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Advice Best Practices Leadership Money

HABITS ARE NECESSARY FOR ACHIEVING YOUR GOALS, AND THEY CAN ALSO LIMIT YOUR SUCCESS WITH SELF-DESTRUCTIVE PATTERNS

Habits and practices may prevent you from achieving your goals.

Habits make us who we are, how we respond to the world, how we act in front of others, and how we think. And that’s not always a bad thing.

The importance of habits cannot be overstated. Why some habits/ patterns are needed:

You don’t have to concentrate on how to drive your car, so you can be on the lookout for danger while driving. You don’t have to think about how to walk, so you can focus on where you are going.

However, habits can also limit your success by keeping you stuck in self-destructive patterns.

More than likely, if you wish to achieve higher levels of success, you will need to drop some habits you have established up to this point.

Therefore, if you want to accomplish something that requires you to perform at a higher level, I strongly encourage you to drop these bad habits that aren’t serving you and develop new ones that align with what you want.

Do you have any habits that prevent you from achieving your goals?

Ask yourself these questions and be honest:

  • Are you late frequently?
  • Do you forget to return phone calls?
  • Do you stay up late and don’t get enough sleep?
  • Are you prone to breaking your promises?
  • Do you spend money that you don’t have?
  • If all your habits were productive, how would your life be?
  • If you ate healthy foods, exercised regularly, and slept enough.
  • How about saving money, avoiding credit cards, and paying cash for everything?
  • What if you overcame your fears and began networking with people in your field instead of procrastinating?
  • To stay on track to achieving your goals, how about creating a detailed plan broken down into monthly, weekly, and daily objectives?

Changing your habits may not be as hard as one thinks:

  • Make a list of all the habits that keep you from being productive or could negatively affect your future.
  • Choose better, more productive success habits and create a system to support them.

Follow these tips to make sure you follow through on your new habits:

  • Put up signs (yes, signs) to remind yourself to follow through.
  • Stay focused on your new habit with a partner. Talk to your partner five minutes a day, or every few days, to stay on track. 
  • Create consequences for failing to maintain your new habit. (Maybe a monetary amount, slightly painful,  for each offense to a charity.

The “no exceptions rule” is perhaps one of the most powerful ways to stay on track.

People don’t suddenly start living perfect lives overnight, and their habits play a significant role in enabling them to create the lives they want. It is up to you to decide whether to develop habits that lead you to create your ideal life or keep you anchored to your current circumstances.

Decide, commit, and watch your new life unfold. What are your thoughts?

For more Healthy Money Tips Listen to our PodCast “Money 911”

Meet with Kris Miller – Financial Fitness Strategy Sessions

https://healthymoneyhappylife.com/

Kris@HealthyMoneyHappyLIfe.com

(951) 926-4158

Categories
Best Practices Personal Development Technology

THE CHALLENGES AND SOLUTIONS OF A FINANCIAL DIGNITY ISSUE WITH A MUST HAVE PLANNING

“Getting up, Getting over, and Getting on. I want to show you how in under 10 minutes, you can be Getting On with… Financial Dignity. I will attempt to combine over 40 yrs experience helping others to achieve fiscal health upon divorce.

Two parts “the problems and some solutions for today and tomorrow. It has been said that “two can live as cheaply as one” what we have now for many is:  One will now live more expensively than two. What we have is a loss of economy of scale. We now have two residences, two separate health policies, and sets of everything from autos to flatware. Additionally, we lose multi-car insurance discounts; the list continues. These problems are on top of our country’s dismal economic future.

 A few years back, I heard this story. A couple went for a walk in the woods and deviated somewhat from the trail, where they happened upon an old wishing well. Intrigued, the wife went first tossing in a coin, and she made a wish and walked away. As she walked away, she heard a splash and turned. The husband was gone, she gasped, “Oh my god, I can’t believe it works.”

Another story this one is not funny: a man and a woman both earn the same income, have the same job titles, and have the same amount in their 401(k)s. Both work for progressive companies that treat different sexes equally; everything is identical. Who gets the bigger monthly pension check- the male? Why? Longevity women usually live longer and will collect for a more extended period. (Same reason men pay more than women for life insurance- they die sooner).

