Get your child to graduate from home with a 10,000 hour talent and you won’t have to say one of these three dreadful attaboys:
- I’m just grateful he has a job.
- Bless his heart, he’s trying.
- At least he’s not doing drugs.
Results (March 2013) of the survey from the readers of my 10ktoTalent.com newsletter regarding the question:
What is your biggest fear as it relates to talent development?
(click the graph for better view)
Five common fears parents have about talent development for their child:
Is your child 17 years old and has spent too much of her teenage years developing a hobby, such as softball or horse-riding, that has no apparent market value to others? Consider a last minute fall-back plan: use the experience in her hobby as a core strand around which you can wrap some other very different skills. If it’s softball, could she use her understanding of the needs of fans and players to come up with an app or service that she knows would be wanted? If it’s horse-riding, are there some short tutorial videos your daughter could put together for YouTube and a website reviewing horse-saddles with an e-book for beginners? Build on what your 17 year old child already has or, if not, starting from scratch will set your daughter back another decade.