Maybe they were, and then they ran into real competition to be at the top of their field, and that dream just disintegrated.
What are you left with when you are raised on one specific value system and reality proves you’re not going to excel in that system?
We need to teach our children to have a variety of value systems, and that, of all of those, their academic or professional performance is not the priority.
Teach the kid to neither over estimate (arrogance) himself or under estimate (lack of confidence) their abilities. Shattered dreams come from setting wrong expectations and abilities, it's easy to be the best at a town level, but regional, national or worldwide level is another thing, be it academically, sport or arts.
Have fall back in place, that's also where rich and supportive parents come : blow money on different endeavors without sacrifying school.
Study end goals for what the kid wants to do, how to achieve these outcomes, what are the best paths, support the kids etc etc.
If we speak about sport at a professional level, an injury can kill a career, but still, if the "kid" is at a professional level, he has other means to be still successful in any cases, being resilient is also a skill.
What are you left with when you are raised on one specific value system and reality proves you’re not going to excel in that system?
We need to teach our children to have a variety of value systems, and that, of all of those, their academic or professional performance is not the priority.