and they mean what they say. No two ways to go about it.
They’re also honest with themselves, and tell it like it is. They don’t cover up what they’re feeling.
Honesty that’s brutal, innate, and innocent.
Honesty that shines light on what you do, and encourages you to just be, and be yourself.
Honesty that allows you to be genuinely curious, and not to assume that you know everything.
Honesty that allows you challenge your limits, and break down barriers and beliefs.
We actually unlearn this honesty that we have as children, to fit in with the demands and expectations from the world, that other people have from us.
Or that our parents have on us. The simple expectation that we don’t embarrass them.
And it’s hard. I salute all the parents out there. It’s a huge challenge to keep these traits alive in your children as they grow up.
But it can be done.
Rediscover your honesty.
Grow into who you are.
So instead of being more of who you are not, be more of who you are.
Accept the individual differences you may have. Go back to the traits that you had when you were a child?
What were you like back then, when you weren’t afraid of anything? When you had big dreams that weren’t yet squashed or criticized by others? Or even yourself?
Be curious, and be open to possibilities.
Be adventurous, and expand your limits of what you thought you could possibly do.
Be honest, with yourself, with others.
And become more of who you are. Work on what you’re good at, and become the best in the world in.
Be more like a child.
What would you like to regain from your childhood days? Please share in the comments below!
[…] Be more like children. […]