Must change all legal six must-have documents, inc beneficiary forms 401(k), etc. company and personally owned life insurance*

  1. Will
  2. Power of Attorney for financial
  3. Power of Attorney for healthcare  
  4. HIPAA release
  5. Medical directive
  6. Retirement plan beneficiaries

PICTURE

For future planning: 

Idea one: A 50-50 split may leave the women short when splitting assets. You must factor in retirement assets differently. (Ask how much these dollars will produce in income future) and most importantly. It would be best if you planned more safely for these assets much differently than when married.

Idea Two: Reduce taxes. It sounds basic, but we need to do three things:

  • Reduce current taxes
  • Plan future taxes 
  • Now for the critical part plan to use the tax saving to bolster your savings and retirement income. In others, words use Uncle Sam’s money for you. A big issue is avoiding and reducing taxes on your S.S. benefits.  

Idea Three:   Understand Social Security benefits, how, when, and on whom to collect. You can collect on an ex-spouse (if married for ten years). Did you know you can collect on both? They can be staggered in certain circumstances:  the Ex first, then your own, or you first, then the ex. It would be best if you planned to maximize this income, and the laws are complex.

Idea Four: use the “Old Age Roth,” which will ensure your later years are spent living with dignity and not relying on others. 

Idea Five: You must provide a lifetime income stream that CANOT be outlived.

Idea Six: use the Dollar Multiplier in everything you do. Get three dollars in value for every dollar. Like getting low or no cost Long term care coverage attached to a retirement plan or life insurance.

 

For more Healthy Money Tips Listen to our PodCast “Money 911”

Meet with Kris Miller – Financial Fitness Strategy Sessions

https://healthymoneyhappylife.com/

Kris@HealthyMoneyHappyLIfe.com

(951) 926-4158

Categories
Best Practices Personal Development Skills

The Productivity Paradox: How Chasing Two Rabbits Can Sabotage Your Success

Multitasking works to get things done slowly and with poor quality. You may disagree. Many times during the day, you may feel overwhelmed. So you decide to kick it up by multitasking, so you feel like you’ve been productive but really have little nothing to show for it. The answer is not trying to spin more plates on sticks at one time; the answer is slowing down, narrowing focus, and completing one thing at a time.

It’s time to introduce you to the lesser-known, more successful cousin of multitasking: Monotasking.  Just work at a steady pace, keep your plate full, and keep chipping away.  The crazy thing is—you’ll probably get there just as fast, if not faster. Here are some basics to get you started.

We are taking on jobs and responsibilities while saying yes to everything, leaving you with the massive task of getting everything done. If you could see yourself as you multitask, you would be shocked at what you see: missed items, uncompleted pieces, and shoddy quality. However, what we see through our eyes as we are in the middle of things, we miss how ineffectual we are. Besides, we are not making progress, constantly switching from one activity to another without completing the first.

Studies show it can take anywhere from 11 to 23 minutes or longer to find your focus after an interruption or task switch. So what is the solution to multitasking?

The solution is simple – do the opposite, just Monotask and produce better results. How to start Monotasking with two simple steps.

First, write it down and get the tasks out of your head. The old-school paper works best.

Do a second pass and put things into categories if you want. But the only thing that matters is that it’s on the list, and nothing is in your head.

Once it’s written out, you can organize it how you like. Color-code tasks and arrange them from big to small, by category or time needed. Once you know everything is listed, you will feel calmer because the list has an end.

Instead of multitasking, do one thing—for as long as you want or until it is finished. Just work at a steady pace, keep your plate full, and keep chipping away. You’ll find that this new pace is far more sustainable and productive. 

Should you start with the easiest or the hardest? It depends on you. One: by starting with the easiest possible items, you can get a bunch done quickly and build momentum. The other is to attack the most challenging first. Once completed, you’ll feel like you can conquer anything, just like coasting downhill on a bike. Either way, you can’t go wrong by working steadily one task at a time. Slow but effective work every time.

