4 Ways to Raise Prosperous Children

My son will be three and a half on July 14th.  We enrolled him in Karate lessons about a month ago.  Best choice made to date.  Some may think, "at 3 years old that is kind of a hard concept for them to grasp and takes a lot of hand-eye coordination skills, not to mention listening and patience."  Guess what?  Yes it does...and there's nothing wrong with that!  We love it...and for a 3 year old, perfect!  He does great too, and looks stinkin' cute!

His karate instructor, Master Culin, is outstanding.  Structured, positive, guiding, and most importantly, a true role-model.  He teaches many words of wisdom to parents about how to raise and prepare successful children that do take lessons for "life", that I thought would be nice to share with the world.

Decisions:  The sum total of everything we do in our lives.   "The true "self-defense" that we should teach our children should be summed up as giving our children the tools to make better "decisions" in their lives."

4 Ways to Raise Prosperous Children

True Knowledge from the Karate Master himself

Written in part by:  Mr. Joseph Culin, Chief Master Instructor, ACMA Certified

1.  Understand what "self-defense" is to teach our children how to defend themselves in life.  "Real self-defense is protecting our kid against potential hazards that happen daily."  Below are several types of self-defense we need to monitor and equip our children with the knowledge to keep them safer in life.

* Drug self-defense
* Alcohol self-defense
* Bully self-defense
* Tobacco self-defense
* Emotional self-defense
* Peer-pressure self-defense
* Intimidation self-defense
* Procrastination self-defense
* Mediocrity self-defense
* Physical self-defense
* And the list goes on and on...

2.  The power of forced habits!  Good or bad, beginning at birth, habits are forced on us.  Such as brushing our teeth, not talking to strangers, or eating good food.  When you are forced into a habit, it sticks with you. We have to "make a habit of safety."  "It is important to take the time to instill new habits that our children will have for life."  I love this quote Master Culin says in his Karate booklet about forcing our kids into good habits.  He quotes:

"When I was younger, I didn't want to go to swim lessons and threw a tantrum.  My mom literally had to restrain me in the car.  She FORCED me to learn this new habit and not give in to my complaints.  Her brilliant words:  "LISTEN YOUNG MAN, I ALMOST DROWNED SO I AM MAKING YOU GO TO YOUR SWIM LESSON.  YOU WILL THANK ME SOME DAY. NOW, I CAN BE YOUR FRIEND OR I CAN BE YOUR PARENT.  I CHOOSE TO BE YOUR PARENT AND MAKE YOU GO. HOWEVER, WHEN YOU ARE 20, 30, AND 40 YEARS OLD, WE'LL HAVE PLENTY OF TIME TO BE FRIENDS."

Genius words I think.

3.  "Successful people do things that the unsuccessful people won't!  Most people go home at night, turn on the TV and engaged in activities that don't help shape their futures.  They engaged in TENSION RELIEVING rather than GOAL SETTING activities."  Teach your child to have a goal, do it, and stick with it beginning at an early age.  Like 3, going to Karate class!

4. Action is the key!  "Persistence on a worthy goal will bring opportunities in front of you, but it is ACTION that will pull them in your life and make them yours!"