5 Techniques for Using Affirmations to Enhance Your Relationship

Affirmations are powerful positive statements. You may be aware of them as a tool for self-improvement or to help you reach your goals. Did you know that affirmations can help improve your relationships with your partner, family, friends, and even your colleagues?

 

By choosing your words carefully and meaningfully, you can improve relationships in every area of your life. 

 

1. Show Empathy

 

You can use affirmations to show the other person that you see their feelings and acknowledge them. Affirmations can be used as a component of active listening. Listen to what they are saying, without interrupting, and when you do speak, you reflect back what they said to you. You acknowledge where they are and give them space to vent or celebrate or just get their message across. 

 

The key to showing empathy is to make sure you don’t contradict or negate their feelings. Don’t offer advice or give a contrary opinion. Just stand with them in their space. 

 

2. Be Authentic

 

Make sure your affirmations are coming from a place of sincerity. Don’t say things you don’t mean. Keep your affirming messages to the point and focused on the other person. 

 

Affirmations that are economical with the truth or speak out of character will undermine your relationship, not build it. Make sure you speak from the heart. And you don’t have to use flowery language, just be nice. 

 

3. Tell Your Loved Ones They’re Loved

 

Saying I love you early in a relationship is easy. But as time goes on, it’s easy to let endearments slide. Get into the habit of telling your partner, your children, your family, your friends how much you love them. Don’t take it for granted that they feel loved, make sure they know it!

 

4. Say Thank You

 

When was the last time you said thank you for a home-cooked meal? Or for proofreading your job application? Or even for taking the garbage out?

 

No act of kindness should go unacknowledged. Show your family and friends and colleagues that you appreciate what they do for you. Affirm their role in your life. 

 

5. Give Public Praise

 

Sometimes the best affirmations come in the form of public acknowledgment. Give credit where it’s due to your team members, your partner, and your kids. Show them you're grateful and proud of them. Make it a point to acknowledge the extra effort and exceptional achievements.

 

Making The Most Of Quality Time With Friends And Family

The relationships we have in our lives have a significant impact on our well-being. They help us celebrate good times, offer support during the bad, and fill our lives with companionship to help prevent feelings of isolation and depression.

 

Unfortunately, it’s always easy to maintain the relationships we have or develop new ones. We’re busy juggling dozens of responsibilities that we often put our family and friends on the back burner. Only when it’s too late, do we realize how much we’ve neglected one of the most important aspects of our lives.

 

Read ahead to learn how to make the most of quality time with friends and family so you never take them for granted ever again.

 

The Importance of Quality Time

 

We live in an age where everyone is seemingly connected via their screens. We scroll through social media like our lives depend on it. And we’ve convinced ourselves that by sending a text or clicking on a ‘Like’ button, we’ve done our fair share of social interaction for the day.

 

Yet, humans are social creatures. Starting at screens all day long is sort of the opposite of that, which is why a lot of research shows that excessive use of social media platforms is actually one of the biggest risk factors for feeling isolated, lonely, and anxious.

 

On the flip side, keeping in touch with friends and family does wonders for your mental, emotional, and physical health. This means talking on the phone each week and having in-person get-togethers.

 

Strong social connections make you less likely to suffer from high blood pressure, Type-2 diabetes, and other chronic diseases.

 

Another benefit of surrounding yourself with positive, supportive people is that it lowers your risk of depression, stress, and anxiety. In addition, studies show that it can also delay the effect of cognitive disorders like dementia and Alzheimer's.

 

There’s also the fun aspect of spending time with friends and family. You get to create memories and build strong, trusting relationships.

 

Here are a few more benefits to gain from quality time with the important people in your life:

 

• Improves your sense of self-worth
• Boosts self-confidence
• Encourages you to avoid unhealthy lifestyle habits
• Helps you get through challenging times, like an illness, divorce, job loss, etc.
• Increases your sense of purpose and belonging

 

How to Make the Most of Quality Time with Friends and Family

 

Possibly, one of the things that get in the way of connecting with friends and family is that we’re too tired. Staying connected means staying active, scheduling times that suit both of you, and coming up with things to do together.

 

Yet, once you make an effort, you’ll realize it was just what you needed to make you feel happier and less stressed. To help you get inspired, we put together a list of 30 fun-filled ideas you can try the next time you get together with family and friends.

