She paced back and forth and stormed, “I never see myself not having money for food or sleeping in my car because I have no home to sleep in. I never see myself without a family to support me. All I got from these presenters was that I must get very low if I want to be successful, which means I’ll never be successful. What kind of motivation technique is this?”
When we examine values in my parenting workshops, it is amazing to discover that parents put most of their energy on values that are not the highest on their list. In fact, most parents waste their energy on things they rate fairly low. They argue and fight over schoolwork and cleaning the house, while neglecting other, far more important things.
Creativity is a learned skill and can be developed at any age and under any circumstances. Parents do not need a lot of resources and most of the tips and ideas described are easy and cheap. However, they do require that parents apply their own creativity and appreciate creativity as an important component in the success and happiness of their kids.
Read Creative Kids (summary) »
This week, I was asked by one of my clients about the formula for a successful, healthy and happy life, but as much as I wanted to give him the formula, I could not.
Read Life Formula »
Dan, one of my personal life coaches, told me about this list on the first sessions I had with him.
“When I was 18, my dad sent me to an evening with a motivational speaker”, Dan said, “He told us to write down 100 things we want to do in our lifetime. I write my list and put it somewhere. When I became a life coach, I found my list again and I was amazed at how many of the things in it I had already done “.
About a month ago, I started writing about list making and I was very happy to receive many encouraging comments about how effective and motivating it is for people to make these lists.
Today’s list is about looking forward into the future. The Roman philosopher Seneca said, “If one does not know to which port one is sailing, no wind is favorable”. Imagine yourself sailing in the ocean of life. You need to know where you are going, right?
When I was 16, I joined the school council and fought for kids’ rights and freedom of speech. People said it was because I was a Libra, but the teacher who coordinated my school’s leadership programs (school council, school newspaper and class representatives) told us we were the future and what we were doing was very important. We wrote protest poems, listened to Joan Baez, negotiated with school authorities to make sure our education went beyond learning math and literature and made a big difference in the life of our fellow students.
Read Kids Making a Difference »
Creativity is essential in peoples’ way of handling difficulties and solving problems. Although I think it is possible to spark creativity in anyone, I strongly believe that kids can learn it better and faster, if only because they have had fewer disappointments and they look forward to new experiences. It is never too early or too late to teach creativity and, although you may not see the results straight away, your kids will accumulate creative experiences and will use this skill at the right time.
Read Creative Kids (6) »
In the past four Mondays, I wrote tips and ideas for parents to boost kids’ creativity. If you have had a chance to read them all, you know by now that kids’ creativity is very important to their success – experiencing life to the fullest and getting the most out of it.
Read Creative Kids (5) »
Eden got this nickname when she was 7 years old and her teacher complained she was reading out loud while all the other kids switched to silent reading. The teacher was concerned that reading out loud would interfere with her reading development.
To handle the need to verbalize what she was reading (a kinesthetic need), Eden started to whisper. It started with fast and unclear quiet whispers, like shorthand. she read for hours every day, so from age 7 to 20, you could hear indistinct whispers in our house at the table, in the toilet, behind the sofa, on the floor or on her bed.
All my 3 little book worms go to the public library every week and borrow 20 books for each membership card (and we have 5 cards).
For the love of reading
Kids who love reading are every parent’s dream. Developing imagination, getting exposed to richness of information and inspiring emotions through the written word are only some of the advantages of reading.
Read The Book Whisperer »
In the last three weeks, I wrote ideas to boost creativity in kids. In my opinion, kids already have natural creativity in them and our aim is to nurture it and make sure it does not disappear. In my book, “Be Special, Be Yourself for Teenagers”, I wrote that creativity, along with flexibility and tolerance, are natural states of mind and our job as parents and educators is to nourish them to full blossom.
Read Creative Kids (4) »
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