Kids Success: Using Your Child’s Imagination to be Successful

Following on with our theme on Goal Setting, Children and The Law of Attraction, here is an area where you as an adult may indeed learn from your own kids.

Visualization is a tool that many of the world’s top athletes use with great success, so why not show your kids how to use this method to achieve their own goals?

And as you begin teaching them how to visualize, you will probably be completely blown away by how good they are at it, and more than likely, you will end up learning from them.

Keep reading to find out how your child’s imagination could be the key to their success in life.
(Image Creative Commons Licence: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/ )

If you are excited about the Law of Attraction and how consciously applying it betters your life, you’ve probably wondered if this is something you could teach to your child. What is the right age for kids to learn this principle, and the wonderful practice of visualization?

A child can be taught to visualize as early as age 4 or 5, and the Law of Attraction can be understood by some kids at that age while others will better comprehend it at age 7 or 8. Intellectually understanding how the law works takes a certain level of cognitive development, but intuitive understanding it is possible at a much earlier age. This is why a very young child can visualize, and be practicing the Law of Attraction with great success, long before they can pronounce the term or explain it in words.

And of course, explaining it isn’t as important as living it. Visualization, the key strategy at the heart of LOA, is a skill that kids take to like ducks to water. In fact, learning to visualize is much easier for children than for most adults. That’s because visualization operates on the principle of imagining, and children imagine all day long. It’s a skill they are born with, and one they tend to forget as they grow up. That’s why it’s important to teach them the power of visualization while they are young enough to imagine spontaneously.

If you teach them that skill early, they become established in it and confident of their ability to make their wishes come true years before the world tries to talk them out of the importance of imagining. Having experience with the creative power of their mind through visualization, they will be resilient to influences that tell them imagining is frivolous.

If you aren’t confident of your own ability to explain the concept of Law of Attraction and to guide your child through the steps of visualizing, get a good children’s book on the subject and give it to your child. Review it yourself first, so you can answer basic questions as your child works through the process.

Don’t think you have to be an expert with all the answers before you can share what you know about visualization with your little one. You can learn together, mastering the fine points and sharing your successes. Because of your child’s natural ability to imagine, you may very well find that much of the time your child is teaching you.

The important thing is to make a start, to make a commitment to convey this most important knowledge that empowers your child to create her life and reality through her own conscious choice. It is one of the greatest gifts you can give your child, and it will bless her life forever.

You will find all this and much more info in our new program -

“Go for Your Goals – for Kids”

Five Reasons Why Success Plans Often Fail

Goal Setting: How to Tweak Your Strategies for Better Results

Are you a positive, goal-oriented person who would like a bit more success with your goal-setting strategies? Here are five ways success plans sometimes fall short, and how you can tweak your own plan for better results.

1) Vaguely defined goals and/or strategies If you want to get to New York from Chicago, you could probably get there by climbing in the car and simply starting to drive, but you’ll get there faster and more comfortably if you plan the trip, have daily destinations along the way, and bring a roadmap with you. It isn’t enough to make something your goal. You have to define the steps that will get you there.

So often we set goals like “I will lose 25 pounds,” then can’t understand why we put on 5 instead. We do better if we plan the steps, such as lose 2 pounds a week, exercise at the gym twice a week, and have a daily intake of so many calories. These steps are our strategies. Having a goal without clearly defined strategies is like driving around the Midwest countryside hoping you’ll stumble upon New York.

Solution: Break your goal down into the practical steps or strategies you must take to reach it. Write these strategies out in clearly defined, measurable terms. Rather than “I won’t work late as much,” write “On Tuesdays and Thursdays until June 1st, I will leave the office by 5:10 p.m.”

2) A reluctant commitment With or without strategies, if you don’t want a goal enough to commit to doing what it takes to achieve it, chances are you’ll drop out before you reach your target. Motivation is extremely important. Think about the times you’ve wanted something with every fiber of your being. Didn’t you find it easy to stick to your goal plan and didn’t you achieve your desired outcome?

Solution: Pick goals you’re strongly committed to. If you really don’t want to start that workout regimen yet, don’t create a goal program for it. Doing so before you’re ready will only lead to failure, which will make it yet harder to get started with the regimen, because you’ll have your added guilt to contend with. If you know you ought to do something, and find yourself resisting, ask your subconscious mind to reveal to you the attitude that prevents your moving forward. Then look at that thought.

