Empowerment Life Coaching

In this economy you need all of the positive business practices you can find. One thing that has a positive impact on the bottom line is sending thank you cards. And you will make a great impression on your clients and customers if you send each one of them a personalized birthday card. It is also easier to get repeat business from people you know and appreciate. Sending cards makes them feel special and encourages them to be loyal to you and your business. I have been doing this for a while and see people’s eyes light up as they thank me for remembering them. Some say that it is the only birthday card they received. That has a powerful impact! It does not cost a lot. (I pay 62 cents per card.) And it sure makes the world a better place to live with an easy act of kindness.

Do you deserve success? Do you feel like you do not deserve success? Is that what is holding you back from achieving your goals?

Think about this. THere are a lot of people whose sucess contributes to your life, such as doctors food growers, clothing retailers, home builders, teachers, car manufacturers, engineers and others who work hard to make all of our lives easier and fuller. What if all of those people were stalled in their businesses ands careers because they did not feel like they deserved success? If that were the case we would all have a much lower standard of living and our economy would be in much worse shape. And we would not have the resources to help those less fortunate. So you not only deserve succcess, you have a responsibility to be successful.

Ask yourself the question posed by Psychologist Dr. Jill Hubbard,”If you love your neighbor as you love yourself, will your neighbor feel loved?” This thought provoking question can shift your thinking about what you deserve in life and give you the green light to define and reach your goals.

Empowerment Life Coaching is a member of Tradebank. If you would like to pay for life coaching through barter click here to join: Barter is Better with Tradebank

In this frenzied time of year make sure you take the time to rest so you can relax and enjoy Christmas with your family and friends. Schedule downtime into your calendar each day. Write it in your schedule as a block of time to turn off your cell phone, TV, radio and computer. And take one day a week to relax for the entire day! This is a biblical principle that can assist you in getting more done with fewer mistakes because downtime gives you fresh energy and calms your mind so you can come up with fresh ideas. And make sure you and your family get enough sleep so you can enjoy your time together.

The current financial situation calls for saving money so think about creative ways to spend less this year and eliminate shopping away from home. Shopping online can help by saving you trips to the store, fighting traffic and waiting in long lines. Draw names for gift exchanges and set dollar amount limits for gifts.

Keep meals simple and prepare as much as you can ahead of time. Get out your favorite easy recipes that you have not fixed for a long time and enjoy them again. And have a merrier Christmas this year!

Five Mistakes Parents Make and How to Fix Them!

1. “Why Can’t You Do That at Home?!!”  This is a mistake that a lot of parents make, speaking before they think about the consequences of the words for their children. A child will do an act of kindness for another adult such as cleaning up their kids’ toy room or another chore. That other adult tells you about it praising your child for doing something good and when you angrily ask the child why they can’t do that at home instead of praising them it has a negative affect on the child’s attitude toward doing anything for you. If you also praise your children in those cases, telling them you are proud of them, you are more likely to see those acts of kindness in your home because they will see that you value those actions too.

2. “Since When?!!” If your children tell you they like a food you did not know they had eaten before, or had refused to eat in the past, it is a mistake to jump on them for now liking the food. Your kids are growing up and changing. Their taste buds change too. So cut them some slack if they suddenly like some food you used to beg them to eat. This also applies to other things in your child’s life such as favorite activities and friends. Those are going to change as your child grows. Accept their changes that are not harmful to them or anyone else and let them know it is okay to grow and change in positive ways.

3. Each parent has different rules. If you and your spouse do not have the same rules your children are going to use it to divide and conquer your parenting. Discuss the rules and come to an agreement out of the children’s earshot and stick to them or change them as needed together. This goes for children whose parents are divorced too. As much as possible line up your rules in both houses so the children have as much stability and consistency as possible.

4. Expecting your children to know information that they do not know. Children are not born knowing everything. We all know that. Sometimes we expect our children to know more than they do. Screaming at your children in public for being rude in a way that has never come up before is not the way to teach them to have manners. Take the children aside and talk to them quietly, explaining as much as they can understand about why you want them to act differently. If the reason is beyond their understanding at that point tell them it is something grown ups do understand and they will understand too later on.

5. Equating your child with the child’s behavior. Your children are not their misbehavior. Tell your child you love him but do not like his actions. Do not tell your child to get out of your sight because you cannot stand to look at him for misbehavior. That tells your child he or she is bad. You can put him in time-out or ground him as punishment but separate the child from his bad actions so that he knows you value him and do not value the bad behavior. Whe Time-out is over give him a hug and explain to him that it is behavior that you do not like not him. If a child thinks he is bad, he thinks bad behavior is his lot in life and will feel helpless to fix it and will choose to act out more because there is no alternative in his or her mind.