With the rise of social media and technological advances, our kids are amongst the first generation to grow up with a whole host of new career options and opportunities that have never existed before.  Actively encouraging your child to follow the path they are intuitively attracted to, can help them grow up into motivated and accomplished individuals. It can also help you reach every parent’s goal – seeing their child happy and fulfilled.

Here are some ways in which you can encourage and support your child to reveal and follow his or her passions.

1. Don’t Make Them Choose

Let your children find their own passions. Expose them to many opportunities by doing, watching and reading. Visit libraries, museums and historical locations where they can learn about people who were creators, inventors, leaders and hard workers. Even if your child is very talented at one activity but wants to try something else, support them. Nothing is finite. Children should be able to roam freely in the varieties of the 21st century.

2. Introduce them to people who have expertise.

Find friends and family who truly love their work or their hobbies. Help your child see what someone does in order to pursue a hobby. This could be as simple as taking your child to a friend’s home to see his vegetable garden or as complex as visiting a museum to check out a collection of great artwork from a specific artist.

3. Ensure that your child’s interest is expandable and flexible.

Help make her interests multimodal by finding other toys, books, videos, real-life examples and educational opportunities to expand upon the passion. Don’t let the interest become too narrow. Help her to see how this particular interest can be connected to other parts of the world.

4. Model your own intense interest.

If you don’t already have a hobby or a passion, find one that fits you. If necessary, try a few that meet your needs today and can be cultivated when you are not spending all of your time parenting, working and just keeping up with daily life.

People commonly disregard their true calling because their parents and society have different expectations. Show your child that your only expectation is for them to find their strengths and follow their dreams.

The world is full of possibilities. Help your child to understand that and they are bound to find and embrace their passions.