Childhood habits that would have helped you accomplish more if you hadn’t grown up

For some reason, the phrase “you have to keep your inner child” is often interpreted strangely. Many people believe that we are talking about childish whims, the ability to achieve their own tears, complete infantilism, when you calmly shift the responsibility for their actions to others. And often it is elevated to the cult of such a cute directness, which is not ashamed to demonstrate.

psychologist, coach, creator of the cult training “Actually I am smart, but I live like a fool”.

In fact, this phrase refers to such qualities as curiosity, lack of shyness, ability to start over, well-developed imagination and empathy. These are the ones that form habits that help you achieve more. True, provided you haven’t grown up and consigned everything useful from childhood to the dustbin of history. There are five skills named after certain fairy tale and cartoon characters that you shouldn’t give up, even as a serious business person.

Inquisitive Kolobok

It is not known whether grandfather and grandmother would have eaten the talking Kolobok if the freshly baked bakery product had not pulled him on a journey, which, however, cost him his life. This is how our ancestors warned: curiosity and the desire to learn about the world can lead to trouble.

Parents drive this pattern into us with the story about the very Barbara who had her nose torn off at the market. In fact, there is nothing wrong with children’s curiosity. The child with the help of questions and study of the surrounding area grows and develops, getting the necessary information.

But it is from an early age that the desire to learn something new is killed in us. “Don’t ask unnecessary questions,” “You’ll know too much – you’ll soon grow old,” “You’re too abstruse!” – these are the kind of comments heard in their address children-readers.

So, having grown up, people lose the skills of an inquisitive Kolobok, afraid to eventually face the Fox. And for nothing! Curiosity would come in handy both in work and in relationships. After all, as we know, whoever has information, has the world. New knowledge helps to conduct business negotiations, establish ties with partners and even successfully marry.

Brave hare

In folklore and even in writers there is often a story about a brave hare, who so believed in himself that he was able to resist large predators. At the same time, the long-eared one did not hesitate to declare in a loud voice that he could cope with both a wolf and a fox. But for some reason, often children are not allowed to conduct such autotraining.

“I am a princess,” declares the girl who painted herself with her mother’s brown lipstick. And in response she gets a sarcastic: “I told you not to touch my makeup! What a princess of sour soup!”. Or the son excitedly tells his father how he defended a friend from a bully who is a head taller. But the father only mooed something unintelligible in response or said: “First go to the army, defender.”

This is how children’s confidence in their abilities is replaced by shyness. After all, if you can not voice aloud their small achievements and victories, then who needs them at all? And a little person grows up with the consciousness of a loser, which no one needs. But after all, confidence and lack of shyness help in adulthood to successfully pass interviews for a new position and build a career. Such an employee will definitely not be afraid of the question: “Why should we hire you?”.

The Changed Nils

The book “The Wonderful Journey of Niels with the Wild Geese” was originally conceived by Selma Lagerlöf as a kind of fascinating guide to Sweden. But in the end, the work grew into a story about the fact that change is possible and you can always start from the beginning.

The main character was a real bully, boorish, treated animals badly, had no interest in learning at school. But the meeting with the gnome and punishment from the little man literally changed the character of Niels, who eventually rebuilt his life anew. But for some reason, many parents deny the skill of “starting from scratch”, attributing it to the value system of losers.

When a sand castle built by a kid is blown away by a wave, the young architect usually starts over. But what do adults do at that moment? That’s right, they switch their attention from failure, calling the child to drink water, eat a sandwich, or simply say, “Leave it alone! It’s not going to work anyway.”

But the ability to start again contains the ability to learn from their mistakes, the skill to change, diligence and even resilience to crisis situations. Agree, great qualities for life! Besides, there is no shame in building back from scratch. That’s what Donald Trump did, losing business at times.

Butters’ Imagination

In one of the seasons of “South Park”, the wonderful land of Imaginationland appears. True, there is a catastrophe brewing there, which threatens the real world as well. But everyone is saved by Leopold Stotch, aka just Butters. It turned out that the power of his imagination can stop the war.

What do adults say about a highly developed imagination? “Stop dreaming, come down to earth!” – hears the parental order of a child who has voiced his dream. No flying in dreams or real life, no unicorns and certainly no magic. This is how children realize that making up their own world is a waste of time.

Nevertheless, imagination is an ability that allows you to give birth to new, original ideas! It is believed that this skill is needed rather bohemian people – writers, artists, painters and musicians. But this is far from true. First, a well-developed imagination allows you to visualize a dream, turn it into a goal, which in the end a person can easily achieve.

And secondly, creative thinking comes in handy even in serious spheres. For example, it is hard to imagine a sales manager without imagination. Using standard methods of work, he will definitely not find the right arguments when communicating with difficult customers. And yes, it is this ability allows to launch new products on the market, quickly gaining popularity among customers.

Leopold the cat

Remember Leopold the cat annoyed you as a child? He was too nice, kind, as if he had realized Zen and now tries with all his might to pass it to the evil mice. And that strange Polianna, always on the positive and pitying everyone without exception? If you’re honest with yourself about this, then something happened years ago. Some event turned you away from empathy, which is not synonymous with pity.

Empathy is about sympathy, empathy, the ability to put yourself in the place of another person. It allows you to sincerely apologize, admitting your mistakes, than keeps from a deep sense of guilt.

The art of understanding the feelings of others allows you to build competent communication. “And what about the bad people who put sticks in the wheels?” – you ask. Yes, it seems that it is not necessary to find out about their motives.

But when you understand what emotions are driving them, you will recover from the shock more quickly and find a way to resist them. No one recommends being friends with insolent, manipulative, and abusive people. However, empathy helps you figure out such people faster and recover from encounters with them.