The character traits that the author talks about are very important, but there are better means to achieve them.
Having had my share of Mr K's in my life and having attributed a lot of my successes and character traits to them, I disagree that tough love is what is necessary to make or break our kids. I hate that a lot of the "fun" times of my childhood were ruined by perfectionist nuts who screamed in my face because they lacked the patience to teach and expected me to measure up to their standards while not putting in the hardwork necessary to make each student the best that they could be. Admittedly, I am good at some things because of their methods, but if I had control over who taught me, I would never pick those people. And I do not look back with respect or fondness at them. I do not practice "tough love" with my child because of my past experience. Instead I teach a lot of the traits mentioned in the article like perseverence, rote learning, memorization, discipline, "drill and kill", learning about failure etc by involving my child very early in life (at 4 years old) in pursuits like Martial Arts, Piano and Chess clubs. My now 6 year old with lingering small motor issues learnt what it was to fail, persevere, learn from peers, memorize, drill to kill etc while preparing for a recital to be performed in front of 600 adults, sparring with 9 year olds, auditioning for a piano exam with a judge, memorizing technique for a Sparring Form with 20+ movements, playing chess tournaments with USCF rated players and losing etc. No nuts were screaming at him or poking him with a pencil and he was having fun while learning important life lessons and life skills.
And to the author of the article - Creativity cannot be taught or learnt. A person's innate creativity can be fostered by practice, but it can't be planted in their minds with 10,000 hours of practice. I am a living example - I hate to cook, but have cooked for my family from scratch for years because of allergies and diet restrictions - I feel like I am at the 10,000 hour level - but can never be a creative chef. People like Mr K can never make me good at it even if they were mentoring me.
