How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world.
Anne Frank
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As the year is ending, I would like to thank you for your support and interest in my thoughts and content. May the new year bring you joy and lots of new inspiration.
One thought stuck to my mind during the past days and I want to share it with you. It can be a key differentiator for success and general life satisfaction.
It is never too late to learn, grow, and practice. Still, let’s use our power to help children establish some good and important mindsets and habits as early as possible.
Be a role model and teach your children (or those people around you) to live an active life.
It makes such a difference in life satisfaction if you are capable of maintaining a proactive mindset.
No matter the circumstances, you can always either do something or change something. And if you truly cannot, then the active part is to find a way to successfully cope with the situation you are in.
The earlier a human being gets to practice proactivity, the easier this habit will be throughout life.
Children can practice by being active in one of their hobbies. A hobby which is important to them and not because someone else wants them to do it. It does not necessarily have to be a success in sports or anything appreciated by society. It could be something "irrelevant" like building a napkin collection. If the child loved it and was active about finding as many different napkins as possible, maybe even including reaching out to other people to ask them for their support or a napkin, that would do the job. Remember that it is not about pleasing or impressing others, but only about being proactive and owning a passion.
Another option is to organize one’s daily life as self-responsibly as possible. Depending on the age, the children could take care of their wardrobe and organize their daily outfit. Or make sure that they get up and go to bed at the agreed time.
Or they could be taking care of a pet. They would not only caress the pet, but also take care of the poop every single day. And I truly mean every single day. Not just for a week or a month.
For some children it is also useful to have an area where they have the responsibility for themselves or the family. Getting alone to the grandparents‘ house without any help. Or walking to the bakery every Sunday to buy bread rolls for the family by 9 a.m. without needing a reminder.
These are just random examples to give you an idea of what activity could look like.
It is not important whether the hobby or chore remains the same over many years or if the child prefers to switch and try different things.
It is much more about experiencing that life changes with every action. Leaving the feeling of, I can do something and see a changed situation afterwards, for the child.
By the way, the benefit won’t only come for the individual child, but for society in general. An active human being will know that they can do something for a bigger group in the same manner. They will choose an active role in their class, at work, or in other groups. They will voluntarily take over tasks and responsibility that influence our communities positively.
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