How to Raise Successful People

INDEPENDENCE—Did you feel a strong sense of independence as a child, or were you dependent on your parents for daily activities like meals, cleaning, and homework?

guessed it—the focus is on self-motivated learning, problem-solving, and an entrepreneurial mind-set.

“He’s taking longer because he’s smart.” Michael was a talented writer—he just needed more time to focus on his work. And I knew deep down he wanted to get it right, not just rush through it. That was the first time an adult had said that his abilities and intelligence were seen and respected. “To hear outside confirmation that someone believed in

I’d have them write me an apology and reflect on how they could improve (I guess I’m in good company, because Ruth Bader Ginsburg reportedly assigned essays when her children misbehaved).

TRUST: We are in a crisis of trust the world over. Parents are afraid, and that makes our children afraid—to be who they are, to take risks, to stand up against injustice. Trust has to start with us. When we’re confident in the choices we make as parents, we can then trust our children to take important and necessary steps toward empowerment and in

Watching my daughters navigate the world with grit and integrity has been one of the greatest rewards of my life. I’m especially impressed by how they compete and cooperate, focusing not on being the only woman in the room, but on finding solutions to the problems we face.

What we most need to know is how to give our kids the values and skills to succeed as adults. We also have to face the massive cultural shifts over the past few years—especially technological changes and how those changes impact our parenting. How will our children succeed in the age of robots and artificial intelligence? How will they thrive in th

are. In Steven Pinker’s eye-opening book Enlightenment Now: The Case for Reason, Science, Humanism, and Progress, he tackles these assumptions head-on. Of our fears that the world is getting less safe, less predictable, less hospitable, he claims:

Here is another simple mantra for you: Children need to take risks. You might need to repeat this to yourself on multiple occasions. Too many parents instinctually resist the idea.