Teaching Children to be Happy and Lucky: Characteristic #3

Lucky people listen to their gut and take steps to boost intuition. In his book Blink, Malcolm Gladwell draws on history, neuroscience and psychology to reflect on the choices we seem to make in an instant. He states that “decisions made very quickly can be every bit as good as decisions made cautiously and deliberately.” Some people connect intuition with psychic abilities. However, in her article published in Psychology Today, Carlin Flora explains that intuitio “is a mental matching game. The brain takes in a situation, does a very quick search of its files, and then finds its best analogue among the stored sprawl of memories and knowledge. Based on that analogy, you ascribe meaning to the situation in front of you.” Intuition is not a successful option all the time. Especially for children who have very little experience to be drawing on. However, we can help them boost their intuition in specific ways. Activities to Try with your Children Children need a variety of experiences to create an ample data bank from which to make the mental matches. This connects directly back to the first common trait: being open to new experiences. Find new adventures and opportunities to meet new people with your child in the following places: -local newspaper -craigslist -meetup.com -church bulletin board -internet search: your town events Also, kids need to have some positive decision making experiences to give them the skills to make quicker and better decisions in the future. -When you are reading books together, talk about the decisions the characters need to make. Before the character chooses, ask your child to express how s/he would handle it and why. Share your opinion. This lets you talk about which details are important to consider and which parts are best to ignore. -Involve your child in simple decisions. “What should we get Mom for Mother’s Day?” “What can be done about this low test score?” “Should we get a dog?” Looking at all the options, calculating pros and cons, choosing the best option, and then finally reflecting on the outcome provides your child with practice on how good decisions are made. -Create a quiet time to talk to your child every day. Often your child would benefit from debriefing with you about situations that happened at school. You can provide them with a different perspective which broadens their thoughts on this particular circumstance and others in the future.