Children's ambition development

Educational skills

Developing ambition among children

My student presented me with the work that I had asked of her, which was written in an untidy handwriting and in a confusing brevity. I told her: If you want to return it in an organized manner and with more focus, I will give you the opportunity. She said no. There was a smile on her face that indicated indifference. I was amazed and said to her: This is cool spoils and a good opportunity. Don’t you want a higher grade? She smiled and said: Rewrite it again??!! no . I went away feeling sad as I repeated the poet’s words:

I did not see in people's faults a flaw like the lack of those who are capable of perfection

Why are many of our children satisfied with everything they want - except desires and luxuries - what does this indicate?

It is undoubtedly a dangerous indicator of the decline in ambition and its spread among young people, a phenomenon that calls for concern about the reality of society and its future.

What is ambition and how does it arise? Ambition, in short, is the aspiration for a better status or level than the one at which one lives. Some define ambition as the fuel that moves us to achieve goals, and it is the essential factor that distinguishes people who make efforts and work in their world from those who sit and watch the passage of night and day, the succession of time, and the situations and events that pass by them while they observe. They monitor and do not aspire to have an effective role, but rather prefer comfort and safety...

At its beginning, ambition is considered an innate behavior that appears in the child’s movements as he grows, as it prompts him at the beginning of his life to strive hard at crawling, then learn to walk and self-service skills that appear in his eagerness to eat his own food, dress himself, and perform his needs as much as he can. The role of parents is to nurture this developing ambition. And support him.

It is important to point out that parents always have aspirations and hopes for their children... from high grades, distinguished majors, and prestigious universities, then excellent stable careers, and social participation... but these hopes still lack the essential component, which is ambition. These aspirations may not match the aspirations of the children. Which grows with them and is often proportional to their inclinations and capabilities. The role of parents is not to determine the aspirations and ambitions of their children, but to encourage and develop them by exploring talents and providing all necessary opportunities and capabilities to practice them.

If ambition is an acquired trait, we must begin developing it early. Experts have confirmed that there are basic factors and methods for developing ambition, the most prominent of which are:

• Encouragement to reach the best potential of children. Every person has unique characteristics, and the paths and fields of modern life are many. There are opportunities that can open the way for all kinds of desires and possibilities.

• Providing challenges and celebrating children’s overcoming them, “Who will make a new, unusual shape out of these bricks?”

• Expose them to new experiences through traveling, meeting new people, buying new books.

• Encouraging the “love of heroism” that children experience in late childhood, as experts have considered it one of the effective factors in focusing and pushing ambition. Therefore, reading the biography of the Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace, and studying the mysteries and the biographies of the greats, inventors, and geniuses is an important way to fuel and direct ambition.

• Do not push the child to think about ambition based on making money. Often the question is about the profession that the son wants to occupy in the future, as in life there is something much more valuable than money.

• Planning: When a son is encouraged to achieve a specific goal, whether it is a school assignment or a project, and we help him develop a time plan for that, we have provided a valuable training opportunity to train on focusing on the goal.

• Attention must be given to children gaining flexibility, accepting change, and learning from mistakes.

• Instill the idea that all possibilities are open: Ask the son what he likes to do and why. If he says, for example, that he wants to become an astronaut, do not mock his ambition, but rather read to him about space and tell him about your ambition and how you achieved it.

• Developing a sense of belonging, and the need of others for our efforts, raises the level of ambition among children and takes it out of the realm of self-interest to the interest and benefit of others.

Some researchers have focused on hobbies and their development as one of the important gateways to children’s ambition. Children must be encouraged to appreciate their hobbies and skills so that they love them and work to develop them. It is important to accustom children to respecting each other’s identities. There is no doubt that appreciating and encouraging hobbies gives children a feeling of appreciation, interest, and support. Among the most useful hobbies that our children may have are:

Reading: Books are children’s best friends and the most useful hobbies. Their benefit is not limited to increasing information and knowledge, but they open the door to the written world for our children to become aware of the diversity of knowledge it contains. They also increase their ability to understand.

Sports: Practicing sports is one of the activities that maintains children’s physical and mental health and gives them activity and determination. It is necessary to involve children in sports activities without this taking the form of imposition and obligation, as the fruits of these activities are only achieved when they come from a real desire.

Artistic creativity: Artistic creativity has many different forms, including: drawing, sculpture, photography, vocal creativity, and cooking skills. It is important to support these hobbies and provide them with the necessary tools and machines for audio recording, as well as photography, cooking, and its tools and utensils. This is one mother scolding her son because he spends a long time on his hobby. His favorites were audio and recording, but after a while his talent became clear and he was able to establish a company for all types of audio and have a profession that would earn him money and benefit his community.

Finally, the development of ambition begins innately among children, and its prosperity and growth depends on support and encouragement. This is what our society needs, as ambition has become exalted or has turned into wishes that have no echo in reality.

Dr.. Sahar bint Abdul Latif Kurdi

Family and child counselor