3 Secrets To Raising A Happy Child

3 Secrets To Raising A Happy Child

By Vikas Malkani

Founder of SoulKids®

Raising happy children is the goal of every parent. Children are naturally drawn towards happiness, and as parents, we must understand what it takes to nurture and raise a happy child.

Here are my top 3 secrets to raising a happy child.

1.    Feed their self-confidence

As parents, it is our responsibility to raise our child’s sense of self-esteem so high that nothing or no one can break it.

Boost their confidence by always encouraging them to try new things. Appreciate their efforts not just the results. Support their interests, desires and strengths. Encourage them to do more of the things they are naturally good at. This provides a positive reinforcement and helps them grow in confidence; it also strengthens them to produce positive results in their endeavors.

Make sure that you do not compare them with others. Comparisons with peers devalues their self-confidence and also affects their inner beliefs.

2.    Make your home a positive one

Children learn more by imitation than by instruction. Be aware of your words, actions and behavior and keep them positive, as your children are watching you constantly.

Engage in fun activities together. Develop a positive and happy mindset yourself so they learn by watching you.

Let them see you making mistakes, learning from it and moving forward. Encourage open communication so they know they can always come to you for guidance and not be judged.

3.    Inspire, don’t perspire your children

Motivate children, don’t dictate to them. Acknowledge and reinforce good work and behavior. Notice them doing things right, don’t just catch them doing things wrong.

Encourage them to make small efforts and support them. It is always the small victories that lead to greater ones.

Children learn best through positive and constructive feedback. Remember failure has a purpose too – it shows you what you need to work on. Help them develop this growth mindset.

The award winning SoulKids® programs are designed to give children the life-skills they need to create their own happiness and success.

At SoulKids, children learn skills such as resilience, emotional intelligence, teamwork, personal leadership, creative problem solving and more in a fun and engaging environment. They always leave happy, excited, positive and wanting more.

We offer group programs for different age groups and also offer one-on-one coaching to provide specific help and guidance for your child.

Click here to see SoulKids program dates and register http://www.soulkids.org/events

Vikas Malkani is an authority on personal development, happiness and success. He has coached CEO’s, Hollywood Stars, Royalty, Sports Champions and more…

SoulKids is an award winning life skills program that makes children future-ready by teaching them leadership, resilience, emotional intelligence, teamwork and more.

Find out more about SoulKids programs and one-on-one coaching here www.soulkids.org or email us at info@soulcentre.org

How to stay calm in the storm...

8 powerful strategies to swim while others are sinking

The storm is all around us. Stock-markets plunge, economies around the world go into a tail-spin, and thousands lose their jobs and their livelihood. Relationships break up under the stress, divorce rates shoot up and millions across the world slide into debt for years to come. News of doom and gloom is the flavour of the day, every day. Everywhere you look, un-certainty and in-stability reigns.

How do we handle this storm that has come upon us? How do we stay centred even as the world shakes? How do we swim while others are sinking?

Here are 8 focused qualities that are powerful solutions to a time of crisis, guaranteed to keep you calm in the storm of life.

1. Have a willingness to make and follow hard choices  Crisis forces you to take a realistic look at the bigger picture of your life and make some hard choices to move forward. Be willing to do this rather than resist it. Make difficult choices if you need to and demonstrate a whatever-it-takes attitude. Remember, it takes less energy to get an unpleasant task done “right now” than to worry about it all day.
2. Have a personal vision  Having a personal goal of getting out of the crisis, as it will become the light that guides you forward. A goal will motivate you and make it easier to take corrective measures while having no goal will just make you drift and lose direction through the crisis. Goals give you power. Choose not to waste your precious present life on guilt about the past or concern for the future.
3. Set a clear strategy  To reach the goal, plan a clear strategy, and communicate it to others who are a part of it. Plan your journey forward and walk the plan. It is a truth that if you fail to plan, you plan to fail. Simplify your life!  Start eliminating the trivial things.  Also  don't major in minor things. Eliminate unnecessary commitments.
4. Be persistent  Probably the key quality to coming out of crisis is persistence  a determined mind that just never gives up. Once your mind is set, stick to your target with Crab-like persistence, changing only if a better way shows itself. Practice consciously doing one thing at a time, keeping your mind focused on the present.
5. Capitalize on opportunity  There is good even in the worst of times. Identify this by looking deeply at how you can benefit in the long term from the current crisis. Be quick to spot opportunity and to seize it to your advantage. Warren Buffet, the world's best performing investor, is famously known for making his greatest and largest purchases at a time of crisis when everyone else is selling. Welcome change as an opportunity and challenge to learn and grow
6. Be patient  Be willing to wait for the reward of your efforts. Believe that the strong man is a patient man. A crisis has little flexibility for the impatient or the irritable. Take time to be alone on a regular basis, to listen to your heart, check your intentions; re-evaluate your goals and your activities. If your schedule is busy, prioritise your activities and do the most important ones first.
7. Follow your vision with constant and constructive action  Take positive and persistent action on a regular basis. Even if the results are not fast to come, trudge on ahead towards your goal. Take baby steps if you have to, but whatever you do, make sure you are moving ahead all the time. The direction you are going in is important, not the speed. Plan to do something each day that takes you one step forward.
8. Stay optimistic  The night is darkest before the dawn breaks. Behind every dark cloud is a silver lining. The sun shines even when the clouds cover it. The dark night leads to sunrise and the day will end in darkness. Be aware of the larger movements and rhythms of life and stay optimistic even as you go through this time of chaos and crisis. You are bigger than it, and this is not the end of your life; it is just a comma in the sentence of your life, not the full stop. Having a positive mind-set is the greatest asset you can have in a time of inner or outer crisis.