9 Character Traits That Your Kids Need Your Help to Develop: Hypnosis for Kids
9 Character Traits That Your Kids Need Your Help to Develop
Think about your childhood hero. What made you look up to them so much? Were they beautiful, successful, witty? Did you want to be just like them? But no matter how you tried to be like your hero, you are still yourself. This is not a bad thing. In fact, it’s a great thing. There’s no one else just like you.
There are personality traits that can help make your life easier, happier and even healthier. I’ll bet your childhood hero had many of these traits, right? How would you describe them? Could you develop some of those same traits that made them so successful and admirable?
Your children have heroes, too. Think about the personalities of their heroes. Do they have charactersistics that you would like to see your child develop?
Developing these traits will support happiness and success:
1) You can predict someone’s success by their ability to persevere.
If your child gives up easily, she’s going to struggle in life. Perseverance, the ability to stick with it, also promotes stability and consistent progress. Teach your child to deal with emotional discomfort and obstacles. There are few characteristics that are more valuable. If you are struggling showing your child how to stick with it, ask for support and help. Your local church, your child’s teacher and even your local hypnotherapist, me, can give you support.
2) You probably have at least one friend that’s unreliable.
You never know for certain if they’re going to keep their word. They’re either forgetful or have a million and one excuses that you know aren’t true. Be a reliable and trustworthy person. Teach your child to keep his word and admit his mistakes. I hear too many children in my practice say, “I don’t want to get in trouble.”
You can play the What If Game with your child. That’s where he says something like, “I might get in trouble.”
You ask, “What if you did?” Let them describe what that trouble would look like. Ask him how he would feel if that were to happen. He might say that he would be embarrassed.
Then ask again, “So, what if you were embarrassed?”
Keep it going until there are no more answers and the original question now just seems silly. This game can break down most any objection to standing up for yourself.
3) Good things frequently happen if you expect them to happen.
When you expect the worst, you often receive the worst. Optimism is good for your mental health and is attractive to others. Teach your child to keep a positive mental attitude no matter what she faces. Ask her, “What’s the best that can happen in this situation?” Show her by your own actions that embracing the positive is a healthy way to live.
4) Teach your child to be proactive.
So many of life’s challenges can be avoided easily. When your car has 200,000 miles, it’s going to break down sooner rather than later. If your company continues to have poor financial results, people are going to be fired. The writing is often on the wall. You can avoid challenges instead of reacting to them. Your child can do the same.
My son struggled in first grade when the teacher encouraged a lot of independent study. He really liked her but that was not his study style. With a more traditional teacher the following year, he flourished. My son needed structure. What we learned was to be proactive about the type of teacher he needed. But I also learned to teach my son to be proactive. I discussed with him how I noticed his particular study style. I told him how to use this knowledge in the future for his own success. It was the start of the life lesson of noticing your strengths and weaknesses and being proactive to meet your needs.
5) A little courage can change your life.
It’s amazing how kind the universe is to those willing to stick their neck out just a little. A 5% increase in courage can double your results. In this day of bullying and competition, our kids need to learn to assert themselves a bit so as to avoid being a victim. I’m not saying to be rude or confrontational. I’m saying to be assertive. Teach him to stand up in a strong posture, to make eye contact when speaking and think on his feet. And when you have the courage to try new things, really wonderful things can come to you.
6) Self-discipline.
There are things in life that are unenjoyable, but necessary, like homework and household chores. If it needs to be done, have the self-discipline to get it done. You’ll pay the price sooner or later if you don’t. If things like chores and homework seem like huge chores too big to even be started, you can teach your child that they really aren’t as big a problem as they seem. She sees these things of something that will spoil her whole week or even life. But you can show her how to do chores swiftly and take really big jobs and break them into smaller parts. Once she has allowed self-discipline to make unenjoyable tasks just part of her day, she’ll be successful at whatever task she sets her mind to.
7) Give to others.
When you’re willing to give part of your time, money, and attention to others, you receive even more in return . Others appreciate your help and will return the favor when you need it the most. You’ll also feel good about yourself and acquire new allies. Be generous when you can. This is a skill you can show your child. When we give, we feel good. Someday you will need help and someone will be there to help you. Your son can teach another child a skill he’s good at. He can help a neighbor or a relative. Maybe he’ll collect donations for a charity he believes in. Being a giving person can teach him to interact with many different kinds of people and appreciate what he has.
8) Learn something new every day.
Always be acquiring new information and skills. It’s one of the few ways to increase your value to the world. The more you learn, the more you can impact the world. Your child may decide they dislike school subjects at some point, most of us do. He needs to know that you are in favor of lifelong learning and that means you expect him to use his abilities in school. But also encourage learning everywhere. This can be in your kitchen, while you cook together, when you are on vacation, or even just out doing errands. Include learning in your life, your child will benefit.
9) Learn to forgive.
No one is perfect 24/7 and no one can live up to your expectations every minute of the day. Forgiving others is kind and good for you. Holding a grudge is uncomfortable and serves no purpose. Forgiving doesn’t always mean giving the other person a second chance to mistreat you. It means that you no longer expend emotional energy on the situation. Forgiving doesn’t absolve the other person from what they did nor does it make what happened right. But holding in the pain is like taking poison yourself when you wish to harm the other person; you’re the only one that suffers.
You can teach your child that forgiving lifts the emotional poison within. Allowing a grievance to fester will come out in your physical body at some point. Do you know someone who lived with hate or a grudge all their life, and became old before their time because of chronic pain or disease? Working through those feelings will protect your mental and physical health. Teach your child the power of forgiveness.
If you are finding this concept hard to put into practice, come for hypnotherapy. I can help you with those unresolved feelings. I work doing private sessions in person or by webcam online. We can put those feelings to rest for you or your child.
Make a master list of the character traits you need to be happy, successful, and proud of yourself.
Take a personal inventory of these qualities and see how many you already possess. What additional character traits would you like to develop? Humility? Tolerance? Curiosity? Give these traits the time and attention needed to develop them fully. Be an example to your child and teach her to be a whole and healthy person, emotionally, physically and spiritually.
About the Author Angie J. Hernandez, C.Ht.
A graduate of the Hypnosis Motivation Institute, Angie J. Hernandez, C.Ht., has her private practice in Milford, Indiana. She is certified in hypnotherapy by the Hypnotherapist's Union Local 472. Angie is the author of "Weight Loss Epiphany: The Workbook", "Charlie's Cuddly Animals for Little Geniuses" and "Weight Loss Hypnosis: Lose Weight with Hypnosis Scripts & Recordings". You can find out more about Angie and how to schedule private sessions by calling (574) 658-4686.
