> Everything was easy until it wasn't Similar experience for me (apart from the social distancing - never an issue for me) - being told how clever I was by par

> Everything was easy until it wasn't Similar experience for me (apart from the social distancing - never an issue for me) - being told how clever I was by parents, relatives, teachers, class-mates etc from ages 5 or 6 up to early-/mid-teens. It soaks into you and you end up becoming a bit arrogant about things. For me I had a rude-awakening during my late teens when we did our first "real" exams and I assumed that what with me being so clever, these exams that everyone had to do must be pretty simple. After all, if non-clever people had to sit the same standard exams as someone clever like me, then they must be a walk in a park, right? No need to study or revise! Everyone has been telling me I am so smart for as long as I can remember, so no need to put any effort in - my natural smarts will carry me through! Hurrah! ...the outcome was predictable - I got pretty middling grades of mostly "B"s. For some I accept that "straight Bs" would be a great outcome, but it was more or less the first time in my life where I had to face up to the fact that I wasn't guaranteed academic success, celebration and congratulations for being so smart from everyone. Instead everyone - myself included - was slightly disappointed in my performance. Lesson learnt. Now I have my own kids and wondering what to do if they are smart. I heard someone say something along the lines of "never tell your kids they are smart - instead congratulate them on how well/how hard they worked on something".