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Being a parent is hard so is being a kid. Children don’t know how to be a child, especially your child. Children need training, understanding, and encouragement.  Does your child know what’s expected of him/her? How do they know? What are you training your child. Just because you aren’t “talking” doesn’t mean your child isn’t “listening”. What are your actions telling your child what is acceptable / unacceptable. Read this article to see how to get the best out of your child.

Parents and Teachers – Supercharge a Child’s Motivation at School and at Home

If you’re like most parents, you’ve probably wished that your child would do more of what you asked and do it well, on time, and with a sweet attitude.

In this article I’m going to share four things your child needs to develop excitement and motivation, both in studies and around the house, and some unwitting mistakes parents and teacher sometimes make in trying to boost the unmotivated child. These four elements are encouragement, a conducive environment, example, and balance.

Encouragement

When a child does what he should, everything works smoothly, so it’s easy to forget to compliment the behavior. When a child forgets, or just isn’t very good at something, it causes some level of disruption, so it needs to be addressed a fair amount of the time. The challenge is to avoid imbalance. Compliment the good, and you’ll get more of the good, as long as the child isn’t secretly getting away with something! It’s hard to keep balance, but if the balance isn’t there, discouragement sets in. I’ve seen smart, eager-to-please children give up because this natural tendency to notice the error more than the success makes the child misinterpret the behavior to think she isn’t appreciated. In more advanced cases, a discouraged kid will stop caring what anyone thinks. For a parent or teacher, losing a child’s desire to please and seek your opinions and wishes has disturbing consequences. A parent can lose considerable influence to guide the child in the right direction, in any area of life. The good news is, this can often be reversed, since most children are very resilient when conditions change.

Another important asset of encouraging your child is that it prevents negative attention-seeking. Many children figure bad attention is better than none, so they misbehave on purpose just to hear from you. So quality time together is important, and it’s important to make a permanent habit out of looking for the good and commenting on it. Rewards are nice for spectacular achievements, but too much of that can create an expectation of entitlement that will ultimately disappoint the child in life, or the temptation may crop up to substitute quick, convenient rewards for the quality time and encouragement that any child needs, no matter how full a schedule is, for healthy development.

Besides too much or too little praise, other encouragement killers include setting expectations that are too high or too low, promising rewards for performance and then failing to give them for any reason, and comparing children to others (including yourself) in either a positive or negative light.

Conducive environment

In order for a child to obey or succeed in anything, he has to have what he needs to do the task. If you fail to notice and provide too many things, your kid won’t explain his sub-par work after a while. It’s possible you believe he’s just making excuses to get out of work, and eventually that may become the case, even after he receives what he needs, because a negative association has developed between work, and the possibility of achieving it. Imagine the consequences of a child thinking that work and tasks never work out to anyone’s satisfaction, so he might as well not even try. Imagine the consequences when the child becomes an adult and needs to work for a living! This is especially true if he gets an earful for not living up to his expectations and no one believes him when he explains why. Sure, some kids do it to get out of work, so it’s important to determine with absolute accuracy whether his laziness is his fault, or if there are other factors involved.

To succeed in his studies, then, your child needs a clean, well-lit, quiet study area with a comfortable temperature, freedom from hollering and other distractions, time to do the work, regular hearing, vision, and general health checks, an assignment notebook, communication with teachers, tutoring if there’s an area where he’s struggling, transportation to tutoring and the library, all necessary school supplies, proper diet, exercise, rest, and motivated friends who aren’t getting into trouble. Too many household chores, and he won’t have time to study. Too few and he’ll develop an addiction to entertainment. If there’s marital discord being expressed withing his hearing, he’ll be thinking about that rather than his studies. So, it’s important to develop a system with your spouse to handle disagreements in such a way as to maintain a calm, supportive, quiet atmosphere so your child can avoid associating his studies (and more importantly, the home) with fear. Fear is unpleasant, and can cause her to develop an avoidance attitude toward anything she associates with it.

Instead, create a strong association between work and enjoyment. Why not turn off the television at dinner time and keep some encyclopedias by the table? Have fun quizzes and entertaining facts during dinner to encourage a love of learning. The child has to agree it’s fun, which will take some creativity on your part.

Also, you can leave a healthy but particularly favorite treat on your child’s desk at the beginning of study time. It’s best to avoid sugar, which can make your child tired and moody. Honey or Blue Agave are much healthier sweeteners. Alternatives to food can include fun pencils, cool assignment books, tickets to educational events like science centers with good programs for children, etc. Of course you can’t leave little presents every day, but the idea is to get a child to feel pleasure whenever he thinks about work…fun things associated with work. Leaving toys will only create another distraction.