 

1. Try out a new restaurant or coffee shop.
2. Sign up for a dance class.
3. Visit an art gallery or museum.
4. Plan ‘Game Night.’
5. Hire a rowing boat at a local lake.
6. Make a DIY list of things that need repairs or touch-ups around the house and go through them one by one.
7. Pick up a new hobby or activity together.
8. Plan a crafting night where you knit, crochet, color, or pretty much anything creative!
9. Keep track of important events in each other’s lives and celebrate them.
10. Organize a clothes swap.
11. Attend a TED talk together.
12. Host a ‘spa’ night and do each other’s nails.
13. Gather stuff you don’t want and host a yard sale.
14. Enjoy a Broadway (or off-Broadway) show.
15. Sync up your washing schedules so you can meet at the Laundromat.
16. Plan a getaway for the weekend.
17. Set up a home tasting party.
18. Visit a make-your-own pottery studio.
19. Try an Escape Room.
20. Go bowling or Glow-in-the-Dark bowling for even more fun.
21. Invite your friends or family over for breakfast or brunch while dressed in your PJs.
22. Organize a Swap Clothes day.
23. Go shopping!
24. Go to a karaoke bar or rent a karaoke machine and have a karaoke night at home.
25. See a comedy show.
26. Book tickets to the ballet or the symphony and get all dressed up.
27. Enjoy a ball game from the bleachers.
28. Go jumping at a trampoline park.
29. Brew some herbal tea, sit back, and relax while enjoying afternoon tea and biscuits.
30. Attend community events.

 

What Does Contentment Mean?

People may have told you at some point in your life that you need to have more contentment. But what does this mean exactly? Unsurprisingly, being content is something that will look different for every individual. There are a few similar attributes that content people share, though. 

 

Contentment Is Being Grateful

 

When you have contentment, you are grateful for all the things you have in life. And this doesn't just mean physical possessions. It also means being content with the people you have in life and less tangible things like your abilities and skills. If you struggle with being grateful for the things you have, it may help if you make a list of all the things you are grateful for in life. It would be best if you did this regularly. This way, you will have a visual of all the amazing aspects of your life, and it will help keep these things at the forefront of your mind. 

 

Contentment Is Living in the Moment

 

Living a life filled with contentment means you spend your time living in the moment rather than dwelling in the past. When you find yourself thinking too much about the past, it's time to try to let these regrets go. So, when you find yourself surrounded by friends at an event, instead of looking in your phone at social media and other things that happened in the past, you need to put your phone down and resolve to enjoy the moment, and whatever may come your way.

 

Being Content Is Being Happy

 

Above all else, being content in life means you are happy with things just like they are. Contentment means you don't need to worry about physical possessions because you know that you have everything you need to be successful and happy. If acquiring physical possessions is something you frequently do, the next time you find yourself wanting to buy something, ask yourself if you need it or if you want it. Chances are you probably don’t need whatever it is you are about to buy.

 

In conclusion, contentment means many different things to people, but in general, being content means that you are grateful for what you have, that you live in the moment, and that you are overall happy with the way your life is going. The road to achieving contentment won’t always be easy, but you can guarantee you will be happy when you get there. 

 

Family Life: How to Simplify Family Communication

With all the technical advances today, it’d be easy to assume that family communication has gotten simpler. But families are receiving thousands of messages each day from electronic devices. 

 

Whether it’s the advertisements on your smartphone games, the Twitter chats you follow, or the Pinterest boards you scroll through, you’re being given an information overload. This overload can cause problems in communicating with the ones you love most.

 

Staying connected with your significant other or your children is important. Without communication, family members will eventually retreat into separate lives. To prevent this from happening and to keep your communication line open follow these tips.

 

Give your full attention.

 

If you’ve ever tried to communicate with someone that stared at their smartphone the entire time, then you know how frustrating this can be. It can feel like the other person is saying, “You’re not important to me.”

 

When your kids see you constantly connected to electronic devices, they may be less likely to open up to you and have serious conversations. That’s why it can be helpful to have technology free periods in your day. For example, if your child is a morning person, then consider having a no-technology rule at breakfast. This gives you and your kids time to connect when they’re at their best. 

 

Build a foundation of love and trust.

 

If your loved ones feel like they’re going to be judged, they’re not going to communicate with you. An essential ingredient to healthy family communication is kindness. When your child or significant other is talking, don’t rush to make a judgement. Instead, try to ask open-ended questions like ‘how did you feel when that happened’ or ‘what are you going to do about this situation’. 

