Meyer Musk, whose life was full of legends
Time magazine took a fancy to Meyer and invited her to take the cover, but this time the company couldn't push it off. And Meyer also came back to God after filming, in fact, not only did he not get angry, but he also had a lot of job opportunities. She thought she couldn't be trapped here. The faster you move, the less pain you have, and you should get rid of the distractions of things that can't be changed as soon as possible. She went to the company again and again to find the manager, waiting again and again, and finally the manager finally agreed to terminate the contract with Meyer. Finally, Meyer, who changed companies, began to have a steady stream of job opportunities.
At the age of sixty, Meyer entered a more stable phase, both as a nutritionist and a model. But Meyer still wants to push her boundaries, and she is eager to enter the top fashion show and walk the catwalk, suffering from no one inviting her. And she is not the one who waits for the opportunity, she has to take the initiative. So she made sixty-seven outfits, took a lot of high-quality blockbusters on the streets of Paris, and uploaded them to a Weibo-like social platform in the United States. Elon Musk's mother, Meyer was one of the first people to come into contact with the Internet. When Elon Musk developed the American Dianping (Zip2), May also did the user experience for him. From this, she found that the Internet is a larger world and more opportunities. After the advent of new media, whether it was Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram (a live photo upload platform), Meyer, who was nearly seventy years old at the time, studied their gameplay every day, just to show off her style and get more job opportunities.
Sure enough, some designers saw Meyer on social media who was old but still radiant, so they invited her to New York Fashion Week. By this time, Meyer was sixty-seven years old, and she was finally on the runway for the first time in a haute couture show. She wore a pure white dress, full of silver hair, and was dressed like a bride. When Meyer came on, everyone cheered and screamed for her. People never thought that there was a sixty-seven-year-old model who was still walking on the catwalk, not to mention that she was still shining, still the queen of the catwalk. People are shocked that she has reached her twilight years, but there is still a beautiful vitality bursting out, and her existence itself is enough to shock people. It was this group of photos at New York Fashion Week that, after being uploaded to social media, was immediately launched on the Internet, and Meyer began to gradually make a sensation around the world. At the age of sixty-nine, Meyer's career began to rise, and she took over the endorsement of the beauty brand, and her posters occupied four advertising spaces in New York's Times Square. I remember twenty years ago, she told her son that she would appear on it. Twenty years later, she really did.
Now, at the age of seventy-three, Meyer said: "I am still in the golden age of my career, and my life has just begun." Back in the beginning, she advanced nutrition because of the self-awareness awakening after divorce, the reason for continuing her modeling career was that single mothers needed more sources of income, and the exploration of speech talents was also an unexpected discovery that forced herself to make a living. At this time, Meyer found that the original zeroing that had been thought was not zeroing, but the starting point of the next stage. Those who think they have fallen into the bottom, as long as they continue to broaden their boundaries and discover new opportunities, can become a pedal for themselves to bounce high. While achieving herself, Musk has also cultivated three independent, creative, and "successful" children in the eyes of the world: the eldest son Elon is committed to science and technology, the second son Kimball focuses on catering and public welfare funds, and the third daughter Tosca runs an entertainment company. The question of how to raise successful children is the topic that Meyer is asked the most. So how does Meyer help children realize themselves and grow up with them for life?
Great Mother Meyer Musk
01 Adopt an affirmative attitude
The first is affirmative action. This concept comes from the parenting concept proposed by psychologist Rudolph in "Children: Challenges", which is to give the right to grow back to the child. Let me start with a counterexample. When I was a teacher before, I met a parent, her child is in the fifth grade, and every exam composition is very poor, because usually this child's composition homework is her mother responsible for writing a seven seven eight eight, the child is responsible for adding a little, and copying again. Mom knows it's not good, but she still helps her write every time, because she thinks the child can't write, and it's midnight when she's done. This mother's approach is what Rudolph said, depriving the child of the right to grow, resulting in the child has a more terrible phenomenon than bad grades, that is, she can't write an essay, but she is not in a hurry, because she feels that this is a mother's business and has nothing to do with herself. Therefore, by returning the power of growth to the child, the child can be more self-motivated and more aware of being responsible for himself. Meyer is just using her busy pace of life to push the boat along the water and return the power of growth to the child.
