We live in a world of challenges and opportunities that change at a pace faster than ever before. Currently we are also facing a huge shift in how societies and businesses operate. Now, more than ever, our children will need to be secure and confident; skilled and knowledgeable; with the right attitude, values and emotional intelligence. They will need to be able to transfer and adapt these skills to be successful life-long learners who not only build upon their knowledge but be able to unlearn and relearn.
We as parents will be responsible for laying the foundations of these transferable skills, most important of which are emotional and social development related ones. These skills will be pivotal in setting up our children for success.
Sounds like a lot? Well, not really! These are the transferable skills that make you succeed in your high-flying corporate role. They include problem solving, negotiation, communication, managing emotions, developing empathy and being able to think outside the box.
Let’s look at five of the top transferable skills within your emotional and social area:
Communication skills
Analytical skills
Leadership skills
Information management skills
Project management skills
When do you think you developed these emotional and social skills?
In your twenties when you entered the corporate world?
Was it as a student studying away from your home for the first time?
Or maybe it was in the primary school playground?
What if I told you that you learned them in the first 1001 days of your life? Are you surprised? Stunned even?!
Yes, that’s right! You picked those up from conception to two years of age!
This is when our brains are creating more neural connections than they ever will in life. In fact, Harvard University Centre on the Developing Child found that over 1 million neural connections are being made every second in those first few years of life. And it is during these critical 1001 days we lay the foundations for all our future development.
In essence the foundations for future mental health and social interactions begin to be created before you are even able to make informed decisions on any level yourself.
Now we also know that the brain is constantly developing through pruning areas that we no longer use or need, and forming new areas from experience and learning. Yet as adults our emotional intelligence and social interactions are the areas we struggle to alter or develop.
Creating a strong bond between infant and parents enables your infant to explore the world first from the safety of your arms. It enables your infant to develop positive, secure emotional attachments which is the foundation we want to lay down for all their future relationships, attachments and interactions.
What emotional and social skills are the key to your success in the corporate world?
What areas did, or do you struggle with?
Is it worry? Overwhelm? Burnout?
Overwhelm and burnout happen because we do not feel secure enough to say; “Stop! I need to take time out and attend to myself first.”
Imagine giving the gift to your child to say “I am important; I can perform better and be better when I put my needs first.”
With that mind-set and the social interactive skills that come from developing a strong, secure and free- flow loving bond your infant can achieve all that they desire because they feel safe doing so.
A strong bond is a strong positive foundation. This is the foundation that gives your infant the feeling of security. This feeling of security allows your infant to have positive social interactions safe in the knowledge that your arms are there if and when needed. These emotional and social skills enable your infant to grow and develop into a positive, empathic, loving and confident member of society. One who can handle the new fast pace and consistent changing environment and who is resilient in doing so.
Is your infant already developing those transferable skills as they explore and learn the world around them?
This article is a part of a series by Nixie Foster. Nixie Foster - The Motherhood Mentor to high–flying female entrepreneurs and career women. The founder of ‘High-Flyer to Authentic Motherhood in 13 Steps’; a mentorship program to assist you in finding your natural identity as a mother and give new mothers the secure, loving bond with their baby which allows them to confidently be their unique version of motherhood.
Check out my website https://www.nixiefoster.com/
All opinions published in this article are the author’s own.