 

Listen to body language.

 

When it comes to communication, few things are more helpful than body language. During conversations with your kids, take a moment to analyze their body language. Are their words defiant but their eyes are filled with fear? This extra bit of information can make a big difference in getting to the bottom of what’s bothering your loved one.

 

Discover what you want from your heart.

 

Understanding what you want and need from your relationships is an important part of communicating with loved ones. For example, it might be that you feel loved when someone performs an act of service for you or when someone offers words of affirmation.

 

When you know what your love language is, don’t be afraid to ask for it. You might say, “Mommy’s feeling sad. Can I have a hug?” 

 

Of course, your children can’t provide for all of your emotional needs. But when you express what you want, you’re sending the message to your kids that it’s OK to ask for support in the way that they need it.

 

Communication is a key part of any relationship. If you make a mistake in communicating with your kids, don’t be afraid to be humble and apologize. This keeps your communication lines strong.

 

Reflections And Intentions…

 

1. When a loved one is speaking, how do you communicate that you're listening? Do you nod along, put down your smartphone, etc.?

            

2. In what ways do you ask for support or comfort from your loved ones?

 

3. Does your family have technology free time periods? Why or why not?

 

Family Life: 5 Steps to Creating A Family Vision Board

A family vision board is a tool that can be a fun way to represent your goals as a family. With a vision board, your family can visualize what life will be like when you accomplish your goals. It can also give each member of the family a feeling of purpose while doing everyday tasks. 

 

It’s difficult for kids to understand that your family is saving money for a dream vacation when they’re eating leftovers or buying second hand clothing. This is because kids don’t always see the long-term payoff of short-term sacrifices. But when you have a family vision board, you can show your kids pictures of your dream vacation and encourage them to think about how much fun they’re going to have in a few months.

 

Ready to create your own family vision board? Here’s how to get started now…

 

Step #1: Gather your family.

 

It’s important that every member of your family contributes to the vision board. When your kids feel like they’re part of the process, they’re more likely to take ownership and work toward your family’s goals.

 

Step #2: Schedule it. 

 

You’ll want plan for time to work on your vision board. Even a small vision board can take several hours to complete. If you don’t have a lot of time for family activities, you can break up the creation phase into several small meetings.

 

It’s important that you make these meetings fun for your family. Consider having special drinks or snacks as you work on your board and encourage each family member to dream big.

 

Step #3: Decide on the format.

 

Now that you’re ready to get started, you’ll want to consider what format is going to work best for your family. Your family can create your vision board as a poster, a scrapbook or as a digital slideshow. If you’ll be creating a poster or scrapbook, you’ll want to gather plenty of supplies like scissors, tape, old magazines, and even paint.

 

For a digital vision board, you can create your board inside a program like Photoshop or GIMP. If you’re not skilled with graphic design, don’t worry. There are plenty of websites that allow you to create a vision board online. 

 

Step #4: Consider your family’s goals.

 

Now comes the fun part. Start talking with your family about your core values, people you’d like to meet, places you’d like to visit, and adventures you’d like to have. Where do you want to be as a family in five years? 

 

If you’re overwhelmed with ideas, it’s OK to divide your vison board into sections. You could create sections for academic goals, travel goals, or career goals. 

 

Step #5: Stay positive.

 

Creativity requires positive energy. If a family member says something negative, have them write that thought down then crumple the sheet and toss it into the trash. Explain that letting go of negativity is essential to dreaming big.

 

A family vision board can be a lot of fun to create. Let every family member contribute to it in some way. This will help you bond as a family and allow you to support each other’s goals. 

 

Reflections And Intentions…

 

1. Has your family created a vision board? If not, when can you schedule time so you can do this fun family activity?

            

2. What did you learn about your family members by creating a vision board together?

            

3. Looking at your vision board, how can you show support for each family member's goals?

 

Family Life: Stop Comparing And Decide What YOU Want

Kids have a tendency to compare their life to their friends’ lives. They might argue over who got more gifts for Christmas, who has better clothes, or who’s more popular at school. As a parent, you probably tell your child not to compare. 

 

It’s easy to tell your kids to stop this habit, but it’s not easy to model it. When other families in your neighborhood move to bigger homes in better neighborhoods, you might feel the pressure to do the same thing. 

