Want to raise kids with grit? The mindset to weather difficulties—the passion and perseverance to push through challenges to achieve long–term goals.
Check out the short Ted Talk by Angela Duckworth, Ph.D., below to learn more about grit and its importance.
Grittiness is one of the most significant predictors of success—more than talent and I.Q. combined. And today, we know a little more about how to help kids develop it.
Below are twenty-one quotes illustrating how to raise kids with grit.
Quotes on Raising Kids with Grit
Quote 1: My father didn’t tell me how to live; he lived and let me watch him do it. – Clarence Budington Kelland
Quote 2: The attitude you have as a parent is what your kids will learn. They don’t remember what you try to teach them. They remember who you are. – Inspired by Jim Henson
Quote 3: Children have this way of becoming who we tell them they are. If we tell them they are strong, they become strong. If we tell them they are kind, they become kind. If we tell them they are capable, they become capable. Speak life into your kids, so they will have what it takes to tackle their own life one day. – Amy Weatherly
Quote 4: My teacher once told me, “You’re going to do big things.” It made me feel 10 feet tall. I’ve remembered his words during the darkest lows and the highest highs. I always knew he believed in me—and that helped me believe in myself. Never underestimate the power of words. – Leslie Means
Quote 5: Don’t tell your kids, “I’m proud of you,” tell them, “You should be proud of yourself.” – Kristen Welch
Quote 6: Don’t waste a lot of time and money pushing kids in directions they don’t want to go. Instead, find out what weirdness they excel at and encourage them to do that. Then get out of the way. – Seth Godin
Quote 7: Instead of focusing on making your child’s life easier, help them recognize they are capable of handling hard things. – @dr.siggie
Quote 8: Self-esteem can’t be given or received. It’s developed through a sense of capability and the self-confidence gained from dealing with disappointments, solving problems, and having lots of opportunities to learn from mistakes. – Inspired by Jane Nelson
Quote 9: If we’re not preparing our kids for the small challenges while they are young, how will they ever be prepared for the larger challenges and losses we all face as adults? – Brandon & Pace Verner
Quote 10: If parents want to give their children a gift, the best thing they can do is to teach them to love challenges, be intrigued by mistakes, enjoy effort, and keep on learning. That way, their children don’t have to be slaves to praise. They will have a lifelong way to build and repair their own confidence. – Carol Dweck
Quote 11: By loving them for more than their abilities, we show our children that they are much more than the sum of their accomplishments. – Eileen Kennedy-Moore
Quote 12: When we give them permission to fail, we give them permission to be brave. – Karen Young
Quote 13: When we shield children from failure or choreograph success for them, we’re distorting the experiences they need in order to grow. – Madeline Levine, Ph.D.
Quote 14: Let them fail. Life is not always going to be kind, and they won’t always reach their goals or achieve what they want but learning how to deal with these failures is a critical life lesson. They have to develop the internal drive and grit to not let these setbacks permanently undermine them. When they fail but then dust themselves off and get back up to face their next challenge, it helps them recognize their own strength and resilience. – Parenting Teens & Tweens
Quote 15: Teach your kids that: Success is not final; failure is not fatal; it’s the courage to continue that counts. – Winston A. Churchill
Quote 16: Got a 2.4 GPA my first semester in college. Thought maybe I wasn’t cut out for engineering. Today, I’ve landed two spacecrafts on Mars and am designing one for the moon. STEM is hard for everyone. Grades ultimately aren’t what matters. Curiosity and persistence matter. – Ben Cichy
Quote 17: It is not what you do for your children but what you have taught them to do for themselves that will make them successful human beings. – Ann Landers
Quote 18: Most of us will perform best at any job or role when we are entrusted with it rather than over-managed, doubted, or nit-picked. Children are no different. – Janet Lansbury
Quote 19: Raise your kids with the strength to know what they stand for, yet the humility to listen, learn, and grow. – @youthdynamicsmt
Quote 20: Strong-willed kids become adults who change the world as long as we can hang on for the ride and resist the temptation to “tame” the spirit out of them. – Unknown
Quote 21: If I get one thing right in this parenting gig, I want my children to understand how their actions impact others. I want them to always think about what they can offer the world instead of what they can get from it. And I hope they always remember they are a part of something bigger than themselves. – Whitney Fleming
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