Business Opportunities Weblog

How Your Parents Helped Make You An Entrepreneur

By on December 16, 2010 in Ideas

Think your decision to own your own business is all yours? Maybe not.

BusinessNewsDaily reports that new research finds that your parents had a lot more to do with your career choice than you thought.

Psychologist George Holden at Southern Methodist University hypothesizes that parents guide their children’s development in four complex and dynamic ways:

1. Parents initiate trajectories, sometimes trying to steer their child in a preferred developmental path based on either the parents’ preferences or their observations of the child’s characteristics and abilities, such as enrolling their child in a class, exposing them to people and places, or taking a child to practices or lessons.

2. Parents also sustain their child’s progress along trajectories with encouragement and praise, by providing material assistance such as books, equipment or tutoring, and by allocating time to practice or participate in certain activities.

3. Parents mediate trajectories, which influences how their child perceives and understands a trajectory, and help their child steer clear of negative trajectories by preparing the child to deal with potential problems.

4. Finally, parents react to child-initiated trajectories.

Photo by theophine.

entrepreneur family parents

Rich Whittle has added 6,226 posts to Business Opportunities Weblog.

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  • http://www.brandonrjenkins.net Brandon R Jenkins

    My mom was a lot more direct about it. She got me introduce to CEO’s and VP’s. I was put into an environment of like minded people who’s focus was entrepreneurship. We actually launched businesses together. I spent as much if not more working on business in my childhood as I did in school. My dad also. I when I spent summers with him we worked his business. I was like an employee. He taught me about having a strong work ethic. Thanks mom and dad.

    Brandon R. JenkinsTrend Setter Realty

  • http://n.a. Cindy Hawkins

    I was not so fortunate. My parents divorced bitterly when I was about ten and were both troubled folks, too deeply caught up in their own heartbreak and respective drama to encourage me one bit – EXCEPT that I made a vow I would not be like them! Early on, I became very self motivating, and an initiator. Despite my early struggles, I am proudly sober now for over a decade, married to a wonderful man, and a community activist, mentor to ESL students and, in a place where daily, I have the chance to spur others on to follow their dream, whatever it is. Is there a lesson here? Yes, I believe there is: it is not so much what happens to you in life, it’s what you DO about what happens. Learn, learn, learn. Then use all that experience, good and bad as fuel to propel you forward to success, in business, in the community, or at home! And lastly – pass the fire on to someone else you meet along the way who may be facing his or her own challenges.

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