Want to Raise Successful Kids? Jeff Bezos Says Practice This 1 Simple Habit | Inc.com

Take pride in your choices not your gifts. ... This is something that's super-important for young people to understand, and for parents to preach to young people. It's really easy for a talented young person to take pride in their gifts: 'I'm really athletic,' or, 'I'm really smart,' or,'I'm really good at math.'

That's fine. You should celebrate your gifts. You should be happy. But you can't be proud of them ... What you can be proud of is your choices.

How did you decide to use your gifts? Did you study hard? Did you work hard? Did you practice? The people who excel combine gifts and hard work, and the hard work part is a choice. You get to decide that. And that is something that when you're looking back on your life, you will be very proud of.

It's about a habit that Bezos calls "super-important," and that has advised over and over. In fact, he explicitly encouraged parents to "preach" it to their kids. And, as a father of four, he says it's the advice he's tried to give his own children.