For more Healthy Money Tips Listen to our PodCast “Money 911”

Sign up for a Financial Fitness Strategy Session at Meet with Kris Miller – Financial Fitness Strategy Sessions

Go to my website https://healthymoneyhappylife.com/

Email me at Kris@HealthyMoneyHappyLIfe.com

Call me or text (951) 926-4158

Categories
Best Practices Personal Development Skills

MICHAEL MAGLIANO Personal Brand Origin Story

I struck out.

It was 2008. The biggest recession to hit Chicago in decades. Everyone in sales struck out. I had only been an industrial broker for a few years, this business takes time to build, and my wife and I were expecting our 2nd daughter. My salary was full commission and the market tanked; I mean everything went to zero. Nada.

Growing up a Cubs fan, I got used to losing, but nothing prepared me for this.

I called in Uncle Lou. I’ve been calling in Uncle Lou for business advice since I was 16. After our conversation, I made two of the most humbling decisions of my life. First, I accepted Uncle Wally’s generous loan. Yes, I paid him back. Then I returned to Lou Malnati’s delivering pizzas. The same job I had in high school, the one my neighbor and her friend (who later became my beautiful wife) secured for me.

These were lean, tough years.

Which is why when I got hired again as an industrial broker at Cushman and Wakefield, over 14 years ago, I was determined to employ a long-term strategy for success. It’s similar to how I approach baseball, a game my grandpa and dad taught me as a child, and I continued to play well into my thirties. I keep the focus on building quality relationships and delivering value regardless of if a sale is on the line. Then when sales do come in – the singles, doubles, triples, and homeruns – they are all treated with same vigor because I know this game is won over many innings, over many years.

Or even generations which is often the case for many family run manufacturing businesses.

I especially like these clients because hard work and loyalty are at the core of their ethics. Plus, I was born with the gift of gab, inherited from my dad a retired postmaster, so I enjoy building rapport within various family dynamics.  My own Italian family is like how comedian Sebastian Maniscalco describes his in that company skit, pre-wireless days, where folks are on the ready with Entenmann cakes and Sanka to welcome in visitors. Imagine that – no phone call, no notice, just a knock on the door – and my grandparents loved it. In fact, we all did. Our Sunday family dinners often had random company at the table. Food was the way my grandmother showed love, she even once dropped off a lasagna to help ensure I got a college internship at 670AM The Score. It kills me I’m such a poor excuse for an Italian. I developed too many allergies as an adult to enjoy these meals. I am even allergic to pizza, c’mon, now that’s ironic.

I take extreme pride in being an honest resource to my clients, one they can rely on to mitigate multi-million-dollar risk.

Moving a manufacturing plant is strenuous with so many considerations to factor in, it gets overwhelming fast. It’s a pleasure navigating clients through this process, step-by-step like a partner customizing a real estate plan they can trust. Frequently, this means I play the ultimate connector, making service provider recommendations and calling on team members when their expertise is needed. What I love about baseball, unlike other fast paced, individually high-scoring games, is you need all nine players to show up and work together to win. Our sales strategy at Cushman and Wakefield works the same, and we prioritize fun and family.

As a dad of three girls, it’s my absolute privilege to be at their events and active in their lives. My motto to them is to be true to yourself at work and at home. Which is why at the end of every baseball season, I chuckle thinking about my grandfather who lived 96 years as an avid Cubs fan, but not long enough to celebrate their 2016 World Series championship. Sometimes being true to yourself also means striking out. That is when quality relationships matter the most. Strive to make it count.

Categories
Best Practices Human Resources Management Parenting Personal Development

Employing Your Children

As the IRS website states: “One of the advantages of operating your own business is hiring family members.” That family member can be a spouse, sibling, parent, or even a child (between the ages of 3-18). In fact, while hiring a child may not seem like a top- of-mind move for many businesses owners, if you play by the rules there can be a surprisingly broad array of tax benefits to doing so!

