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Two Things I Will Teach My Future Kids

Two things I will teach my future kids (Photo: Grant Benton/Unsplash)

I have very strong views on parenting. I know, I know…this is exactly what people want to hear from a non-parent.

And yet—IDGAF!

I’m not ashamed to say my parents did an awesome job raising us. And I had the unique perspective of being raised with Indian values in American culture.

From talking to millions of people who want to change their lives, I’ve started to think about how I’ll apply these insights to parenting one day.

Here are 2 things I will teach my future kids:

1. PERSEVERANCE: HOW TO FOLLOW THROUGH

This is one of the TOP FIVE PROBLEMS that people email me about. It’s unreal how many people just simply don’t follow through on anything they start. And they know it and hate themselves for it.

I have people who email me, telling me how tired they are of starting something and never following through. In the VERY SAME EMAIL, they pledge to “finally get it together” so I challenge them with a very small action step and tell them to email me back in exactly three days.

I never hear from them again.

I’ve spoken with thousands of these people. When they actually reply, the patterns are identical:

• They were smart as kids. They didn’t try very hard at school and still did well
• Parents complimented them for how smart/great they were
• Once they encountered real challenges (typically, college-level academics and the lack of structure of the real world), they began to fail
• Having never failed before and built coping skills, they panicked, got stuck, and here they are

You can find their stories here: How Do I Stop Being So Damn Lazy?

These people explained that they used to love how much “freedom” their parents gave them, but they now wish their parents had pushed them and forced them to learn the skill of discipline.

This is why I laugh when people tell me “all I want for my kids is for them to be happy.” Kids get happy eating five bags of Skittles. That doesn’t mean you feed it to them.

2. HEALTHY FOOD HABITS

When I talked to people about their eating habits, a shockingly high number told me that each meal is “like fighting with a demon” (real words from a reader).

They crave sugar, chips, or sweets. Sitting down to eat is like fighting a battle every day…for their entire lives.

In my experience, if you don’t get this right from early on, you are in for a lifetime of tough challenges.

And when you try to have one person stand up to an entire food-industrial complex that’s engineered to get you addicted to food, it’s no surprise that the majority of Americans are overweight. It’s also no surprise that we have poor energy, sleep badly, and (to my earlier point about building the skill of discipline), we look for quick fixes.

It’s even more frustrating that people are now using words like “genetics” and “metabolism” to justify their poor eating habits.

The amazing thing is, if you create good food habits from early on, all of this simply vanishes. There was an absolutely incredible post called “Thin women, how much effort do you put in to stay at that weight?”

Read the comments and notice that the people who are thin don’t see it as “effort” (automatic habits) while others see it as an incredible battle.

I always want to know what other people—like psychologists, doctors, professors, and CEOs—will teach their kids. So these are two of mine. You can agree or disagree, but I thought it would be interesting to share.

Let me know what you’re planning to teach your future kids one dad. Go and leave a comment below. I’m curious.

Ramit Sethi is a New York Times bestselling author and the founder of I Will Teach You To Be Rich and GrowthLab. He writes for over 1 million millennials every month. His personal finance and business advice has been featured in The Wall Street Journal, CNBC, FORTUNE, NPR, CNN and ABC. This article was originally published on I Will Teach You to be Rich as 2 things I will teach my future kids.

Make Money Writing Children's Books

If you possess a flair for writing, you can make easy money by penning children's books. Every family with children is constantly on the lookout for new books to use in teaching their children. Do not rush to the conclusion that books meant for children must be filled with stories. Any topic that generates interest in the mind of a child can be the focus of your book. This can range from religion to science to any field that you feel most comfortable or passionate writing about.

Plan and study various aspects of your book carefully in order to keep in tune with the mindset of a child. The cover design must be attractive, along with the fonts used in the book. Larger, bolder fonts are known to be more attractive to children. The layout of the book plays an integral role in capturing the attention of your young readers. If you need help getting ideas, plenty of templates can be found online. Or, you can visit the nearest bookstore and skim through some of the children's books they have in stock. It is not a good idea to copy the layout, however; when in doubt, it's best to consult professional graphic designers and illustrators. You also have to consider the fact that there are some parents who don't have enough time to go through the entire bookstore just to buy a single book for their kids. They would just pick up a book that has a great cover and inviting illustrations. You must really pay attention to details.

Parents are the ones buying the books for their kids, especially if the child is an infant or a toddler. When you are writing a children's book, you have to think as a child and a parent at the same time. Ask yourself this question: Would a mother buy this book for her 8-month-old baby (or whatever age group you are writing for)? If your answer is yes, continue with what you are doing. If your answer is no, you'd better think of a different plot or layout that would be attractive to a parent.

Interactive books like Touch and Feel and Pop-up books are very saleable to kids. These books are a little pricey to publish, but the profit is better compared to a regular children's book since you can sell them at a higher price. Touch and Feel books appeal to infants and toddlers. They are still not able to read but their interest is stimulated by the drawings and the 'touch' activities in the book. Parents would also prefer reading these kinds of books to their infants and toddlers. Pop-up books, on the other hand, are adored by children who can read, although these can still capture the attention of infants and toddlers.

The content that is presented within your book must capture the attention of parents and children alike. Put yourself in the shoes of a child and let your imagination run wild. The silliest of ideas have proven to be a hit with children. Children are not interested in current affairs - so refrain from attempting those story lines. If the writing is done with great passion and enthusiasm, money will naturally follow.

[http://www.Bookpal.com.au/] is helping self publishers all around the world to successfully self publish and market their books with cost effective solutions to create bestsellers. The website offers a free book for budding self publishers, and many other free resources.

Terence Tam is the founder of Bookpal, he previously spent 6 years as an academic and was a contributing author for several academic books. Frustrated with the level of service he was getting with traditional publishers, he set up his own self publishing company to help other authors publish and market books with cost effective yet efficient solutions

Article Source: https://EzineArticles.com/expert/Terence_Tam/73284