3) Forgetting to make it fun When goal setting programs are too arduous, we balk at implementing them. Doing the work required to reach a goal isn’t typically easy, so making the process as enjoyable as possible is part of achieving success. Intrinsic motivation goes a long way in helping, but rewards and celebrations for milestones are needed, too. Having a reward to look forward to keeps us going when the goal looks far off, or when our commitment flags due to physical and emotional fluctuations.

Solution: Make fun a major consideration of your goal-setting program. If you know you need to exercise five times a week to reach a weight goal, for instance, you’ll have a better chance of sticking with your weight loss plan if your strategies involve exercise activities you find fun instead of the kind you abhor. Structure rewards and celebrations for milestones of progress right into your goal plan. The boost to your enthusiasm that celebrating gives will get you over your rough spots. Rewards need to be planned and specific, so you can look forward to them as self-promises. It’s the looking forward that is motivating.

4) Neglecting to track your progress As you move toward a goal, it’s important to track your daily or weekly progress (for longer goals, your monthly or yearly progress as well). This keeps us accountable so we don’t “cheat” and lie to ourselves. It also provides motivation, as we see a visual record of our progress. Without motivation and positive reinforcement, it’s easier to give up on goals than to keep working toward them.

Solution: Make a chart that measures your progress. Post it inside your closet door, on the wall of your bedroom, or inside your personal planner. Record all the times you perform the strategies you’ve committed to at the time you resolved to perform them. If you find you’re repeatedly failing to do a strategy, take a look at it to see why. If the strategy needs tweaking to be workable, just tweak it. It’s natural for strategies to need adjustment as you move toward your goal.

5) Expecting too much of strategizing Unlike visualizing, which can be applied to any goal, strategizing is only appropriate for some goals. In visualizing, a person can ask the universe to create most anything, but strategizing only works for some things. When we goal-set for targets we have no material control over, strategizing becomes interfering or manipulation, and we set ourselves up for disappointment and resistance.

Solution: If you’re having trouble moving toward a goal, rather than berating yourself, consider whether the goal or strategies could be at fault. Is this goal something you really want and that’s good for you to have? Is it also good for other people, or are there those who don’t want you to succeed? Are your strategies effective in moving you toward your goal or did you conceive them before you had knowledge of what is really needed to reach this target? Getting down on yourself makes no sense if the reason you’re not having more success has to do with answers to these questions. Adjust your goal or strategies to be realistic, and you’ll be back on the path of progress and enjoyment.

Goal setting is a skill, and like any skill it takes practice to be done smoothly. Learn from your experiences in goal setting so far, and adapt your efforts to your growing understanding.

And pat yourself on the back for your tenacity! Those who stick around long enough to learn a thing become the experts. That’s going to be you.

If you'd like more information about Goal Setting there are a number of articles and tools on one of my other websites - www.4lifeselfhelp.com

Download our free Goal Setting Ebook - '7 Pointers to Goal Setting Success'

Why Your Kids need to Learn Goal Setting

Good parenting is a task fraught with responsibilities. In between all the bustle, we sometimes come up for air long enough to ask ourselves, “Just what do I need to be teaching my child?” Because of course it isn’t enough to cook, clean and chauffeur. We need to pass on values and skills that will help our kids lives happy and successful lives, both now and as adults.

One of the skills that children need to learn somewhere along the road of life is goal setting: how to turn a vague desire into a committed ambition and how to then take action that will achieve their dream. Imagine if you had this kind of success training as a young person, how different your life would be today. So many adults meander through life, wishing for this thing and that, never understanding the principles that turn a wish into a goal that then can be achieved and experienced. Without the skill of goal setting, so many things we could have had slip right through our fingers.

That’s why kids need to learn how to set a goal, how to create strategies to reach it, how to make a commitment to their dream, the importance of rewarding themselves along the way, and how to track their own progress. When kids learn these techniques as steps toward achieving something they genuinely want to work for, they not only attain the object they desired but they learn the skills of success in the process. They then carry those skills in their experience bank, to be drawn on next time they want to achieve anything.

