Goal Setting and Patience

I few days back I posted about my goal to tame my new pet, a wild Field Mouse called HazelMouse.

I caught this mouse at work - she had come in from the nearby fields as it was so cold outdoors. Unlike house mice, which tend to live in human buildings all year round, field mice usually only come into our houses during the winter. In any case, this little mouse came into our office and found some chocolate on the desk and nibbled at it! So I baited a (mouse-friendly) trap with chocolate and caught her.

She has a special home in my drawer at work and a special mouse-house at home, and I take her to and from the office with me and spend time playing with her each day. She is healthy and active and enjoys her food.

The great thing about this goal is that it truly meant a lot to me. Unlike a lot of goals such as work or career or financial goals, that often mean a lot to our logical selves, taming my lovely mouse was a goal that meant a lot to my HEART. It makes me FEEL GREAT when I see my mouse happily playing, eating and grooming, and when she comes up to sniff at my fingers rather than running away, it really makes me happy.

Encourage your kids to set goals that really make them feel passionate, or happy, or some other positive emotion when they are pursuing the goal. Herein lies the path to HAPPY goal setting rather than just ambitious goal setting. Both are good, but helping our children to find happiness during the pursuit of their goals will empower them more than most things in life!

Already, HazelMouse will sit tamely and calmly on my hand and have a wash. True evidence of the power of happy goal setting along with a bit of patience!

Happy goal setting with your kids!

Cassie

Goal Setting, Patience, Kids and Mice

Goal Setting, Patience, Kids and Mice
This is my adorable field mouse. Her name is HazelMouse. My goal is to tame her so that she will come to me and sit in my hand. Unlike domestic mice which are bred to be easier to tame, field mice are much more skittish. I'm lucky to have caught HazelMouse while she is quite young. Already she will come up and sniff my fingers before dashing away and having a wash while she thinks about it! It's tempting to grab her but that would destroy all the good work I've done sitting still and being patient with her.

Kids too need to learn patience when it comes to setting and achieving goals. Good things are worth waiting for! But as parents it is vitally important that we remember that time is very different for a child than it is for us grown-ups.

Do you remember how the 6 week summer holiday felt like it went on forever? Similarly, it is really important for kids to have short term goals so that they feel they are achieving things and not just waiting for the good stuff for what seems like years.

Luckily for me, time is different yet again for mice. My HazelMouse probably feels like she has been getting to know me for years, whereas in fact it has only been a couple of weeks!!

Happy goal setting with your kids,

Cassie

Patience and Goal Setting

Patience is a virtue and one that is a big part of goal setting. You have to realize that most of your goals, at least the ones worth having, are not going to happen overnight. Now it would be nice to wake up 20 pounds thinner or with rippling abs but it ain't gonna happen, so relax and look at your goals as something definitely worth waiting for and teach this to your children.

The best way to teach your children this is to explain to them that each goal takes a series of steps and whatever they want to realize can be broken down into smaller goals that will eventually help them to obtain the big kahuna.

My son, for instance, has decided that he wants a lap top computer. Now since he only has a little over $90 in the bank he knows that he has to find a way to increase the amount until he has enough to buy his computer. I had him write down what it is he wanted, what it looked like and how he would feel when he obtained his goal.

He said wouldn't have to fight for use of the family computer when he had homework assignments or wanted to play his online games. He said he would feel very proud for having something that he worked for himself and happy that it was all his.

We then looked at how long, within reason it would take for him to save enough to get his laptop. It is very important to help your child to set a deadline as to when he wants to accomplish his goal. It must be doable but not so far into the future that your child loses all hope. Have him write down when he would like to reach his goal but let him know that nothing is written in stone and he may get it sooner or it may take a little longer so the deadline is just to give him an idea of how long it should take, but he is always welome to change it.

We then made a list of all of the ways he could earn extra money other than his allowance and he could also ask for cash as opposed to gifts for his birthday or other special occasions where he would normally get some kind of gift or treat. The next step is to find a picture of the computer he wants a put it somewhere where he can see it every day. I also suggested that he read out loud what he had written every morning and every night and then close his eyes and imagine how it would feel like to have his computer and to try and feel those emotions.

Goal setting is something that you can start with your child at an early age. Better yet set goals that you can accomplish together, make it a family affair if you can and get everyone excited about it by making it the topic of conversation everyday. For more goal setting ideas check out www.kids goals.com

Happy Goal Setting

Monicka

Patience is a Virtue

Happy Monday Everyone

My youngest son has been waiting for a certain video game I ordered for him as a surprise. I probably should have kept my mouth shut and let it be a surprise; but he was having a bad day and I thought it would cheer him up. It did put a smile on his face momentarily but now he is upset because it has not arrived yet. I advised him it will take a few weeks and I asked him to be patient.

Funny that I should ask my son to be patient when patience is definitely not something I possess myself. It made me think that if children lead by example what kind of example am I setting when I rant and rave when my husband is late or a certain phone call or email I am expecting is taking a bit too long to show up. I also find myself sometimes hurrying the kids in the morning fearing that they are going to be late and sometimes I am impatient if they are not moving quite as fast as I would like them to.

If we want our children to learn patience than we need to model patience. I am going to add another goal to my growing list and try and be much more tolerant and patient when it comes to my children and other people.

It also sounds like a great topic for one of our newsletters so look for that in a future issue.

Happy Parenting

Monicka