At home, she has always treated children as trustworthy adults, allowing them to participate in family building from an early age. When she couldn't figure out what the electronic device was functioning, she would turn to Elon Musk for help; when she felt scrambled to do modeling training and image management classes, she asked her younger daughter to help, only to find that her eight-year-old daughter was competent in makeup, teaching assistants, and designing programs and courses. She found that the children did all these things well, and they slowly developed the quality of independence. When they don't meddle in their affairs, they have a greater sense of responsibility for themselves. When Elon was seventeen years old, he planned to immigrate to Canada to deepen the Internet field and made long-term plans for his career; when his youngest daughter first went to Canada, he collected a lot of university information and applied for a good university for himself.
Although sometimes it's not that Meyer doesn't want to be involved, it's really that she doesn't have the energy, but the three children are thankful that their mothers are busy so that they have more opportunities to make decisions for themselves. But precisely because they are in charge, the mistakes they make also need to be borne by themselves, so these three children have slowly been cultivated to have a strong self-driving force, to supervise their own growth, and to take responsibility for themselves.
02 Lead behind the scenes, do not cross the line
But equal rights does not mean that children do not teach, when the children need help at the critical moment, Meyer is actually always there, she tries to let the children feel her unconditional love and support. She stands in a very clever position, although she is leading the child, but she often stands behind the child. If the child turns back and needs her guidance, she will gently push him; if the child wants to move forward on his own, she will silently follow behind her, not crossing the line. When I was a child, Elon Musk once wrote a game code, she suggested elon to submit, but only made a suggestion, whether to vote or not, she did not care, but let her son complete it himself. When the little daughter was young, she met a female star, especially wanted to find the other party to sign, she suggested that the daughter should fight for what she wanted, and then she would not speak. The daughter's decision to go or not to go is all up to her daughter's thoughts. Perhaps, Meyer did this unconsciously, but this coincides with Montessori's parenting philosophy: educators are only guides, objects, the main body of growth is always children, and educators cannot grow instead of them. And when the children grow up, Meyer can still keep them behind them.
Originally, when Elon Musk and Kimball launched the American version of Zip2, the economy was very difficult, but Meyer was convinced that her sons were doing things that made people's lives better, so she brought them some clothes and food every six weeks. While they were worried about a start-up capital, Meyer gave his son his only $10,000 deposit. She used these behaviors to tell her sons to persevere. As a result, the children not only persevered, but also felt the unconditional love and confidence of their mothers. Therefore, the second son Kimball said: Mother is the light for him along the way. Kimball was once a good entrepreneurial partner of the eldest brother Elon Musk. They started an Internet company together and worked together on Tesla and space exploration, but Kimball's inner journey was the most tortuous, because his favorite business was actually catering. When he was unsure of the direction of life, every time he left work, he would find Meyer waiting for him to have dinner together; when his restaurant was in a slump, Meyer would help him polish the old stove and old refrigerator. Therefore, although Meyer also has her own career to be busy, she gives high-quality companionship when the child needs her. She tells the child with her behavior, take your time. In the end, Kimball confirmed the direction of his life: to devote himself to the restaurant industry.
The third daughter, Tosca, needed her mother's significant support the most when she was thirty-seven. At that time, she wanted a child, but she didn't want to get married, so she planned to do IVF, but she was opposed by many friends around her. At this point, Meyer said to her, "Come on! I will help you pick a donor of sperm. In the most difficult year, Meyer stood behind her daughter and accompanied her through all the processes. After the birth of the child, Tosca finally determined whether the matter was correct. She told Meyer, "It was the best decision of my life, and I finally understood what unconditional love is." This kind of picture of parents always being behind their children has actually appeared when the child is young, that is, when the children learn to ride a bicycle. Parents let go of their hands and let their children ride independently, just standing in the back and watching. While parents learn to let go, children learn to grow, but when children fall back, they will find that their parents have always been there. The parents will guide him behind him on how to stand up and then watch the child ride better and better.
03 Help your child become yourself
One of the duties of parents is to help their child become himself and find his mission. Confucius said: Teach according to aptitude; Montessori said: Respect the nature of children; and Meyer said that she only did one thing, that is, to discover their interests. There is a chapter in the book devoted to how Meyer discovers the nature of children and helps them find a career for a lifetime. What she did was observe. She observed that Elon Musk loved to read, so she bought him some books. Later, she found that he loved to read any book. How about the test? Found him unforgettable. She realized that this child's nature is to absorb knowledge wildly anytime and anywhere, so her cultivation of Elon Musk is to buy books, take him to the ocean of knowledge, and the next thing she does is to support. When Elon Musk grew up and he had more specific areas of interest, such as computers, Meyer followed Elon Musk's instincts to buy him computers and support him in writing code and studying the Internet. Everything that follows is a matter of course. The second son, Kimball, Meyer observed, was very interested in food. So, she took him to the supermarket to buy vegetables, and found that as long as he smelled the vegetables, he could pick fresh ingredients and supported him in cooking.