Success, for kids or adults, is not a random occurrence. It is had by applying principles that successful people have used as their own personal guiding stars down through the ages. Children need success tools as greatly as any coping tools we can teach them. Learning how to goal-set can make the difference between a random life for children in their adult years versus a focused and fulfilled one.

25 Fun things to do with your kids. (That are free or cost very little)

Do you spend enough time Playing with your Child?




Many people’s lifestyles are so hectic that they seem to either run out of time, or forget how to connect with their children. Here is a reminder of how important it really is to play with your child, and some fantastic, fun and simple activities you can do together.

In these busy times, when parents and children have schedules packed to the max, family closeness can fall by the wayside. Most of us have to make an effort to guarantee that work, school, sports, and chores don’t swallow up the very relationships that make those things important.

When is the last time you played or goofed around with your child? Can you remember back that far? Many parents can’t. Life has made us so serious, so focused, that we’ve lost the joy of the simple things, and play was one of the first to go.

But as any child instinctively knows, play is essential to life. It brightens the heart and lightens the spirit. For kids, who live closer than we do to nature, play is as spontaneous as breathing. Sadly, most grown-ups have lost that skill. Our children can be our refresher course.

Playing with your child brings you back to the present, reminds you of what matters, and slows you down long enough to smell the roses. It also connects you emotionally with your child, rebuilding the closeness that the fast-paced, boring routines of life are all too quick to strip away.

Playing together is even more important for your child than it is for you, because she needs to feel close to you to feel loved and happy. If you’ve neglected time together for long enough, it may appear that your child isn’t interested in your attentions. She may even tell you as much. But that’s just bluster, hiding the fear that you will disappoint her again if she lets herself wish for time alone with you. If you initiate playing together, and do it at frequent intervals, even the most aloof pre-teen will start to look forward to it and, in time, throw herself into the fun.

What kind of playing should you do? Pay attention to the activities your child engages in: his idea of enjoyment. If these things seem boring to you, try hanging out nearby, observing as he does them, with words that express your curiosity. You just may find you actually develop a genuine interest. If your child is a couch potato, take up your perch on the couch beside him, but after you’re allowed “in,” initiate some play that might be more pleasant than TV.

Think back to what you did as a child that was memorable, especially activities you did with your parents that stay with you still. Think about things that are free or cost little, that involve experiencing life together. Start a list of ideas as they come, and add any of the following that you resonate with:

Here is my list of 25 Fun things to do with your kids. (That are free or cost very little)

• Raking stacks of autumn leaves, then jumping or rolling in them
• Taking a hike through the forest preserve
• Skating at the roller rink together
• Walking the dog, taking turns with the rope
• Reading comics or joke books together (or books of poetry or stories)
• Making cookies, pizza or a cake
• Building a fort out of snow or chairs and blankets
• Playing hide and seek, hide the thimble, cards or board games
• Lying on a blanket looking up at the stars
• Sitting in front of the wood stove in a dark room, telling stories
• Making shadow figures on the wall with your hands and a flashlight
• Having a treasure hunt
• Roasting marshmallows over a fire
• Watching a parade
• Going to the aquarium, zoo or museum
• Making and flying kites together
• Building something
• Making a scrapbook
• Making up a silly poem or song
• Watching a movie, with popcorn and no interruptions
• Playing a memory game, like “I’m going to Grandma’s house, and in my suitcase I’m going to pack …”
• Getting up early to watch the sunrise from a hill
• Playing games of pretend
• Going somewhere special, like the beach
• Having a pancake picnic in the snow

Playing together is different than finding entertaining activities for your child. Play involves you, while entertainment excuses you from the picture. If you find yourself saying, “But my schedule is too busy for any of the things on that list,” consider whether your schedule needs some pruning. After all, who’s going to remember in 20 years if you stay late at work or not next Tuesday? But will your child ever forget the Tuesday you ride the rollercoaster together?

Closeness with a child cannot be taken for granted. Like any other relationship, it will slip away unless it’s made a priority. Nothing builds trust and bonding with a child like sharing a moment of silliness and laughter. Come together for light-hearted play, and you just may find your child opens up about serious subjects. The relaxed atmosphere of play helps us let our guard down and reveal more of ourselves.