With the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act increasing the Standard Deduction up to $12,200.00 (in 2019), children employed in a family business can earn that much in income and enjoy a zero-tax rate on their income. In addition, many states will also permit children employed in the business to avoid unemployment (FUTA) taxes and children working for their parents’ sole proprietorship, partnership, or LLC, may also avoid employment (FICA) taxes as well , which can be a material tax savings for many families, especially those with high-income parental business owners. This allows you to reduce the amount of income you need to take home personally by $12,200.00 per child which results in paying less in personal taxes.

Furthermore, employing a child in the business also creates earned income that can qualify the child to make a Roth IRA contribution, and/or qualify the child for other employee benefits. This means that you can take $6,000.00 of the $12,200.00 and place it in a Roth IRA, which will grow completely tax free until your child is able to withdraw it at the age of 59.5 years of age. Just one of the many ways to create Generational Wealth.

With the remaining $6,200.00, it can be put into a children’s bank account with parental control and used to cover things like, Sports, Band, Dance, and other hobbies your child or children may enjoy. When you personally cover these expenses, they are not tax deductible to you as an individual. 

Although the caveat is that employing a child in the business still requires that he/she d o bona fide, age-appropriate work in the business for a “reasonable” wage. The work must also comply with the Federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) rules which fortunately are flexible for parents employing their children in their own wholly-parental-owned business and state child labor laws as well. 

Let me qualify the above. If your LLC or Corporation is taxed as a “C” Elected or “S” Elected company, you will need to withhold taxes just like any other employee. 

Let’s discuss how you can implement this in your business, contact our offices at 775-384-8124 or send an email to contact@controllersltd.com 

Much Success, 

Scott L. Arden, CEO 

Controllers, Ltd. 

www.controllersltd.com 

Categories
Best Practices Culture Women In Business

‘Twas the Night Before…

‘Twas the night before Christmas,

And all through your home,

Your little ones are stirring,

They won’t leave each other alone!

You went the extra mile

To bring holiday joy

But it’s not what you pictured

…it’s all about toys!

If that isn’t how the poem goes…it really should be!

A quiet, peaceful Christmas Eve isn’t the reality for many families. Your children have probably consumed copious amounts of sugar and are low on sleep. It’s not a recipe for success!

Whether you have little ones who are on a sleep strike or refusing to eat anything that isn’t covered in frosting, here’s a quick tip you can use to guide your child without raining on their parade:

“I can tell you’re really excited about Christmas, and it’s great to see how happy you are! And you’ll feel best in the morning if you _____ and _______.”

Remember always to use AND and not BUT to start a conversation that takes both their side and yours into consideration.

Fill in the blanks with: you get a good night’s rest, you eat some veggies, you and your sibling aren’t fighting… adapt this script to whatever situation you find yourself in.

Remember, both you and your child want the holidays to be a time of merriment and memories. You’re on the same team!

My wish for you this Christmas Eve is that you feel confident in your parenting. No matter where you are in your conscious parenting journey, I admire and applaud you.

To set up your 2023 to be the best year ever, I’d like to gift you with 70% off our Ultimate Parenting Toolbox between now and Jan 1st! Just use the code HOLIDAY when checking out to receive this incredible offer. This Conscious Parenting starter kit will help you gain the skills to amplify your parenting wins by responding differently to behavioral challenges.

Merry Christmas 🎁 Happy Hanukkah 🕎

Cheers to you and your family!

Love and Blessings

Katherine

P.S. Don’t get lost in the image you expect your child to be. Remember to be thankful for who your child is, not who you want them to be. For more on this, check out my tips on The Motherside ABC7 – and don’t forget to subscribe to my YouTube Channel so you don’t miss out on any other parenting hacks! Happy Thanksgiving!

 

 

 

Categories
Best Practices Culture Entrepreneurship Leadership Marketing

LinkedIn Is All About… [What?]

LinkedIn Is All About… [What?]

The large number of LinkedIn connection requests coming to me from people who promise to generate leads for me suggests that they think LinkedIn is all about leads. But from my perspective, most business owners already have sufficient leads. What they may lack is sufficient customers.

