Quit Screwing Up Your Kids

Here’s why I started doing Three Action Thursday. Our parents (in most cases), our education system, and our culture do NOT teach us ANYTHING about personal finance, relationships, and personal development. You almost have to SEEK IT OUT or DEMAND the knowledge. I personally believe that you have to challenge yourself in each discipline to live your best life.

3AT LOVES THE KIDS!!!

The focus of this Three Action Thursday piece is your kid(s) and my kids. Listen, I don’t have all the answers when it comes to raising children. However, there is one thing that I do know. I am NOT going to let the world, society, or even me neglect to give my kids the skills they need to thrive. The odds of each one of your children being exactly who they are is 400 Trillion to 1.

400 TRILLION!!!

They have already overcome the odds. Time to give them even better odds to live their “best life.” Being “a good parent” not only includes spending time with your kids, pushing your kids to get good grades, teaching them to be solid world citizens, limiting their screen time, and feeding them nutritiously. I honestly believe it also means we need to pump them full of skills in financial intelligence, in personal development techniques, and in building authentic relationships to deal with all types of people.

No matter what they become “when they grow up”, I believe to maximize their potential they’ll need a healthy curiosity to grow their skills in those three areas.

So here are a few ideas to start that process….

1. Play Cash Flow for Kids
2. Pump them full of content
3. 7 Habits Game

PERSONAL FINANCE

CASHFLOW For Kids is a board game designed to build financial literacy in children. It covers the principles of assets and liabilities in a way that is simple and fun. I think children from ages 6 to 11 would easily get value out of the game and have fun playing over and over again.

I’ve played the game numerous times with my children, and besides the quality time, it has also brought up some interesting questions and discussions regarding money. I don’t typically care for board games, but this is a quick play and doesn’t drag on and on and on like Monopoly or Life for example.

**Action: Buy the game, but more importantly set time aside to play it with your kids. **

PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT

Enough with the diaries of some wimpy kid, you need to pick up Way of the Warrior Kid. Way of the Warrior Kid is an illustrated chapter book by #1 New York Times-bestselling author and retired Navy SEAL Jocko Willink. The book is about a boy named Marc who over the course of the summer learns from his Navy Seal Uncle how to set goals and reach them. It’s a great book to read out loud to your kids and talk about life while you are doing it.

**Action: Buy the book or pick it up from your local library. Read it out loud with your kid(s) over the course of a week.**

RELATIONSHIP BUILDING

The 7 Habits of Happy Kids Game was created by Sean Covey, the author of the best-selling 7 Habits series including the 7 Habits of Healthy Kids. The game has you work your way around the board as a family, reading anecdotes together, sharing thoughtful, personal responses and listening to each other. It allows kids and adults to be vulnerable to one other and have a lot of fun too!

We have this game in our household too and it promotes together time and mutual respect and understanding. But I think the best part of the game is the positive social skills and character development opportunities the game provides.

**Action: The books are great, the game is awesome. Sean Covey has done a great job with his 7 Habits Series. Pick up a Covey product or two and go through it with your kids. **

Have a great week!

PS