<I don't know what a "very strong internal locus of control is">

I may be misusing the term, but here goes: I find it useful to describe people's relationship to -- authority, for lack of a better word. My son doesn't care much about the opinions of external authority figures or standards imposed from outside (I'm guessing this is because his own standards are so much higher!). Years ago I read a post on a gifted forum describing people with this mindset as having a 'strong internal locus of control', and I thought, 'That describes my DS to a T'.

<If your child won't tackle challenges by himself, I'm skeptical that your approach is going to transform him into a go-getter who pushes past his previous boundaries.>

Please correct me if I'm wrong, but it sounds as if you haven't been reading my posts. I'll say it again: apart from minor meltdowns at the piano, which he took up 15 months ago, my son hasn't needed any input from me to deal with his fear of failure in over two years.

<I doubt that that's the sort of thing that will transform him into a world-beater in any field>

I'm afraid you've lost me there -- he (and we) don't have those sorts of competitive goals for him. I'm curious -- why do you see that as something to strive for?