The problem, converting leads to into buyers, is actually one LinkedIn is well positioned to solve. That’s because LinkedIn is all about relationships.

LinkedIn Is All About RELATIONSHIPS

I can hear the pushback now. “What?! I have thousands of connections on LinkedIn but very few relationships.”

I grant that is true for most of us. But the infrastructure and the tools available through LinkedIn can be used to move someone along from awareness to a sense of camaraderie – and perhaps eventually toward an interest in our services or products. Nothing happens without your commitment to make it so, however. Cultivating relationships requires an investment of your time and attention. It doesn’t happen through automatic canned messages and responses.

Cultivating Relationships

Starting out on the right foot

It’s hard to cultivate a relationship with someone to whom you haven’t yet bothered to say hello. If you send me a robo connection request (i.e. a request without personalization), how interested will I be in getting to know you? I may accept your connection request merely because your profile doesn’t alarm me and your connections will expand my network, but I’m not likely to spend time interacting with you.

Going the other way, if I ask you to connect with me but fail to follow up with any message after you accept, it’s hard to imagine that I’ve built the foundation for friendship. You should greet your new connections authentically and invite a response by asking a question.

Is it essential that we exchange niceties with each connection? No. Only with the people who really interest us — the people whose profile, job title, or something else about them catches our eye and resonates with us. Forming relationships should be a joyous endeavor, not drudgery.

Don’t sell

Selling in our connection invitation or right after we connect is not a winning proposition. There is no bigger turnoff than pushy sales talk without a prior relationship. Never assume that because someone has accepted your invitation to connect that they’ve agreed to be sold to. Sales and referrals flow when you are top of mind, you have demonstrated value over time, and your connection either experiences a problem that is perfect for you to solve or they know someone who they think needs what you are offering.

Relation-building strategies

  1. Engage online. When commenting on someone’s posts, add real value to the person whose post you are commenting on, to others reading it, and to yourself. Note that neither a LIKE alone nor a comment under 5 words are considered by the LinkedIn algorithm to be “engagement.”
  2. In your own posts, focus on adding value. Will your post add value to others and yourself?
  3. Endorse skills. On your connection’s profile, identify three skills that you can vouch for and endorse them for those skills. Why not more? This is an attention-getting strategy you may want to use several times.
  4. Use the “tag” function when you mention a person’s name online. They receive an email message from LinkedIn that they have been mentioned in a post. This assures that they will notice your kind mention of them and provides an opportunity for them to respond if they choose to do so.
  5. Use LinkedIn’s messaging function to communicate with people (but only if they are active daily on the LI platform). When you use LinkedIn for sending a note to an individual, your message features your LinkedIn headshot, an important part of your brand.
  6. Send an article via LinkedIn message to a person likely to appreciate it. This shows that you are thinking of them and that you’re paying attention to the kinds of content they may find valuable. Don’t send the article to several people adding their names to the same message. When you do that, you’ve created a group and everyone who responds will automatically be communicating to everyone in the group.
  7. Be helpful because it’s the right thing to do, not because you expect quid pro quo. Eventually all the positivity you’re sending into the world will find its way back to you.

LinkedIn is all about relationships. Remember that relationships emerge through your investment of time and attention. Use LinkedIn’s functionality and these strategies to effectively engage, add value, grow your sphere of influence – and build relationships.

To your success!

Named one of six top branding experts in 2022 by The American Reporter, over the past ten years, I’ve helped countless C-level clients use LinkedIn to frame conversations, impress customers, and introduce themselves before their first conversation takes place. If you are a C-suite executive or senior leader, I can make this easy for you. Based on my knowledge of how LinkedIn works and how people respond to what they see there, I can ensure everything is ready and your profile conveys exactly the message and impression you’re aiming for. Let me help you attract the talent you want to hire, increase your visibility and influence, and steer your career.

