Raising kids to be mentally sharp and smart

Most of us grew up thinking that if you are good in school, are getting A-grades and are on top of your class it's pretty much guaranteed that you'd be successful when you grow up and make lots of money. In my own personal experience, it's true that you should encourage your kids from the very beginning (yes I'm talking pre-K) to learn age appropriate academic skills BUT the big truth in my opinion is that in no way this is a guaranteed passage to highly successful grown-up life. It's not the alphabets, the addition/subtractions, spellings, that by themselves are as important as the skills that are developed in the learning process - Memory, strategic/out-of-box thinking, and Fast information processing. All three traits are common in "mentally sharp" people. If as a parent, we always keep these "Big 3" goals in mind and not get hung-up on getting A's or getting better grades than Jones' kids - I'm convinced that you'd have way better chance at making your kids highly successful and smart as a grown-up whatever field they choose to excel in. If you don't agree with me, find a successful and a smart person who you think has "made-it" in his or her field, more than likely you'd find them good in all of these traits. If you have had a chance to attend a meeting with VP or CEO of your company, assuming you admire them, you'll notice the following key traits: they'd be able to quickly recall details that were discussed on a specific issue long time ago (Memory), you wouldn't have to repeat your concerns or issue you are trying to resolve multiple times and in fact they would figure out what you are trying to say before you finish explaining. Another key trait you'd notice is that these folks come up with innovative solutions to the problems and have a unique ability to connect a long trail of dots to come to conclusion or define a plan (strategic/out-of box thinking).  Last but not least, they'd use all the knowledge base they have built to come up with possible solutions/proposals in a relaively short time (Fast Info Processing). This requires good memory, how the thoughts have been organized, concenration and fast thinking even under pressure.

I'd love to hear your comments and opinion. In the meantime, I'd generate a list of specific actions you can take to develop these skills in your kids and publish it in one of our next blogs.