If you believe that success in school usually leads to a better life for kids (and most parents do!), then it’s time to get a more precise strategy for managing the daily routines.
If you believe that success in school usually leads to a better life for kids (and most parents do!), then it’s time to get a more precise strategy for managing the daily routines.
On those days when all is going well, and you can’t help but smile at the world, I am sure you have found that the whole world does smile with you. Funny things happen without seeking them.
Is all this drama going to serve our children?
How do we motivate ourselves toward new tasks and activities that we know will serve us? Especially when these endeavors inevitably bring us challenges. And yet, it is through these challenging moments that we are given the opportunity to learn, grow, and evolve. Agreed?
Dopamine is the source of drive, motivation, desire, and wanting. When dopamine is compromised, we lose our drive and motivation. Yes, if hungry, we will still eat. We just won’t put much effort into eating well. Open the bag of chips, order a pizza, and we are still sitting on the sofa.
There are more toys, more gadgets, more clothes, more electronics, and more to do than most of us could even have imagined 20 years ago.
As kids get older and mature with a dysregulated set of behaviors and emotions, home life can get miserable. Equally important, the child’s life is on a trajectory of misery and struggle, and no one wants that for their child. Thus, we must think about what genuinely changes an out-of-control child and that brain that is causing such misery at home…
As a psychologist now focused primarily on changing brains in measurable ways using Neurofeedback, I get calls weekly from parents or adults asking about the impact of Neurofeedback on distractibility, attentional problems, focusing issues, and over-activity.
Leaders nurture a positive vision and keep their focus there. Children need parents who have a vision of just how good the family can be.
Go the other way. Seek growth over comfort. Do: Don’t talk about doing. Practice good ideas rather than forgetting them. Write down all the good stuff, so you can cherish all that you have the good fortune to experience. Allow life to share some of its abnormally sweet rewards with you.
For you, how many times have you sought out good information and then ignored it? You listened to an inspiring Ted talk and then forgot about it by bedtime.
Let’s consider giving and gratitude. The very act of giving, when offered without hope for reward or return, brings fascinating benefit. Even when feeling some ‘lack’ in our lives, these moments of giving yield a reward of immense gratitude, instantly and automatically. It just flows into us with overwhelming feelings of warmth and appreciation.