Contact me through my website https://carolkaemmerer.com for:

  • Executive one-on-one assistance with your online brand
  • Professional speaking engagements on personal brand and LinkedIn
  • An autographed copy of my book, LinkedIn for the Savvy Executive-2ndEdition
  • My self-paced, online course
  • To receive my articles in your email mailbox monthly

 

My award-winning book, LinkedIn for the Savvy Executive-2nd Edition received BookAuthority’s “Best LinkedIn Books

of All Time” award, and was named one of the “Top 100+ Best Business Books” by The C-Suite Network, and is an International Book Awards winner. For your author-inscribed and signed book or for quantity discounts, order at: https://carolkaemmerer.com/books

 

Other Articles by Carol Kaemmerer

What Can a Sales Conversation Teach You About How to Write Your LinkedIn ABOUT Section?

Your Most Powerful 220 Characters: If You Haven’t Customized Your LinkedIn Headline, You’re Missing Out

Strategic Engagement on LinkedIn: How to Become Top of Mind for Right-for-You Opportunities

Three Misconceptions About LinkedIn that Could Be Hurting You

What is a Personal Branding Expert? …And Do You Need One?

Why Senior Leaders Need a Strong Brand NOW — And Why It’s In their Company’s Best Interest to See That They Get One

7 Ways to Elevate Your Online Brand So You Can Love Your LinkedIn Profile

What is a Personal Brand – And How Can You Take Charge of Yours?

Twelve Changes You Can Make in About an Hour to Improve Your LinkedIn Profile

Why Is My LinkedIn Profile Getting So Few Views?

How Can LinkedIn Be Part of Your Company’s Strategy for Responding to the Great Resignation?

Is Your LinkedIn Profile Missing the Mark?

Comfortable in Your Job? Uncomfortable Life Lessons to Safeguard Your Career

How to Be Found on LinkedIn: Ten Top Strategies to Rank Well on a LinkedIn Keyword Search

Why Are You Playing Small on LinkedIn?

If You’re Not “Writing to the Margins” on LinkedIn, You’re Missing Out

Don’t Be Hooked Through a Big Phish: Recognize and Avoid Phishing Scams on LinkedIn:

A Small Omission That Undermines Your Credibility on LinkedIn

Tell Me More…” — On LinkedIn

What is Your Poor LinkedIn Profile Costing You?

C-Suite Executives: Stop Hiding Online

Categories
Best Practices Culture Human Resources Women In Business

Happy Valentine’s Day from CPR!

Valentine’s Day is one of my favorite holidays! I long for the days when my children were little, and I would send them to school dressed in red, with little cards for each classmate in hand. I love the energy, the decorations, and the spirit of meeting others with love. Most of all, I love how I can jump right from my Chinese New Year celebrations into Valentines day!

My Conscious Parents from the US or EU may not know this, but the final day of the Chinese Lunar New Year is celebrated very similarly to the western holiday we know as Valentine’s Day. Young women, in hopes of finding a sweetheart after a week of Lunar New Year festivities, walk their neighborhoods and admire the many decorative lanterns strung about. As an expat in Hong Kong the past 30+ years, I had the honor of celebrating this beautiful holiday many times, and still hold it’s traditions tight to this day.

For families, Valentine’s Day is a chance to find your own traditions, and an excellent opportunity to practice meeting each other with love. This season often reminds me of Marshall Rosenberg’s rendition of “See Me Beautiful”, a heartfelt song that pleads for love in spite of imperfection. How timely Dr. Rosenberg’s message is for the parenting work that we do! May we all celebrate not only the unconditional love of our significant others but of our children, our families and our communities.

See me beautiful, look for the best in me

That’s what I really am and all I want to be

It may take some time

It may be hard to find

But see me beautiful

See me beautiful, each and every day

I hope these holidays inspire you to relish new beginnings and see the beauty in everyone.

From the bottom of my heart, wherever you are in the world: Happy Valentine’s Day!

Love and Blessings,

Katherine

PS Honored to be a guest on Natasha Graziano’s show – one of the most generous, pure hearted and supportive people I’ve ever met! Check out the episode here!

 

Categories
Best Practices Growth Parenting Personal Development Skills

7 Ways you can help stop boredom for your kids at home

“I’m bored.”

The words every parent recognizes — and likely dreads.