Example: Children who love to read often have parents who read a lot. Children who enjoy work not only have parents who make it pleasant, but who take pleasure in working themselves. I know-this can be a challenge if your boss is unreasonable or your job is stressful and the tasks you face at home only add to the complete exhaustion you already face. Sometimes treating yourself to some well-chosen morale boosters can have a big impact on your kids as well. This also helps prevent the exhausted parent’s temptation to have the kids do everything, from making dinner to fetching shoes and glasses, taking care of the baby, bringing everyone drinks, and doing all the housework when guests are coming. If the kids are doing too much around the house, they’re not studying and it may lead them to the wrong impression about what you think of work. They need to see you enjoying being busy, too. If it means cutting down on activities, that’s fine-in the end you’ll feel better and more rested, too. For single parents, this can be tremendously difficult. Some ladies swap help time with close, trusted friends, each taking care of the kids after school on a specific day of the week while the other parents get a chance to rest.

Balance

Too much of a good thing can be bad. Praise for a child’s success is good, but too much praise for very small accomplishments can diminish the impact of the praise. Unduly withholding praise in order to increase its value can discourage a child, too. Too much of anything isn’t good. Time to study is important, but if it robs a child of family time, that will impact your kid’s development and attitude. Chores teach a child to keep a neat house, teach him the value of work, prevent him from having time to get into trouble or developing an addiction to video games or entertainment. Too many chores, or chores that are above a child’s development level, and you can end up with a child with a bad attitude or even health problems.

The bottom line is, if you make it easy for a child to do what you ask, he’ll develop inner motivation and rely less on parental policing to get things done to the best of his ability. This is the key to creating positive, permanent habits that won’t disappear as soon as he heads off to college and into the real world.

Jana Ortiz has an M. Ed. in Curriculum and Instruction with a concentration in Philosophy of Education. She is also the founder of Kosmar Enterprises, LLC. Visit Kosmar Enterprises, LLC at http://www.kosmarenterprises.com to optimize your child’s health for the coming school year.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jana_Ortiz

How to Set and Achieve Your Goals

Are you just going? Or are you going somewhere? There’s a big difference. How to Set and Achieve Your Goals will deliver all the tools you need to make sure that the path you’re on is one that you’ve planned to be on and one that will take you where you want to be. With guidance and advice on how to set goals, avoid pitfalls how to stay motivated and focused, this book is one tool everyone should have in their toolbox!

For a limited time only $7.95. Regularly $9.95.  Place your order now!

Boy, those holidays sure were fun. Time off to spend with friends and family. The festivities and food were great. But now it’s time to go back to work with everything that goes with it. All the work that has to be done, deadlines, more work than people, over time, the boss, and the stress. Read this article to get some fresh ideas to help make this year a better year in the workplace.

Start the New Year With Fresh Satisfaction in the Workplace

The start of the new year is a time to make and honor resolutions – both on a personal and professional level. And one of these resolutions is to increase your satisfaction levels during the hours you spend at work. Our work environment often has a big impact on our mood, motivation, productivity, and job satisfaction.

Recent workplace studies indicate workers rank their work surroundings as the most critical element of job satisfaction…even more than job recognition, compensation, and security. Productivity is highest when a person is relaxed and free of stress, which occurs when an environment is soothing.

All this suggests that a great way to get a jump on the new year is to refresh your workplace ambiance with the latest colors and designs. Even small changes in your work environment is likely to boost your energy, make you more comfortable, and help you make it through long days of important meetings and emails. Here are just a few suggestions:

Personalize your space. Your work space should be your favorite space in the entire office. Add your favorite artwork, photos of your family or friends, a vacation photo, even a picture of your pet. Gentle reminders of your personal life beyond work help get you through the day.

Go green in the new year! The latest studies show that if you add plants to your work environment you will feel more connected with the outside, more alert, and more productive. Plants can also remove common toxins from indoor environments and add oxygen to stale air.

Add color from the latest color trends. Not only will you look stylish to your coworkers, you will also feel more content to spend time in a space where you have chosen the color scheme. The latest trends in colors for [2009] are relaxing and nature-inspired and are accented with a more modern grouping of contemporary contrast colors. Soft neutrals of wheat, cocoa brown, pumpkin orange and cinnamon apple pie soothe even the most stress-filled day. Natural leaf-like greens and organic browns make you feel more in tune with the earth. And for those who desire a more stark contrast, choose crisp clear reds and deep plums to black and whites for a real energy boost.

These simple changes can have a large impact on overall job satisfaction, increase creativity, and get you and your coworkers in the right frame of mind to accomplish great things in the New Year.

