Family Matters

Last week, I introduced parenting the Socrates way, where I outlined the benefits of parenting with questions.

Today, I will continue with this parenting technique and explore the “right and wrong” questions and subsequently the “right and wrong” answers.

Assertive people have sets of beliefs that help them to be assertive. If you want to find out what you need to do to become an assertive person, examine your beliefs. Here is a set of questions to help you examine your beliefs…

Questioning is an excellent way to gain understanding and knowledge of each other, of ourselves and the world around us. According to Oxford English, to question is “The action of inquiring or asking. The starting or investigating of a problem: inquiry into a matter. To inquire or seek after”. As parents, we can use questions in two ways to improve our relationships and further our understanding of our kids.

Every person in the universe is searching for happiness. Our thoughts about ourselves, our self esteem, are part of that one “map” that everyone is looking for, the one we think fits us all. But we all have different experiences and mindsets. Therefore, we each use a different map to guide us to our own happiness.

I learned a powerful lesson about self worth 21 years ago. I was studying Special Education and was lucky to have some very inspiring mentors. One of them was a psychology teacher. Our first meeting with her was most challenging. She scared us half to death. During roll call, she skipped names. After calling someone’s name, she would tell them, “That’s not a good name for you. In my class, I’m going to call you a different name.” By the second lesson, the number of students had dropped from 80 to 25. She came in, looked at us and said, “This is great. I see it worked. Now we can learn something.” She was so strange, yet so inspiring. I was so excited to have her as my teacher. I learned a lot from her.

Bringing kids into this world is a selfish act. Yes, I know most people cringe at this point, but think about it, you brought your kids to life for you, not for them. They did not exist when you made your decision to have them.

…

A good parenting system I have found to be very successful is that of being your kids’ life coach. Here are some of the rules of coaching that can be 100% applicable in parenting.

This is the story of Mike and how he turned his marriage around. Mike lived in a world of absolutes, where he was constantly disappointed, but learned how to let go and do what works. Within a short time, Mike changed his life completely, freeing himself from the bondage of his own standards of living, and found empowerment and love.

Reading is one of the most popular and accessible ways to make this journey. There are many personal development books and many of them are very good books. I must have read hundreds of books myself. As an author, I love books, love reading and get a lot from it. I still remember ads from childhood saying “books are your friends”, “your book will take you on a journey”. They have certainly worked miracles for me.

I am happy to announce the official launch of my new book “In the Outback with Jasmine Banks - Journey to Freedom”, the story of young women with similar fears to most people, who manages to find a new definition for what life is all about.