Raising Passionate Geniuses: A Comprehensive Guide for Parents and Mentors

Preface

This book is an endeavour to support children and their decisions regarding their career. The first step towards doing this right is the perspective of parents on how to guide their children in the direction of career and profession. I have worked in the education sector along with the FMCG sector, and in corporate consulting firms. In my professional journey, I have had the chance to interact with students, parents, and employees. I interacted with many parents who were as confused as their children when it came to choosing careers. The parents lacked both perspective and information. They were clueless on how to bring about an understanding in themselves and be aware of their children’s inner aspiration and voice.

Similarly, I also met many employees, and other people in general, who were not in the right profession or career. As a child, most of them had dreamt of becoming one thing and instead, landed up doing something completely different later on in life. However, their subconscious mind always had this voice that kept reminding them of the things they couldn’t do. This gives rise to a high amount of discontentment which affects both the personal and professional lives of people, eventually leading to issues in physical and mental health.

The incidences and examples mentioned in this book have been taken from real life. Names and other identifying details have been changed to protect the privacy of individuals.

With this book, I hope to bring awareness, clarity, motivation, and a mindset change. My mantra for all children and parents: "Learn to Grow, and Grow to Learn."

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CHAPTER 1

Will Your Child Be As Discontented As You Are?

I am content; that is a blessing greater than riches; and he to whom that is given need ask no more.

Henry Fielding

While growing up we had a lot of wishes, desires, and wants. We also had immense hope in our hearts that once we grow up and become that one thing we have always wanted to become, happiness is guaranteed forever. Over the years, many of us realised that most of those things that we wanted to be or achieve, had been dumped somewhere and we were largely living a life full of discontentment. Whether it was from the perspective of our career, or enjoyment in and of our interest areas.

In this materialistic and pompous world, we started relating everything with money and comfort. We trained ourselves to pretend that we are fine, but a little voice at the back of our mind kept reminding us about – what we wanted to be, what we wanted to do, and what if we would had achieved it, or at least, given ourselves a chance to experience it once.

This is a recurring cycle.

This is how we saw our elders and their interests fizzle out. Either they were barred from following them or were unable to make satisfactory progress. Even if they did achieve something else in some other field, still, that little voice kept them somewhat unhappy. Forever wishing, if only we could have done what we wanted to, life would have been better.

My father often expressed how he wanted to be an officer in the merchant navy in his youth. However, my adamant grandfather threw him, his luggage, and a wad of very little money on a train, which took him to a city where my father ultimately completed his engineering. Why didn’t my grandfather send him to the navy? Well, his reasoning was, as a navy officer his son would be on the ship for months together, and then, who would stay with him in his old age? The irony was that they ended up never staying together because my father’s engineering job took him to a different city. In the end, my grandfather was looked after by his daughter who was a doctor. So, what about my father’s dream of becoming a merchant navy officer? That wish simply remained buried in his heart. He was never happy nor content with what he was doing. Although he was always thankful to God and my grandfather for all that he had, yet often he recalled those turn of events with a heavy heart and sighed thinking about what could have been.

Almost every one of us relates to the fact that there is a gap between what we wanted to do or become and what we are. We might be earning well, but what about achieving something we truly wanted?

Then there are those who did achieve everything that they wanted to do, or are doing exactly what they dreamed of doing, but still feel unfulfilled. That is a different story altogether with its own explanations. We will talk about it later. You can connect with me any time.

In a nutshell, if we are doing something we are not passionate about, or if it is not of our choice, we not only do injustice to ourselves, but also to the job. Gradually, our unhappiness spreads all over, affecting the environment and people both at the workplace and