Just One More Spoon...

One of the aspects of my life that I really appreciate is that I started my journey of personal development before we had our kids. And one of the reasons for this is that my kids now benefit from it two. They are 22 months and 7 months. Coupled with that, my sister discovered the Glenn Doman method of teaching my niece from a young age. It open up a world for her from a very young age and her mind, to this day, fires on all cylinders. At age 25 she has done a Masters in Theoretical Physics and is in her second year of studying to become and actuary. This also raised the bar for my sister who taught her higher grade maths, herself having failed lower grade maths for her high school graduation. The forerunner to all this being my grandmother who raised eight, very forward looking children. One of them, of course, my mum. So in this short paragraph alone, we can see how one person can cause effect to generations.

But that's only part of the point of my post. Being a product of the product that is the cornerstone of my business, one of the key things it has taught me is to keep my own promises. Now, this may sound like a very simple notion but I think you'll find it's something that many overlook. They are happy to let things slide because 'it's only' for themselves. I remember the first major promise I kept to myself. It wasn't easy because all my friends were going in that direction and, seeing it coming, I had already promised myself that I wouldn't. IT FELT GREAT. As I became better at keeping promises to myself, the by-product was that I became more resolute and my word truly was my bond. It's a great thing to be able to say 'my word is my bond'. It's even better when people realise this to be true.

An off-shoot of this is that I have a great relationship with my children. They trust me to be direct, truthful and factual. I don't point and say that's a dog, I point and say that's a dog, it's called a doberman pinscher or that's a bird, it's called a blue tit. And when we're eating and I say 'Just one more spoon...' they eat it becuase they know I won't push any more on them.

To acquiesce to your child's desires does neither party any favours. One of the great things about the company I work with is that when all the distributors meet up at the live events, they all being products of the product too, there is resolution and positivity. Stephen Covey in his brilliant book The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, points out that the best relationships we have are with other independent people. Interdependence through independence. As Barbara Streisand correctly point out in her song, people who need people are the luckiest people... I'd add the caveat "Don't make people a priority if they only make you an option".