Trudy Brusenbach is the Marketing Manager of Ambius. Ambius is dedicated to improving the interior landscape of businesses across North America. Ambius provides a broad range of products and services to enhance the workplace including interior landscaping, ambient scenting and odor remediation, wall art décor and holiday décor. Ambius is a division of Rentokil Initial plc (LSE: RTO). For more information, visit the new Ambius website at http://www.ambius.com Ms Brusenbach has over 10 years B2B MarCom experience specializing in business and brand development.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Trudy_Brusenbach

By Steve Larkins
WHEN THE GOING
GETS TOUGH….SHOULD WE NOT BE MOTIVATING OUR STAFF?

Does it not seem a bit bizarre that just when staff, departments and teams need morale boosting and team building the most – then that is just the time when company bosses and senior managers decide that is the time to stop doing just that!

There is no question that over the last 10 years team building as a concept and tool for developing and building teams has worked very well and is an accepted part of any overall company morale policy and indeed in many cases part of Mission Statements and Values.

With redundancies and the general economic situation causing great disruption to work forces, this must surely be the time to motivate those lucky enough to still be in their jobs. Nothing is more unsettling than seeing fellow workmates lose their jobs. It sets an air of fear, concern and worry and this is the time for management to step up to the plate, spend some money and reassure those still working for them.

There are many messages than need to be effectively put across by management in these turbulent times and a simple company or departmental meeting with some fun element to it will certainly help the cause no end.

Why should values built up over so many years and respected by those that work for such companies go out of the window now? We all know it’s tough but business must go on and those still employed must work even harder in a tough situation. The moment cries out for motivation, morale building and team building.

Paint a picture, build a chariot, do a treasure trail, whatever suits your people. It really does not matter what, but just do it! It’s a buyer’s market even in the events industry and there are plenty of deals to be had from events companies with empty order books so why not capitalise on that and inject some fun into a bleak moment?

Kaleidoscope Event’s offer a range of fun team building activities in the United Kingdom, specialising in corporate fun days, themed parties, meeting icebreakers and team building events. Kaleidoscope have an expanding client base including companies in the public and private sector including finance, NHS, DIY and local government to name but a few.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Steve_Larkins

For more information and support for creating team building activities, call toll free 866-846-9228 or email us at mail@GPS-4Life.com.

By Gary Simpson

There are few conditions that can paralyze a person’s future more than the disease of procrastination.

Procrastination is the paralysis of action for fear of making a mistake. It will ensure that whomever is afflicted with such a condition will live a life of inactivity and regret.

Millions, perhaps billions, of people are stricken with this condition. For them, the fear of failure outweighs the joy of success so strongly that they cannot start or finish any project.

Could you imagine how much further advanced this world would be if everybody were able to throw away the shackles of mediocrity and achieve what they were infinitely capable of doing? We would have cures for cancer, diabetes and the common cold to name just a few medical advances.

We would have also solved greenhouse gases, our dependence on fossil fuels, starvation in third world countries, war and so many other problems that affect the world.

Defeating procrastination involves four things:
1. knowing where you are
2. knowing where you want to be
3. knowing how to get from where you are to where you want to be
4. getting from where you are to where you want to be

Until you learn to get procrastination under control you will never achieve anything worthwhile with your life. That would be so sad.

Procrastination is your mortal enemy.
Succumbing to procrastination is surrendering your life to something far less than what you were ultimately designed for.

Isn’t it time you discovered how to get on top of procrastination once and for all?

Gary Simpson operates the Turn Debt Into Wealth (http://www.turn-debt-into-wealth.com/wealth.html) website. To discover how to get on top of procrastination once and for all and become more successful than you ever thought possible go here: “How to Stop Wasting Your Life and Start Getting What You Want – A Guide to Help You Get to Where You Want to Be.” (http://www.turn-debt-into-wealth.com/mind.html)Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Gary_Simpson

For more information and support for creating more time for yourself and what’s important to you, visit http://www.GalileoLS.com/consult.html for a free coaching consultation.

By Peter Murphy

Staying focused is difficult for many of us. Some of us get side-tracked by the events of life going on around us. We allow ourselves to be pulled this way and that, sometimes not knowing where to go next. However, staying focused is primarily an issue of time allocation and programming that time. But it does take practice to make it a habit. Let’s look at some ways to stay focused until you succeed.

First and foremost, you need a set of well defined goals if you are to stay focused. It’s the key! And one way of doing that is to write down what you want to accomplish. As you’re sipping your coffee in the morning, jot down some things you want to accomplish that day.

