Entrepreneurial Mindset Curriculum

Humans naturally abhor changes even if it is for the best whereas kids start from a point where they are receptive to new ideas. In fact, while they are growing up everything for them is new. But as they grow older, they look at adults around them rejecting ideas and they learn the art of being closed minded or non-receptive to change. It is about time we change that. Let them be open to changes. Let us develop an entrepreneurial mindset in children. Kids with an Entrepreneurial Mindset would have following characteristics – Open Mindedness, Empathy, Creativity, Confidence, Problem Solving Ability

Open Mindedness

Kids mostly believe what people in the place of authority in their lives say. For example, if their teacher tells them it is okay to eat the skin of an apple because it is nutritious, they believe and do just that but when they get home and their mothers tell them it’s good to peel the skin off an apple before eating it, the kids get confused. They believe both their teachers and parents, so who is right? The kids will of course argue that their teacher said it is okay to just rinse the apple and eat, why make us go through the trouble of peeling? It is now in the mother’s place to make her point. It could be that mum doesn’t like to swallow the apple skin, so she would rather peel it off before eating the apple. The mother should not discredit her kids’ teacher. She can teach open mindedness in this situation by allowing her kids make their choices of how they want to eat apples. Both way, everyone wins, and the kids will begin to understand that different opinion is good.

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Children need to form solid opinions and make the right choices if you expect them to evolve into well-developed adults in every sense. Hence, the need for open mindedness. To be close minded means one is blind, deaf, and dumb to the opinions and beliefs of other people and this robs them of many benefits and information that could prove useful. Even if the opinion of others is inaccurate, the idea of open mindedness is not to prove anyone wrong or right but to create a sense of equality and acceptance that you welcome and respect what others think. This could be the beginning of a positive mind-set for kids.

Being open to new information and new point of view is an excellent mind-set because it exposes you to a larger world and diverse.

Empathy

Kids experience plethora of emotions on a regular basis. Thoughts/beliefs leads to emotions/feelings and subsequently actions. These actions define their behavior which in turn eventually determines outcome. Hence the outcome of every situation is in our hands and we can very well control it.

Thoughts > Emotions > Actions > Behavior > Outcome

It is completely healthy for kids to experience negative thoughts and develop negative emotions. However, they should learn how to overcome negative emotions and learn how to gain better control over their actions when they feel negative.

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Beyond maintaining positive thoughts about themselves, the emotional quotient of kids needs to rise above just ‘self' and include others. Kids in their early years are naturally selfless and act in ways that will not make other people angry at them but as they grow, they observe the pattern of behavior around them and emulate that.

Therefore, if you raise kids that have the entitlement syndrome of ‘everyone owes me something’ or ‘I deserve the best even if others don’t have anything’, you will produce egocentric and selfish adults who will stomp on the feelings of others without care. In short, they will lack empathy. Empathy is one of the most important characteristics of child with a growth and entrepreneurial mindset.

Thus, it is essential for kids to understand the way other people feel and how their actions can affect the physical and mental state of others. No one can build a community on their own and to work together, we need to put ourselves in other people’s shoes to understand where they are coming from.Kids need to understand that a kind word is enough to light up another person’s day and a warm smile or hug can reduce the pain of others.

Creativity and Critical Thinking

Creativity implies doing things or resolving issues in new ways while critical thinking means coming up with logical ideas or solutions to solve problems. Creativity is a skill that involves breaking from the norm with the intention of being different but productive.

Kids also need creative and critical thinking to be successful in the future of work. Both critical thinking and creative thinking can solve problems but most times where logical explanation fails to bring solution, creative ideas will.

To begin with, encourage kids to be creative in the way they approach any situation or problem because there are usually many ways to get to the solution. We should encourage kids to come up with creative ideas and solutions rather than asking them to follow the conventional path.

Kids should be able to go beyond memorizing and reciting existing facts or opinions and become creative critical thinkers who can understand information, do analysis, compare, and make conclusions through deduction or induction.

Confidence/Self-Esteem

Self-esteem is how you feel about yourself. Building a high self-esteem in kids is very important to set the foundation right. Self-esteem is taking pride in one's capabilities and acknowledging things that one is not good at with equal pride. Self-esteem allows you to believe in yourself irrespective of what others say or think about you. It is about respecting yourself and making well informed choices and not give in to peer pressure.

Kids with low self-esteem tend to feel under confident about themselves. They bend to the will of everyone else in public while making themselves sad in private. They cannot make even the simplest decisions by themselves. A kid with low self-esteem will feel unwanted and unloved, he will focus more on his failures rather than count his successes. He is too self-critical and doubtful of himself.

Kids with healthy self-esteem are confident to try out new things regardless of whether they will fail or succeed at it. They know mistakes are a part of life and are meant to make us better the next time. Kids with low self-esteem will shy away from trying things, so there is no chance of mistake or learning from it. In short, a kid with a low self-esteem will experience stunted mental, social, and intellectual growth.

High self-esteem leads to confidence which in turn leads to a happy child and a happy child finds it easier to learn and associate with people. They also develop a growth and entrepreneurial mindset which is important for kids in 21^st century.

See more: Develop Skills for Future

Problem Solving Ability

Every child needs to be equipped with problem-solving skills. Most times we do not recognize problems at first sight. We allow them to fester till it becomes a big thing that requires urgent attention. Other times we see the problem but decide to ignore because it seems like such a small thing. As much as we encourage seeing problems as opportunities or viewing them as things that can be overcome, it is very imperative that we see the problem first and secondly acknowledge it.

Kids need to be taught both problem identification and problem-solving skills. In schools, they are mostly taught how to solve math and science problems but life throws problems way beyond math and science. Hence equipping them with abilities that can help them sail through life is every parent’s responsibility. It also inculcates a entrepreneurial mind-set where they start viewing every problem as an opportunity.

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