Kids Coaching? Of Course!

Creativity, flexibility, tolerance and love are natural states of mind and our purpose is to nurture them to full blossom

Ronit Baras

Many people ask surprised about kids coaching. Coaching, you see is the art of motivating people to reach their full potential. It has been part of life for many generations and changed names but essentially remained the same.

When people ask this, I say

Why wait until your kids are 40 and miserable? Is it not better to give them a head start in life?

Why let them develop ineffective habits? Is it not better to help them develop powerful ones instead?

I have previously described it as the difference between a reactive to proactive approach to life. Parenting is the same as the rest of life – you can be reactive and chase your tail or you can plan ahead.

The Be Happy in LIFE program emphasises emotional intelligence. 25 years ago, (wow, so long ago already) I was introduced to EQ as part of special education and I realised I had found a treasure. When you get deeply into teaching/coaching/emotional development, you start believing in miracles.

The science of EQ has proven that there is a strong link between the levels of success and happiness in life. Children who learn to recognise and manage their emotions, as well as interact assertively with others, enjoy their lives from the very beginning and lead a productive and fulfilling life.

How to raise happy kids with EQ?

Here is what I go over with all the parents in my parenting workshops. Kids are born into a life of innocence and dependency. Their surroundings determine their perception of the world. Ask any parent in the world what they want for their children and they’ll say “I want them to be happy“. Even if they say “I want them to be good at school”, keep asking and you will eventually get to happiness. Not school, not homework, not helping in the house, not being an A student. Compared to happiness, all the things we dedicate much of our energy to are minor. We bring our kids into the world and want to give them those things because we think they will make them happy.

It is very easy to know when your children are unhappy. You can tell they are unhappy when you feel pressure, when things do not go as smoothly as you want, when they perform lower than the average, when they do not sleep well or do not eat well, when they prefer the computer or TV over playing, when they spend too long by themselves or when they “hate to go to school”.

Unhappy kids put immediate pressure on all the adults who care for them. As I said before, we teach our kids Math and Literacy and emphasise academic achievement, yet most of us forget that their happiness is the ultimate aim.

Fortunately, in the last 30 years or so, the world started shifting its focus towards emotional intelligence. From working and travelling around the world, I can say that some countries are much more advanced then others, but luckily for us as parents (and educators), the awareness is growing.

Kids’ coaching teaches children an attitude to life, a positive and happy philosophy. Kids’ coaching help kids work on their emotional intelligence and set them up for a successful and happy life.