Important entrepreneurial skills for children

For starters, with automation revving up in many industries such as automotive and food & beverage, innovation will need to drive the jobs market forward in the coming years. And let’s face it, your child’s business niche may not have even been invented yet. What they do and how they innovate will require the uncanny ability to acquire new skills while adapting to new markets driven by public need. Resilience and the ability to thoughtfully problem solve are entrepreneurial skills that should be taught at an early age.

The following are some of the most important entrepreneurial skills children should be taught at a young age.

While many parents choose to teach this lesson by paying their children to do chores, this has little value. This is because you are essentially paying them to do what they should be doing already. Instead, show them alternative ways of making money such as:

Rake lawns around the neighborhood. Making crafts or treats and selling them. Create something digital to sell online (yes, this is easier than you think). You can also teach them the value of an internship, building valuable experience in a given market. This can include: Volunteering at a zoo or animal shelter. Volunteering at a local farmers market to sell products. Volunteering as an aid at school (this is especially valuable in classes with children with disabilities)

Curiosity has driven innovation for thousands of years – since the dawn of man, to be exact. Curiosity should be a trait that is nurtured and encouraged. This is especially true when it comes to systems adopted by nations. Systems of economics, culture, and societal “truths” should all be questioned and deconstructed. This is how discoveries are made. And philosophical discoveries are just as important to entrepreneurship as anything else.

Being empathetic is critical to success. This is because empathy helps us to better understand how our actions and behaviors affect the people around us. It allows us to become better listeners and communicators, which ultimately will dictate how far we go in life.

Pessimism should never be nurtured. It should be taught that pessimism, in all its forms, should be done away with. And while optimism is believed to be the better, it oftentimes can lead to depression and frustration due to unmet expectancies caused by unrealistic expectations.

Realism, on the other hand, is the better of the three. It allows us to set realistic goals and create achievable milestones. It does not set the bar too low or too high. It provides a reconciliation of the world around us, inviting us to challenge it while refusing to wear rose-colored glasses.

Realism does not limit an individual. It simply tempers unrealistic fantasies.

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