Prep Your Family For Success : Every parent wants their family to thrive, but in order to do so, proactive measures must be taken. By following these 10 tips you can ensure that your family is on track and on its way toward their goals – from creating routines to encouraging communication and practicing self-care, these 10 tips can help establish strong foundations while creating healthy, fulfilling lifestyles for you all. By giving your children access to tools necessary for reaching their fullest potential and having a fulfilling life!
1. Act As Though We Mean It Now.
Jesus told a striking parable about a man who dedicated every waking hour to saving for the future and building ever-larger sheds for all his belongings, only to lose vision 20 years into the future. By acting now with serious intent and keeping our promises, we will lay down an excellent foundation for years ahead.
2. Work On Your Equilibrium.
Work toward your equilibrium.evit The smart choice is not running to the store just before breakfast for milk; today’s living requires adequate planning for tomorrow; family obligations need to be balanced against earning an income; it won’t find its own equilibrium without effort from you!
3. Every Month, Spend Less Than You Earn.
Debt relief is like building a wall out of dry sand; more than half of each shovel load of material goes untapped. First, manage your expenses. Second, settle any loans. Keep in mind that more interest will accrue than savings will accrue; now is the time to build for tomorrow!
4. Put Your Money Into Your Children.
Here’s the math (don’t worry; it’s simple!). Neglecting your five-year-old for two years equals 40% of their life. But if you turn things around now, by the time they turn 10, he/she could become one of the world’s finest fathers! Each passing year deepens our relationships further – like daily compounded negative interest! Now is the time to be an amazing father; 20 years from now you will recoup your investment exponentially!
5. Make The Difficult Decisions Today.
Instead of saying, “I’ll spend more time with my children next year…” take action now! Start family time together now.
Instead of waiting to address your distanced relationship with your wife until school starts…, address it now before any irreparable damage has been done.
Do not postpone making decisions now; rather, face them now and tackle them head on. Instead of telling yourself that “we’ll take care of us, the budget and priorities after they leave for college…”, act now and bite the bullet.
6. Express How Much You Adore Your Wife.
Too often parents neglect one another in favor of their children – an unfortunate mistake. Your greatest gift to your children now should be to show love for their mother; if you’re divorced, treat her with respect and support. No matter their ages now, in 20 years’ time they will all be young adults requiring support and love from both sides to thrive into adulthood.
7. Create Memories That Will Make You Happy
This step follows directly on from 1-5 above. In 20 years’ time, our family may or may not live here, at our present economic level or physical condition – but these memories will stay with them!
8. Never Give Up (No Ordinary Family).
Ordinary families experience challenges. Struggle is part of life, yet every family’s journey may differ significantly from average. How we respond to hardship has an enormous effect on how the family will look in 20 years’ time; our children learn by witnessing us uphold fidelity as part of life itself. This provides invaluable instruction.
9. Always Have Faith.
Family relationships are built on promises, so trusting the power and worth of those promises is central to living a full and light-filled life. Unfortunately, belief doesn’t remain static–it must be worked at regularly and deliberately in order to sustain its power over time.
10. Re-learn How To Read A Clock..
Analog or digital? 24 hour? Greenwich Mean Time or none of these? Chronological time can be tricky to navigate; neither family time nor romantic relationships make this any simpler; time always moves more quickly between these contexts than elsewhere, never being an effective replacement for now.
Image Credit : How to Foster a Healthy Relationship with an Introvert Partner