Oprah Winfrey once had a number of unusually successful child geniuses on her show, some as young as 5 years old (and I think even younger!). Despite their ages, these kids were already earning huge amounts of income, because of special skills or talents discovered early and encouraged/nurtured by their parent(s).

It is my considered opinion, that children who discover purpose in life that early, often have parents who KNOW the “trick of parenting”.

But What Exactly Is The “Trick About Parenting”?

Robert Kiyosaki* says:

“The trick about parenting is to find ways to make a child want to learn rather than forcing the child to learn”.

*Note: Robert Kiyosaki is a 4th generation Japanese American whose ideas about educational reform have transformed the thinking of millions of parents and educators. If you’re interested, you might want to get a copy of his bestseller “If you want to be rich and happy, don’t go to school?” and “Rich Kid Smart Kid” (Google the titles). Both books offer very good value for money – and will help any serious parent easily empower his/her child to tackle key life challenges.

So How Do You Apply This “Trick” To Help Your Kids?

What follows is my experience based opinion as one who has had to be a parent to five kids during the most turbulent period of my life (believe me).

Like I tell all who care to listen, I LIVE for my kids. Everything I do is driven by my desire to equip myself to be the best possible parent to them. And that is not limited to financial and material provisions.

Development of sound emotional and intellectual capacity to function effectively in ANY socioeconomic environment, is something I consider even more important.

I don’t want them going through life at the mercy of people or circumstances. What I’ve seen out here tells me that can happen if they lack proper preparation.

You need to find the way that each child prefers to learn, and use it to pass on whatever new knowledge/skills you want him to acquire. This requires making out time to be with your child, and carefully observing him/her over time.

NOTE: If you really love your child, then spending time watching him/her will certainly not be a boring or difficult experience for you – NO MATTER HOW BUSY YOU ARE.

Once you begin helping your child develop that passion, encourage him/her to apply what s/he learns – and not be afraid to make mistakes at first.

To really make a success of this, inculcate in your child the understanding that intelligent mistake making is a useful way to learn. That will remove a major potential “block” from her thinking, that would otherwise hold her back for years – if not throughout life!

You Have To Believe Irrationally In Your Child – And Infect Her with the Same Belief

There’s a good example in history. And who better than the author of a book that has sparked the self-development thinking revolution to show us how to do this?

Napoleon Hill – the legendary author of the best selling “THINK and GROW RICH” – dared to envision a normal life for his own son who was (unfortunately?) born without physical evidence of ears!

Hill passionately willed that his son would go through life, not feeling inadequate in anyway because of his physical handicap.

Somehow, that “silent communication” – and some actions Hill took – got through to his son.

It would later result in the deaf boy acquiring the ability to speak/hear normally. But that was not all. His son would also go on to play a VERY influential role, in the successful introduction of a special hearing device for use by other deaf people across the world.

The full details are in Hill’s book – Think and Grow Rich. Get a copy and read it.

I have met/listened to many people who claimed to have read that book. And yet when I asked them about this story, not one could recall reading it – NOT A SINGLE PERSON!

To be fair to them, I actually believe they read it, and subconsciously chose to forget it, because it sounded too improbable.

And yet we know that it happened just as Hill wrote it – else it would not have been published in that book and reproduced for decades like it has!

Hill’s amazing success story with his deaf son shows that he knew the trick about parenting.

His example shows what the power of your passionate desire for a purposeful existence for your child can do.

Your Child’s Future Depends Your Use of “This Trick”

Bring your life lessons about succeeding in the real world, to bear in coaching your children. Do this along the lines of THEIR natural interests/talents – to give them the best possible chance of excelling in life, as independent adults.

That’s my take on the trick about parenting.

And I believe that if I fail in doing that – for even ONE of my kids – I would have failed as a parent. That realization drives me every day in “parenting” my kids.

Give your child a chance to discover him/herself fully, and subsequently live a life of complete fulfillment, doing things that really bring joy and satisfaction to him/her.

That child will reward you in many ways – among other things, by becoming phenomenally successful, and telling others the role you played.

Just like Michael Jordan and John Maxwell acknowledged their fathers – or as Fela Anikulapo Kuti and Tupac Shakur credited their mothers.

Other examples abound in autobiographies.

Think of your child, and the uncertain future that awaits him/her if you fail to do this. You still have a good opportunity to make the necessary difference for him/her.You can use the ideas offered in this article to plan how to prepare him/her to succeed.

I sincerely hope your conscience guides you to take the right decision about how to “parent” your child.