When you play together, let your child feel like the most important person in your world. Give him your undivided attention: no cell phones, no interruptions, no slipping into your own private thoughts. Be present – body, mind and spirit. Then let yourself do whatever comes naturally, with the abandon you felt when you yourself were a child. Your instincts will be your guide.

Growing closer through play is easy. It just takes dedicated moments, given on a fairly regular basis, so your child begins to count on having time with you.

Let your child re-teach you the wonderful secrets of play. You both will feel more secure and peaceful – and a whole lot happier, as the reason you do it all for, starts to come back to you.

Visualization: How to Tweak It for Better Results

Have you tried practicing visualization and applying the Law of Attraction but with less than stellar results?
Don’t be discouraged, because you are not alone. While the principles are simple, the practice of visualization is a skill, and like most skills, it sometimes takes a little study and “tweaking” until you get it.

Neville Goddard (or just “Neville” as he preferred to be called) was a 20th Century teacher of visualization who wrote an outstanding primer on the subject called The Law and the Promise. It’s an excellent place to start your study of effective visualization.

Neville taught that the biggest mistake people make when they visualize is failing to imagine from the perspective of the wish fulfilled. Instead they imagine from the perspective of their longing. For example, if you want a gold necklace, it does no good to imagine it sitting in the store window. You need to imagine wearing it on your neck. Imagining the object as something apart from you, as something you don’t already have, keeps the object forever in your future!

When you imagine your wish, do so as if it already has come true in your life. Close your eyes and let yourself feel all the joy and sensations you expect to feel when your dream actually manifests. Imagining in this way, says Neville, builds a bridge between ourselves and the object of desire. You could call it a wormhole in time, a channel through which the object can travel to reach us.

Until your desire manifests, imagine on it daily from a dreamy, drowsy state. The most effective times to visualize are when drifting off to sleep or in the twilight state as you are waking up. That’s because the Subconscious is most alert when the conscious mind is least active. Visualizing is dropping a wish into the Subconscious, which then goes to work to make the wish come true in the world.

Don’t put deadlines on your dream, or decide the means and schemes through which it will manifest. Leave the universe free to work out those details. Fall asleep happily on your wish every night, and in time it will manifest in your life.

Sometimes deep-held attitudes (such as low self-esteem, the belief that money is evil, or the belief that a certain illness can’t be cured) can temporarily block our ability to manifest a desire. If you’re visualizing something when you go to sleep at night, feeling excited about your dream, then find yourself during the day thinking, “What am I doing? This can never happen,” you’re victim of a subconscious blocking attitude.

When that doubting thought arises, slip away to somewhere quiet and ask your subconscious mind to tell you precisely why it feels that way. If you listen, it will reveal to you (then or as the day progresses) the long-held, subconscious belief that holds your current attitude of lack in place. Listen to the objection, consider its merit, then explain to your Subconscious why this old belief is not true (or is no longer true). Then re-state your wish as an affirmation, repeating it three times with focus (aloud is best). After that, resume your daily routine.

If doubtful mind-chatter starts up again, get quiet once more and ask why. Another layer of the onion of doubt will surface. Patiently consider the objection, and explain to yourself why it no longer holds, just as you did before. Keep doing this until all the objections are cleared and you can be in one piece about your goal. This will dissolve any personal blocks in the path of your desire coming true. When your conscious and subconscious minds align in the belief that a wish is good and attainable, no doubtful mind-chatter is left to stop the wheels of creation from delivering your dream to your door.

The universe is a magical place, and mind is the magician. Learn to visualize skillfully, and nothing will stop you from actualizing any golden imagined thing you intend to make real.

You Are an Artist

Whether you realize it or not, guess what? You're an artist.

Really. I know that may sound unbelievable; especially if you consider yourself to be un-artistic, or perhaps, you may even resent or dislike anything "artsy." However, regardless of your preferences, the fact remains that, yes, you are an artist.

And more so, you life itself is the painting, or sculpture, or whatever form of art you'd like to conjure up here. Your very being is an expression of art; and, naturally, what you do in the world -- how you engage the world, how you relate to other people, how you appreciate your very self -- are just ways that you continue with your artistic creation.

So from now on, don't look at your life as merely "something to be lived." View it as a form of ART that is, at every moment, an expression of how you are creating it.