Our children are continually learning, socialising, and most have a busier calendar of birthday parties and playdates than we do. But, during the summer or less busy times, children often quickly find themselves looking for things to do.

From teens to tweens to little ones boredom is no stranger! We even get bored! Children aged between five and six years old are used to a structured routine. However, occasionally your routine may change or be less busy on some days or during holidays.

This leaves your kids not knowing what to do with themselves. Without an endless stream of activities to keep kids occupied outside of the house, here’s how to help them grow accustomed to days where there’s often a dull moment, so everyone stays sane.

Why your child gets bored

Boredom is a familiar feeling in children. Feeling irritated, unsatisfied, or uninterested by any activity can lead to boredom. Boredom occurs when your kid feels energetic but has no idea where to direct his energy. Boredom is a common complaint among children and adults, as well.

You or your child may become bored while engaged in an activity, due to:

  • Loss of interest
  • Confusing instructions
  • Fear of making a mistake
  • Repetition of the activity for too much time
  • Feeling unable to try new approaches to the activity

How you can use Conscious Parenting Guidance if your child is bored

Although you may too be feeling fraught at times with life so uncertain and a lack of any routine, it’s an opportunity to apply conscious parenting guidance, and not respond to them angrily or rudely.

Try these steps:

  • Don’t ask why your child is bored. That can be a roadblock in communication.
  • If your kids are frustrated, don’t respond in an angry or annoyed way. Take a deep breath and center yourself first.
  • Help your child recognize other emotional issues or feelings which you might have mistaken as boredom.
  • Ask open-ended questions to get their creative juices going.
  • Help your child find an engaging activity or one you can participate in together.
  • Your child may just be feeling bored temporarily. They may be trying to get your attention, or they may just want to play.

7 ways you can keep boredom at bay with your kids

That’s all very well, but what if your imagination of engaging activities is exhausted or you are busy and exhausted and do not have time to always entertain them?

Here are ideas for helping to stop the boredom at home.

Get Back To Nature

It’s the perfect opportunity to let their creativity thrive and spend some time nurturing plants and seeds which could grow in the garden or a window box.

Remember your childhood favorites

What about all the simple things you could entertain yourself doing for hours when you were a child. Maybe a good old fashioned paper airplane race?
How about finding a rope and skipping? Learning to hula-hoop? Remember all those rainy days you filled by playing hang-man?

Go High Tech

You don’t need to avoid all of the technology available. But as a conscious parent, you may want to guide your children towards some of the more socially conscious apps or encourage them to use their time on-line to build their blog.

Fix Things

How many items do you have on your fix-it list? Usually, we are time-poor, and it’s easier to throw something away and get another one when it breaks. This is the perfect opportunity to teach your child how to fix things. Maybe you can show your older children how to sew a button back into a shirt, or even learn together. There is an abundance of YouTube tutorials that will guide you through.

Music

Why not encourage your children to develop their music tastes? It’s the perfect time to explore their likes and tell them about a song of your favorite bands and songs.

Cook

What better way to get creative together than to cook together? You can concoct something from the cupboard, or follow a recipe along. It’s an opportunity to explore flavors and tastes and be present in making something creative for the family to enjoy. And, of course, if you’re baking, someone needs to lick the frosting from the spoon. It’s a rite of passage.

Put on a play

Or even a dance number. Learn it, perform it, and enjoy them getting into character and being someone else for a while. It’s an opportunity to learn empathy as they can see a situation from another’s eyes.

Why a little boredom can help your kids

These are all great ideas, but is a little boredom healthy for your child? Dr. Steve Silvestro says it’s essential to allow your child to be bored and that it can spark creativity — and that’s why some of us get our best ideas in the shower.

Doing the same routine every day, often at the same time of day, over and over again — it’s pretty dull in there. That dullness and monotony actually gives your brain freedom to wander and explore nooks and crannies of thought that you might not meander through at other parts of your day.

When children are bored, they have the luxury to allow their minds to explore in more detail. It gives the opportunity to get ingenious and creative.

