Stow your scowl. If you want to raise successful children, start showing optimism on a regular basis.
“Our beliefs and attitudes spill over to our kids,” educational psychologist and parenting expert Michele Borba tells CNBC Make It. “If pessimism always builds and it becomes personal, permanent, or pervasive, it robs our kids of hope.”
The problem: 78% of Americans aren’t confident that life for their kid’s generation will be better than it has been for them, according to a March survey from The Wall Street Journal and the University of Chicago.
It’s understandable. School shootings, political animosity and a worsening climate crisis don’t bode well for the future.
But that pessimism could become a self-fulfilling prophecy, Borba says: When it comes to raising children, your attitude as a parent is contagious. An optimistic outlook can help kids thrive, while pervasive negativity can cause them to lose interest and hope, research shows — creating a huge obstacle between them and a happy, successful life.
Here’s why, and how Borba recommends training your brain to be more optimistic.
Children need optimism to thrive
Optimism flips a simple switch in kids’ minds, Borba says: They start viewing challenges as obstacles to overcome, rather than excuses to turn around and go home.
Pessimism can be difficult to avoid in today’s world, where people are “just getting bombarded with bad news” every day, Borba says. But when parents get stuck constantly worrying about negative news, their kids tend to exhibit more anxiety and stress.
“I think it’s one of the reasons why we’re seeing such a huge mental health crisis in our children,” Borba says.
That makes showcasing your optimism all the more important, especially for ensuring that kids can handle life’s ups and downs without losing hope of attaining happiness and success.
“That’s probably one of the highest correlations of success,” Borba says. “It’s a child who says, ‘I’ll just keep chunking it and keep on doing it’ … As…
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