This is an issue that I've been working on since before my kids were born, and I'm so grateful to my boss (and friend) for making me aware of it. How do we inspire our kids to be confident, competent, fulfilled, and successful? Studies consistently show that praising a child's effort, NOT their intelligence is the best way to support their future success. For me, it's been hard to wrap my head around the idea that praising a child's intelligence can be counterproductive. I mean, that's what we're supposed to do for our kids, right? "Honey, you're amazing! You are so smart!" And I find that almost everyone I meet does fall into this trap. It is SO important to focus on the effort your child puts into a task, and the feelings of accomplishment they get from working hard and conquering something that was difficult for them. I'm working on it...
Here's a great article summarizing one of these studies:
http://nymag.com/news/features/27840/
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