Teach your children well

Hint: Don't tell your kids how smart they are. More than three decades of research shows that a focus on effort—not on intelligence or ability—is key to success in school and in life

Praising children’s innate abilities, as Jonathan’s parents did, reinforces this mind-set, which can also prevent young athletes or people in the workforce and even marriages from living up to their potential. On the other hand, our studies show that teaching people to have a “growth mind-set,” which encourages a focus on effort rather than on intelligence or talent, helps make them into high achievers in school and in life.