As a kid, I wanted to become an astronaut, super girl, archaeologist and  ermm,  Sherlock Holmes (true story!), at various points of my childhood. As I grew up, the realities and practicalities of life made me push those ambitions aside and choose more “real” sounding careers like engineer, doctor or an MBA (which is what I ended up doing)

Some of you may have had way more crazy dreams than me but again the world told you to forget about them and get real. Right?

When I ask my daughter what she wants to become when she grows up- her answer usually lies somewhere between being a ballet dancer, a super model and a Shaolin ninja.  That’s when I caught myself saying “but sweetie, what do you really want to be, like may be an engineer or a doctor”!

And that’s when it hit me. I was also just trying to make her listen to what the world dictates as normal rather than letting her follow her heart. As her mother I am her first teacher in this world, and if I told her that her dreams were worthless and would never come true then what choice was I leaving her with?

[pullquote position=”right”]The world was not changed by those who listened to everybody else, but by those who followed their own hearts.[/pullquote]

As a parent I strive to raise my child to be the best she can be. And if wants to be a ballet dancer or a super model, it is my duty to help her be the best at that.

I don’t know whether the career choices my daughter has made now will remain the same as she grows up but I do know that I would support her, love her and encourage her by always saying “Follow Your Heart”. If you want to do this too here are

Three ways to encourage kids to “Follow Your Heart”

Teach them to dream big

Children have an abstract concept of dreaming. For them the world is a blank canvas which they can paint with their dreams. You can help them with the tools to develop their creative thinking.

Me and Sam have a little ritual before bedtime where we think of a place, we want to visit in our dreams, like Disneyland or a beach in Goa. I also encourage Sam to maintain a dream scrapbook so anything she wants or she likes, we cut its pictures and paste it in the scrapbook. She loves going through her dream book during quiet times and thinking of things to add in there.

Follow your heart {but take your brains with you}

Dreams will remain dreams unless acted upon. So think with your kids what needs to be done today to make sure that they are on the path to accomplish these dreams.

If your son wants to be a scientist get him books about science, if your daughter wants to be a poet gift her a journal to write her poetry every day. For Sam I have decided to enroll her in ballet and dance classes soon. But be cautioned – Don’t push your unfulfilled desires or dreams unto them. If midway they feel that this is not the right path for them, let them choose a different path which will make them happy.

Don’t forget to FOLLOW YOUR HEART

You are your child’s biggest idol. Show them by example what it means to follow your heart. If you had a dream that you didn’t pursue because of any reason, take it up again and live your dream.  I am following my heart by pursuing interests that I love instead of taking up a job I don’t love.

ITC Classmate Follow Your Heart Campaign

Classmate is a leading stationery brand from ITC limited. The “Follow Your Heart” concept by ITC Classmate was launched to nurture individual strengths of each child and helping them in developing into holistically developed human beings. The brand endeavors to encourage children by helping them identify their inherent skills and interests and follow their heart’s own calling.

To promote this awesome thought, Classmate organizes regular panel discussions for thousands of students to help them understand about how to choose an off beat career path. The panelists include achievers and celebrities from all walks of life like actress Soha Ali Khan, actor Ayushmann Khurana, choreographer Terence Lewis and many more. Watch the video below to see how they are making an impact on more than 30,000 students across the country.

Giveaway- Win Goodies by ITC Classmate

Classmate wants to know whether you want to join the “Follow Your Heart” movement. And if you do, you stand to win two awesome goody bag of Classmate Stationery.

Win this goody bag in three simple steps

♥ Just click here to go to the Classmate Stationery Facebook page here  and Like their page.

♥ Find this Video post  and write in the comment section –

“I will encourage my child to #FollowYourHeart @themomviews (tagging TheMomViews Facebook page)

♥ Once you have completed the above two steps, write a comment here on the blog post mentioning your Facebook profile ID (to validate your entry) and (optional) tell me what you loved most about the video.

16 randomly chosen winners stand to win two goody bags each. Hurry the giveaway ends on 31st October 2013.