Encourage your children to come up with some ideas themselves. You can build a “Thinking Spot” for your child. If you can create a space in your child’s room or a playroom with a comfy seat or pillow, paper & pencils, perhaps even small toys for inspiration, then when your child says that they are bored, suggest that she sit in the “Thinking Spot” and come up with ideas.

Boredom is completely normal. Dr. Dibya Choudhuri, a professor with the counselling program at Eastern Michigan University in Ypsilanti says we didn’t have a word for boredom until the 19th century.

It isn’t necessarily a bad thing. But very quickly it got a very bad rap. When children are left alone to figure something out, you’ll often be blown away by their ability to problem solve, and boredom gives this a chance to develop.

This is why it’s actually healthy to let your kids get bored for a certain amount of time.

Of course — none of this will stop the bleating cry of “I’m bored,” so it’s helpful to be prepared with your responses. Ignoring them doesn’t get you much peace. The best approach is to turn it into a positive. When you hear those fateful words, you can tell them, “I love it when I’m bored. I can get really creative with what I’m going to do next. I have time to think, and it’s up to me to do whatever I want to do.”

If you liked reading this blog post, then check out our blog post all about how to get some structure during chaos.

Categories
Best Practices Growth Health and Wellness Leadership Personal Development

Feeling anxious? This Can Help.

Remember your child as a baby? When they accidentally hit their head on the side of the crib or get startled awake by a loud noise? Seconds tick by slowly as you wait for the sound of that gulp for air — usually followed by a piercing cry.

Breathing: it’s probably the most hard-wired, involuntary function we do as human beings. Every creature, great or small, breathes. Breathing gives us life, and we don’t even have to think about doing it — you inhale and exhale as reflexively as your heart beats in your chest.

But despite the fact that breath keeps us alive, we tend to take it for granted.

The Harvard Business Review and the Yale News both recently conducted studies revealing the effectiveness of SKY Breath Meditation, a breathing modality that engages the parasympathetic nervous system — the part of your brain that controls rational thinking, gives you a sense of calm and provides balance in stressful situations. Participants in both studies reported a better sense of well-being and mental health after just two days of practicing the methods.

As someone who has been trained in SKY Breath Meditation for 10 years, I can attest that breath does so much more than supply your body with oxygen. The way you breathe can have a big influence on how you feel and experience the world.

If you’ve been stressed, depressed, or overwhelmed — by current events, the holiday season, or your kid’s insistence on listening to “Baby Shark” on repeat — you’re not alone.

Here are some tips to help you literally catch a breather (share them with your child too!):

  • Deeper inhales and longer exhales. What happens when your child cries? Their breaths turn to hiccups. The same thing happens when we feel stressed or sad. When you start breathing rapidly, consciously focus on taking deep inhales and long exhales. Count to 4 for inhales, 8 for exhales (or as close as you can comfortably get). The fog in your brain will clear up in seconds.
  • Do some quick, light stretching. Pressured by deadlines at work and the mounting pile of laundry at home? Take 5 minutes for a quick stretch break. Full-body activities like a yoga sun salutation get your blood flowing with good oxygen and help relieve stress.
  • Carve out time for meditation. Ten minutes is ample time for you to feel the positive effects of your breathing/meditation practice. Don’t have 10 minutes? Take 2 minutes, if that’s what you have. Find a quiet spot to sit in and breathe deeply. Check out our work with America Meditates by Art of Living.

Learning to control your breath can help rid your body of stress and flood you with positive energy. Not only will you feel more in control of yourself, but you’re also providing an excellent model for your children about the importance of self-care.

Supportive breathing is just one technique for becoming the parent you want to be. If you’re interested in true parenting transformation check out the 90 Day Parenting Reset Program.

Love and Blessings,
Katherine

PS To start 2023, we’re offering you 70% off of ANY of our supplemental parenting tools! That includes the Ultimate Parenting Toolbox, Applying Solutions Mini Course, and our Conscious Parenting Kickstart! Just go to our Conscious Parenting Revolution site and use the code TAKE ACTION at checkout. I’m so excited to dive deeper into this journey with you!