How to praise children correctly

A bit of a long read, but this article, talks all about how to praise kids in the correct way to keep them motivated.  It sounds like a good idea to tell our kids they are smart whenever they figure out how to do something on their own.  But according to case studies in this article it actually discourages them from working hard to achieve, and from trying new things out of fear of possible failure.  Praise is a very powerful tool.  To use it effectively it is important to be specific, explain why this child earned praise.  It is equally important to acknowledge hard work.

Speaking as one of those "smart" kids, I was constantly told I was smart, and validated by my test scores.  But when it came down to class or home work, it wasn't so much that I didn't want to fail, I didn't want to have to work hard.  To quote Paris Geller from the Gilmore Girls "Stupid I can work with.  I can scare the stupid out of you, but the lazy runs deep."

The weird thing is is that eventually the work became easier for me and that's when I started getting good grades.  It's also possible I had some learning difficulties as a child.  I always had a hard time with directions, I just couldn't figure out what I was supposed to do.  A lot of the time directions aren't explicit.  For instance I could never figure out how to answer questions like:  Did you or didn't you go to the store?  There are four possible ways to answer this.  As a joke my hubs always answers questions like these with a simple yes.

So what is achievement?  I feel like this can only be measured personally.  It would be succeeding at things that have meaning or are important to the individual.  It reads to me that this article is praising lifelong learning.  How can we know what has meaning or is important if we are not constantly searching.  That constant search takes a willingness to try new things and hard work.  It's complacency that is easy.  Digging a rut to get comfortable.  This sounds like a prison of one's own building.  Break out, see more, do more.  The world is so much bigger than one little corner.  Never stop trying new things.