scraping by on the bare minimum

[firmbeliever]

Has anyone else got a DS like mine. He scraped into sixth form with the minimum grade required 7A/A* ( private school) scraped through to a RG university course starting sept 2013. Grade requirements AAB-BBB- got offered BBB at Alevel and that is exactly what he achieved. Is now on gap year and landed a job in a solicitors office by talking to the father of a friend of a friend. no interview!!! How do I get him to understand that it is important to be the best that you can be to be truly confident of your strengths and weaknesses! or am i worrying for nothing

You're worrying for nothing. He sounds like he's doing very well.

You're worrying for nothing.

People don't generally want 'to be the best they can be' until they reach late - as they're having fun before then

Lighten up dude

You are worrying for nothing. Work will sort him out!

Thanks for your comments. I'll try and lighten up and smile through gritted teeth for now. When real life hits let's hope he has the resilience to cope and he recognises that his charm and eternal optimism will only get him so far. Hard work and effort is key

He may have got the job interview through personal contacts, but I doubt the employer would have offered him the job unless he was a good candidate - I am sure there would have been plenty of other people who could have been chosen if he hadn't been good enough. Maybe you are dwelling on the negative, and he actually is doing better overall than you appreciate?

Generally I'm an advocate of 'you should be the best that you can be'. But recently I have started to wonder if this IS the best approach. I've spent a lot of time being stressed out, putting in as much effort as was possible for everything.

It's true that I've done fairly well in my career, but then so have my school friends. Clearly they still put enough effort in to get where they are, but then, so has your son. Maybe he has it right after all?

He sounds great. My ds is 18 and could give lessons in scraping by! Your ds is positively working himself to the bone in comparison He sounds great!

@ noddyholder
mockingjay an interesting perspective. Probably after years at his school of trying to hammer it home that you have got to do your best and then tested to death every day, every term and every year on practically every lesson taught, he has has come to the conclusion that life is a series of hoops to be jumped through as efficiently as possible. How best can I get by with minimum effort so I can get on and enjoy my life. Maybe there is something to be said for this......