For many entrepreneurs, feeling you’re succeeding as a parent — that you’re helping your children grow up to be independent, happy, fulfilled, and successful — is key to feeling your work-life balance is healthy.
After all, feeling successful — in whatever way you choose to define “success,” because it is a choice — is a key factor in overall happiness and fulfillment.
But is there a way to actually help your kids be more successful?
Turns out there is. As part of the 85-years (and counting) multigenerational Harvard study, researchers evaluated the backgrounds of over 700 “high achievers” and found a strong connection between doing household chores and later professional success.
Makes sense. Kids who feel involved in shared responsibilities and who feel a part of a larger “ecosystem” derive a greater sense of self-worth. They also become able to see the needs of people around them, and therefore more willing to help others.
In short, they become less self-centered; if you do everything for me, and I don’t have to participate… clearly the world must revolve around me. And they develop a better work ethic. (My work ethic was definitely not innate; my parents — although I didn’t like it at the time — actively developed it.)
All those things lead to the better chances of career success. Teamwork. Empathy. Work ethic. The willingness not just to lead, but also follow.
And then there’s this. Kids who do chores are more likely to be happier as adults. A study published in Journal of Developmental & Behavioral Pediatrics found that children who start helping with small tasks by the time they’re four or five years old have higher levels of self-confidence and self-efficacy.
Which also makes sense. Accomplishments feel good. Receiving praise for accomplishments feels good. Even if it’s something as small as putting away toys, still: five year-old me did it.
And you recognized me for it.
As the researchers write:
Compared with children who regularly performed chores, children who rarely performed chores had greater odds of scoring in the bottom quintile on self-reported prosocial, academic ability, peer relationship, and life satisfaction scores.
The frequency of chores in kindergarten was positively associated with a child’s perception of social, academic, and life satisfaction competencies in the third grade, independent of sex, family income, and parent education.
More chores, within reason? Better life, and happiness outcomes.
Especially if you make those chores part of a team effort. Watching five year-old me put away my toys is one thing; me putting away my toys while you straighten the room makes it a team effort. Makes my chores part of a larger ecosystem, one we’re all in together.
Which is a perfect metaphor for later success, since no one ever does anything truly worthwhile without help, and support.
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