Top life skills tips for success

Top tips from our staff on how to be a success. 

Etiquette/Social Skills

Sandi MacCalla, Certified Etiquette Consultant – Etiquette For You:

• One of the three consistent etiquette practices of self-made millionaires is to send hand-written Thank You Notes when someone has done something special, provided a gift or simply been kind and/or gracious. They come across more authentically when done within 24-48 hours of the event and when the recipient shares how the other person’s actions made them feel.
• When someone else makes a social mistake, it is not our responsibility to correct them – ever. It is, however, our personal responsibility to model appropriate behavior and kindness.

Financial Skills

Kelsey Curtis, Owner – Next Gen Financial Literacy:

• Saving is a habit, like brushing your teeth.
• Having a plan for your money is essential for success. Without a map, you will never know where you want to go.

Mindfulness

Barbara Badolati, CEO – Live Blissful:

Jon Kabat-Zinn, a leading expert in Mindfulness, describes it as: “Paying attention in a particular way, on-purpose, in the present moment and non-judgmentally.”

How to try it:

• Notice the sensation you feel in your body right now.
• Notice your surroundings. Look around. Move your head and eyes. What are the shapes, colors and objects you see. What are your thoughts about what you see?
• Notice your breathe right now. How long is the inhale? How long is the exhale? Do you feel a temperature? If so, is the temperature the same on both the inhale and exhale or is there a difference? How long can you focus on your breathing before you start focusing on something else? Are you aware of this change of focus without judgement and can you bring your attention back to your breathing?

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Practice mindfulness day by day, moment by moment. Like any new skill, practice becomes easier and natural. The benefits are extraordinary; to name a few: more creative problem-solving, increased appreciation, calmness, expanding your perspective. You’ve already had a “mindful” presence moments throughout your life and more is available, with practice.

Nutrition

Erika Speirs, Board Certified in Holistic Nutrition – NourishMe:

• Our job as parents is to provide nourishing, wholesome foods at mealtimes. Our child’s job is to choose which of it and how much of it they’d like to eat. By selecting which of the prepared foods they’d like to enjoy, they aren’t feeling forced and therefor aren’t creating a negative association with that food. When our children serve themselves, it allows them to check in with their body and learn to listen to their own appetite cues. Reassure them that they may always go back for seconds if they’d like. Meanwhile, we can model healthful eating by expressing enjoyment as we taste the variety of foods served at mealtime. Our children are most likely to learn to enjoy a food by watching others enjoy it, instead of being forced to eat it.
• We should never force our children to finish their plates or eat a certain food so that they may have dessert. This habit can have several negative effects:
  • It creates a negative association with the food being forced on them.
  • It teaches a child that sweet treats hold more value than all other foods.
  • It can often cause a child to overeat. If the dessert is a nourishing, wholesome food (like fresh fruit with lightly sweetened whipped cream) then your child is still getting some valuable nutrients and there is no need to force your child to eat the “healthy green stuff” to get the tantalizing sweet treat.

Maria Luchsinger, Teacher & Author – www.SammytheCentipede.com:

• The American Heart Association recommends no more than 6 teaspoons of added sugar per day for children between the ages of 2 and 18. American children consume three times that much on average. Four grams of sugar is equal to one teaspoon, so you can look at the packaging of foods to see how much sugar has been added before you purchase.
• Making regular exercise a family affair will reap the added reward of family bonding that comes with spending time together. Take turns picking activities that your family enjoys.

Personal Organization

Elisa Hawkinson, Organizing Skills for Life’s Road Trip – How 2 Get Organized

• Think what our bodies would be like without any bones. We’d be a puddle on the floor. We need structure in our life, called organizing, to live successfully.
• What would our life look like if we were an arrow pointing at a target, but we don’t aim high enough to come close to even hitting the center? How successful would we be in reaching our goal if we even had one?

Public Speaking

Susan Naranjo-Stultz, Founder/Director – Grasshopper Enrichment Education LLC

• To promote confidence in children to speak in public, have your child start to interact with people at stores and restaurants. Have them order for themselves, ask questions for a purchase and pay for an item on their own. If your child is asked a question, let them answer it, even if they hold back. Although it can be heart-wrenching to not jump in and rescue them, don’t. Wait and the silence will prompt an eventual answer. Then praise them for their effort. As confidence begins to build, give them larger opportunities:
  • Asking the concierge at a hotel for dinner recommendations
  • Asking salespeople questions to determine which product to buy
  • Asking employees where to find a particular product at the grocery store, etc.Growing speaking confidence happens through risk and practice.
• Why start to learn public speaking so early? Consider these three reasons.
  • If young people start practicing early in life, public speaking will get easier. Many adults are scared of presenting in public. In fact, adults in the U.S. report it is their number one fear. With practice and coaching, children gain the confidence and the skills to help them make successful beginning speeches.
  • Those who speak well publicly will be in a position to lead. Most likely, kids eventually will be in situations where the ability to speak effectively in public will be beneficial. Whether at school, work, church or a social situation, those who can present their ideas in an engaging manner are more likely to become leaders.
  • As people change jobs more frequently, they need to constantly present their skills. Young people change jobs often—an average of four times in the first decade after college. They will need a personal brand and story, honed and ready to share, to market themselves to continually land new positions.

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