I talked to 70 parents who raised highly successful adults—here's the 'rare' skill they all taught their kids

As parents, we each privation to rise confident, fearless and resilient kids. But wherever bash we begin?

For my book, "Raising an Entrepreneur," I talked to 70 parents who raised highly palmy people. When I asked them what skills they taught their kids astatine an aboriginal age, determination was 1 successful peculiar that they each agreed on: curiosity.

Curiosity goes further than a elemental tendency to cognize something. It involves trying to hole something. It's astir asking questions: How does this work? Does it person to beryllium this way? Could I marque it better?

Surprisingly, curiosity is simply a uncommon accomplishment these days. Career experts adjacent telephone it an "up-and-coming skill," and Harvard Business School researchers named it arsenic a highly sought-after trait successful the integer era.

Curiosity allows for 1 to deliberation much profoundly and critically, without judging excessively quickly, and get astatine much originative solutions. 

Here's however the parents I interviewed nurtured curiosity successful their kids:

1. They encouraged their kids to hole things.

When helium was 24, Robert Stephens founded Geek Squad, a exertion repair institution that helium aboriginal sold for $3 million.

Robert's curiosity for however things worked started erstwhile helium was a young boy, erstwhile helium unscrewed each the doorknobs successful his parents' house. "They weren't angry, they conscionable said I had to enactment them back," helium told me.

He soon became known arsenic the "fix it" feline successful the family. "I took isolated a vigor to survey it. People would say, 'Robert tin hole anything.' It gave maine a consciousness of pridefulness and self-esteem."

Fixing things tin assistance kids make decision-making and problem-solving skills. If you person thing astir the location that needs repairing, similar a atrocious lightbulb oregon leaky faucet, usage it arsenic a teaching accidental with your kids.

It's besides good to admit if you're unsure however to hole something. Knowing wherever to find close accusation is conscionable arsenic important arsenic knowing it from the start.

2. They instilled the assurance to tackle big, real-world problems.

Jessica Jackley is the co-founder of Kiva, a peer-to-peer lending level that has lent much than $1 cardinal successful microfinance loans to tiny businesses.

"My ma built my assurance each azygous day. She told maine I could bash thing I wanted to do, nary substance however unachievable and ambitious it seemed. And successful precise circumstantial ways we would speech astir antithetic enactment opportunities," she said.

They besides had a regularisation to ne'er beryllium bored. "We were ever learning things together, playing games, exploring oregon having small adventures. This tone prepared maine to beryllium an entrepreneur — to beryllium proactive and spot opportunities successful the world."

3. They asked the hard questions.

Ellen Gustafson co-founded FEED Projects successful 2007, which sells bags and different items to rise wealth for schoolhouse meals. Today, she's a thought person connected societal innovation.

Ellen's ma Maura credits overmuch of her daughter's occurrence to one parenting rule: "Resist the temptation to marque choices for your kids."

Instead of ever telling Ellen what to do, Maura encouraged her to beryllium autarkic and deliberation for herself. "The champion mode to bash that is by asking them questions," she said.

For example, let's accidental your kid went extracurricular during a lightning storm. You could inquire them:

• "You enactment yourself successful a precise risky situation. How did you analyse it?"
• "What made you determine to bash what you did?"
• "Is determination thing you learned from this acquisition that would marque you measure hazard otherwise adjacent time?"

Smart questions amusement that you respect your kid's judgment, which builds their confidence. It besides teaches them however to negociate hazard and however to marque choices among antithetic possibilities with assorted trade-offs and antithetic outcomes.

Margot Machol Bisnow is simply a writer, ma and parenting expert. She spent 20 years successful government, including arsenic an FTC Commissioner and Chief of Staff of the President’s Council of Economic Advisers, and is the writer of “Raising an Entrepreneur: How to Help Your Children Achieve Their Dreams.” Follow her connected Instagram @margotbisnow.

Don't miss:

• I raised 2 palmy CEOs and a doctor. Here's the 'unpopular' parenting regularisation I ever utilized connected my kids
• Child psychologist: The No. 1 accomplishment that sets mentally beardown kids isolated from 'those who springiness up easily'
• I talked to 70 parents of highly palmy adults—here are 4 phrases they ne'er said to their kids

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