Redefining Success: Tips to Raising Well-Adjusted Children in a High Pressure World

As I sat quietly listening to the moms around me talk about the number of AP classes their kids are taking and their quest to find the right SAT/ACT tutors to ensure their children get into the “right” school, I couldn’t help but reflect on the immense pressure these kids are under. They’re bombarded with the need to check off all the right boxes for fear of being seen as less than perfect, less than worthy in the eyes of strangers, or worse — insecure about how their friends and family will judge their children’s worth.

This made stop and wonder: where does it end? What happens if these kids don’t want to follow the path society dictates in order to be seen as successful? What really is success, and why has the pursuit of a perfect successful life created a culture of anxiety, Adderall popping, and burnout before these kids even reach adulthood?

Society’s rat race is not what I envisioned, nor wanted for my kids. Sadly, I relate to what my kids are facing. Growing up in the 80s and becoming a young professional in the 90s, my generation was fed a steady stream of “Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous,” MTV slick and glittering videos promoting the Rock Star and Pop Princess life, and the relentless quest to be more than ordinary. This created a monster hamster wheel of believing…