A set of well defined goals is long-term as well as short-term. A very helpful tool to use to stay focused for the long-term is to plan ahead. This will require you to obtain and maintain some form of scheduling method. This can be done on something as simple as a paper calendar or an electronic one. The point is to start noting every appointment, every deadline, and every dinner engagement you commit yourself to. By maintaining a means of scheduling you will firstly, become more organized, and secondly, because you are more organized, you will stay more focused. Just follow your schedule.

Sometime you may be involved in a project that appears to be overwhelming. What successful people do is break that project into smaller pieces. This strategy is well-known throughout the business world. As a matter of fact, it’s a business principle. Breaking a project down to more manageable pieces makes progress much smoother because there are fewer surprises.

Another strategy the business world utilizes is tracking. Every corporation throughout the world has some form of tracking its progress, whether that is sales, development, acquisitions, etc. Every corporation tracks its progress. You can apply this same strategy to your own success. This is another reason maintaining a written schedule is important. It can help you track progress.

As you see yourself progress keep it in mind, but don’t concentrate on it. Instead, direct your focus to the end result. Sometimes we can get caught up in the emotions of accomplishment and forget where we were going. It is a very good thing to experience the emotions of success. In fact, when we direct those emotions toward the end result they become a motivating source.

Going to bed at a decent hour and waking up early will also help you maintain focus. The body, including the mind, responds better when it receives the rest it needs. A rested body is more relaxed and a rested mind makes better decisions, and as a result, you will be able to maintain a better focus upon your goals.

Related to getting the right amount of rest is taking a moment or two in your day to enjoy some quiet time. Again, even the business world knows the importance of giving its employees a rest break. It’s more productive and production means more profit. That is why every corporation has established break times. It’s to give workers a quick rest. Utilize this same principle in the direction of your success and you will be more focused and motivated to achieve success each and every day.

And when you do accomplish major milestones toward your goal, don’t be afraid to reward yourself, whatever the reward might be. It could be as simple as cooking yourself a nice dinner as you reflect upon your success. Or it could be taking someone out to celebrate that success with you. Whatever the reward might be, enjoy it. You deserve it!

Peter Murphy is a peak performance expert. He recently produced a very popular free report that reveals how to crush procrastination and sustain lasting motivation. Apply now because it is available for a limited time only at: http://www.getmotivatedstaymotivated.com/blogArticle Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Peter_Murphy

For more information and support for creating more time for yourself and what’s important to you, visit http://www.GalileoLS.com/consult.html for a free coaching consultation.

by Kevin Sinclair

No matter where life takes us, we all need to be positively motivated in order to succeed. This is particularly true when things are not quite going our way and when we have undertaken business projects that do not seem to work out as we would have expected. It is at this point that fear can move stealthily into our way of thinking and a little irritating voice says that this is not going to work.

So, what can be done? Well, for the most part, it is important that you steer clear of negative people. These people can, at times, be your own flesh and blood. However, this is not the time to disclose any doubts and fears that you may have in them. Positive and enthusiastic people should be sought out from your acquaintances, family and friends. Assume the positive and confident outlooks on life that they have. Locate a good motivational book. Return and re-tackle the issues that are holding your scheme back, whilst you are thinking about success. It is very often a case of needing to tweak certain aspects of the operation in order to get it moving.

If research has been undertaken by yourself correctly, then there must be a reason as to why things are not going so well. Determination will pay in the long run. If you are yearning to succeed, this will without a doubt provide the inspiration and energy that is required to get you off on the right foot and where you need to go. This is personal motivation in action. Positive results will be achieved when your energy and desire work together.

When things are not going your way, it is easy for you to become down and depressed. It is simple to just give up and give in to fear and misery. However, it is this approach that leads you to less success. Depression and loss of motivation can be increased when communicating with unenthusiastic people. In a sense, we are in actual fact what we deem ourselves to be, and we need to motivate ourselves in order to achieve.

In one way, it is more difficult to remain positive since is requires a great deal of energy. However, on the other hand, being negative takes your energy away, whilst being positive will produce energy. Motivation is produced when we remain positive, and results are produced from enthusiastic motivation. Nothing is a lost cause. It is just necessary to undertake thoughtful restructuring in the worst cases, or minor tweaking at best. All that is required to carry this out is the motivation and enthusiasm.

Life can be difficult. However it is imperative that you search for the positives in everything, including situations that prove to be difficult. It is important that you enjoy life and mix with positive, energetic people. It is simple for their enthusiasm and motivation to break through the shell of depression that is blocking up your life. Goals need to be developed, followed by you gaining the amount of motivation needed to drive in your life.

Kevin Sinclair is the publisher and editor of Be Successful News, a site that provides information and articles on how to succeed in your own home or small business.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Kevin_Sinclair