130. The Cost of Pushing Our Kids with Komal Shah

Parents have dreams for their kids. Maybe it’s that the child earns that sports scholarship that the parent didn’t get. Or that the child gets into the big four-year college that the parent couldn’t afford. Or that the child excels on the stage that the parent was too afraid to get on.

There’s nothing wrong with dreaming of all our children can achieve, except if we’re pushing them into something that is our dream and not their dream or even wishes.

There’s a cost associated with pushing our kids, and usually that cost is our children’s self worth and self esteem. Too often it’s our own egos as parents that get in the way of our child’s success.

Success looks different for everyone, and we need to let go of our expectations for our children and do what’s best for them.

Listen in to this week’s podcast and hear more from our guest, Komal Shah, about what this looks like and what the cost is of pushing our kids to meet our own expectations.

Komal Shah is an educational consultant and thought leader on a mission to transform the world through conscious education.

After Komal spent five years in the Teach For America program as a middle school educator, she was left wanting more. She wanted more for her kids, all kids. To pursue this dream, she attended USC Marshall School of Business where she received her MBA.

Today she leverages her passion for education, business expertise, and her personal conscious living practices. Her plan is to shift outdated educational paradigms and transform the educational system for the betterment of all children.

• [1:30] - Why Komal is in educational transformation
• [3:05] - Deconstructing what success is; is this good for all kids
• [3:38] - What is success
• [5:12] - Bringing consciousness to education - where to begin
• [6:28] - Education is really personal for people
• [7:15] - If your ego is connected to your child’s success
• [10:30] - What’s the cost of putting your kids down a linear path?
• [13:31] - Fear and scarcity mindsets 
• [14:11] - What does success actually mean
• [15:15] - It’s not that the kid is doing well in the system; it’s that the system isn’t serving your kid
• [21:15] - Komal’s Magic Wand
• [22:14] - Maureen’s takeaways

• Raise Your Hand: A Call for Consciousness in Education by Komal Shah
• Atomic Habits by James Clear
• The Conscious Parent by Shefali Tsabry
• Every Kid Needs a Champion: Rita Pierson TED Talk
• Connect with Komal on LinkedIn
• Follow Komal on Instagram
• Follow Komal on Twitter
• Email Maureen

• Maureen’s TEDx: Changing My Mind to Change Our Schools

• The Education Evolution
• Facebook: Follow Education Evolution
• Twitter: Follow Education Evolution
• LinkedIn: Follow Education Evolution
• EdActive Collective
• Maureen’s book: Creating Micro-Schools for Colorful Mismatched Kids

• Micro-school feature on Good Morning America
• The Micro-School Coalition
• Facebook: The Micro-School Coalition
• LEADPrep