From the age of twelve, Kimball was responsible for the family's food. However, Kimball first went to business after graduation, and then started a business with Elon Musk, took a detour, and finally returned to his heart to do the catering industry. And Meyer has done what she has always been able to do, which is to support him, let Kimball try it himself, and discover himself as soon as possible. Now Kimball runs several restaurant chains, founded a public welfare foundation, and started a company to support entrepreneurs to realize the dreams of urban farmers. And the third daughter, Tosca, Meyer observed that she liked acting since she was a child, and what she did was also supportive. Every Friday her daughter wants to watch a love movie with her, and she supports; her daughter runs the school's drama club, and she supports; her daughter likes to go around every art performance club, and she supports it. Now to Tosca runs an entertainment company, she is both a director and a screenwriter herself, mainly adapting romance novels into films.
Meyer was surprised to find that the children's careers were all their interests at the age of twelve, and all she did was observe and support. She found that the children would behave more than she had imagined. She hadn't imagined that Elon would explore space, that Kimball would open a restaurant, that Tosca would open an entertainment company, all things she couldn't even think of. She can't predict her child's future, but she can help her reach their future by observing their nature.
Raised an excellent son Elon Musk
04 Teach by example
After talking about the above educational philosophy, and finally looking at the whole book, we find that in fact, Mayer's education method can be mainly classified into one kind, that is, teaching by example, teaching by example, that is, living as an example for children. This way of educating is not her originality, but originated from Meyer's parents. As a small example, we can see the cycle of role models in their homes. Meyer's mother single-handedly supported a large son during the Great Depression in Canada without a single complaint; to Meyer, she pulled three children with her own hands to become talented, and when Canada was hungry and cold, she did not complain; when Meyer's daughter Tosca worked in Canada and needed to clean the toilet, there was no complaint. They only focus on what they can do and are always proactive. This attitude to life without complaining is mentioned in the book "Seven Habits of Highly Effective People": that is, successful people tend to focus on the things they can change, rather than on the things they can't change, complaining, anxious, and blaming others every day.
No one in the Meyer family told their children to be like that, but they have learned how to be like this by watching their parents' behavior, which is what their mothers do. If you also want your child not to be bound by age, no matter how old you have vigorous vitality and strong curiosity, the most efficient way is that you are such a person. Meyer was influenced by her mother. By the time her mother was ninety years old, her hands were very inflexible, but she still wanted to draw, and then she, a ninety-year-old lady, began to learn computer painting, and she learned it. Therefore, it is not difficult to understand that Meyer, in the case of pulling three children, actually has the energy to constantly examine, graduate school, do speeches, be a model, be a nutritionist, etc., and in old age, he can also embrace social media and embark on the peak of his career; it is not difficult to understand why Elon Musk still remains curious about the future after countless failures such as Internet entrepreneurship, clean energy entrepreneurship, rocket launch experiments, etc. Because their elders are such people who constantly broaden their boundaries, and who dare to fly in the wind in the midst of ridicule. This is why it has been said: "The essence of education is that one tree shakes another tree, one cloud pushes another cloud, and one soul summons another soul." ”
Finally, we close the pages, and it doesn't matter if you've forgotten some of The Legends of Musk's ups and downs. As long as we remember, her inspiration to us is that no matter when, where and what situation, we always have the right to choose, we just need to remember this feeling of choice, this positive and proactive life by me, it captures the essence of this book. And this is why many people now can't help but applaud and admire as soon as they see her. If life is really like the book Finite and Infinite Games Finite Games and Infinite Games, finite games are lost and won, measured by your success or failure. And the infinite game, no loss and no win, because the play is the spirit, so there is no boundary, the game will continue forever. Meyer's life of constantly breaking through boundaries and always having a vast and free life is undoubtedly an infinite game. When we turn people into an infinite game, the length of our lives becomes forever, and this game will continue to our children and grandchildren. Then, I hope that everyone will not be afraid of returning to zero and the bottom, because every time you fall to the bottom of the valley, it will be like the no gua in the "I Ching", no pole, Tai Lai. Since you will bounce up high, then even if it is an abyss, if you go down, it is also a long journey.
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