 

When your friends travel more often and further away, you might feel that your family is lagging behind. Even simple things like your child’s birthday party can cause you to compare, so you spend time and money planning an elaborate party that’s better than their friends’ parties. 

 

Is Comparison Making Your Family Miserable?

 

Like your kids, you may feel the need to measure up and prove that you and your family are just as good as everyone else. But constantly trying to outdo everyone else can cause you and your family members to experience overwhelm, burnout, depression, and even panic attacks.

 

Maybe you recognize some of your own comparison habits or the habits of your children. The good news is that you can undo the damage with time and practice.

 

What Do Kids Really Want?

 

As a parent, you might be tempted to believe that what your child really wants is the latest gaming console, the best clothes, or the hottest electronics. But social experiments like Ikea: The Other Letter show that children prefer quality time with their parents to gifts and expensive luxury items. 

 

You don’t have to move your family to a remote cabin in the mountains in order to spend more quality time together. You can play board games, go on a hike, or build a fort in the living room. Even simple things like going to the grocery store together can be special if you and your child power off the electronics. By disconnecting with technology, you and your child will find it easier to connect with each other. 

 

How Can You Inspire Your Kids?

 

Another helpful way to end comparisons is to create a family vision board. This lets you and your kids define what you value most as individuals and as a family. You can use this board to guide you when making family decisions so that everyone feels heard.

 

You can also help your kids stop comparing their lives to their friends’ by getting them involved in events for those in need. When your child volunteers at a soup kitchen every Saturday, they gain perspective. They begin to understand that there are worse things than having leftovers twice a week. When you encourage your child to help others, you’re teaching them to develop an attitude of gratitude and creating a desire to serve others. 

When it comes to comparison, understand that it can take some time to change your family’s attitudes. Keep working at it and encourage your kids to hold you accountable, too.

 

Reflections And Intentions…

 

1. Who do you find yourself comparing your family to? In what ways do you compare?

            

2. When your kids start comparing themselves to their friends, what advice do you usually offer? Does this advice seem to help?

            

3. How can you get your kids involved in activities that help those in need?

Solve Your Life’s Problems Calmly

Time and again, we come across several issues regarding health, family, relationships, job etc. Sometimes we find a provisional solution to such problems and feel contend that they have vanished forever. Why is meditative thinking and chanting considered a practical and passive therapy to resolve life’s major concerns? It is so, because; contemplative thinking reroutes our minds from the negative to positive. The feelings of resentment, apprehension, rebel and envy paralyse our efforts to solve issues between friends, companions, colleagues and even our own conscience. Focusing through meditation is highly productive and enlightening which is why it is believed that life’s biggest troubles are sorted submissively.

 

If your child is experiencing problems with studies, don’t try to force him to learn how to focus on his assignment. Instead, be cool, calm and collected in helping him build his concentration power. Teach them tolerantly, how to focus on schoolwork and put aside the ‘daydreaming’ for the future! You also need to create an atmosphere at home so that your child does his homework with attentiveness. The setting should have educational wall charts, comfortable desks, less traffic and clatter. TV is a big distraction for kids and you have to ensure that your kid will fail to focus when TV is viewed at the background.

 

It is a must that you develop patience to deal with life’s problems. When we experience repeated failure, we give up saying’ ‘maybe this was not my destiny’. Truthfully speaking, it is a cover up on our lack of patience as we give up too quickly without focusing on how to be tolerant. Being satisfied with second-rate results is not the answer to long-standing success. Our thoughts and actions have to be well planned out and precise with appropriate progress of the focal point. With firmness in your thoughts, you can acquire stupendous success even after a series of failures.

 

How to Come Together With Your Friends and Family to Reduce Stress and Improve Your Success

Some of the most miserable people in the world are the loneliest. Everyone can agree that human beings are socially driven people. It can be extremely difficult to feel good without a strong support system and the knowledge that people out there are going to care about your well-being and offer you assistance if you should ever need it.

 

We can all probably remember a time when we were struggling and it was only through the support or friendship of someone else that we were able to find our way out of that difficult situation. Our instincts are usually to help each other out of binds and try to build things together. Most of us would like to coexist peacefully with one another, despite our differences. However, there are also some people out there who would rather leave us high and dry than accept the ways we may differ from them. These are generally not the best people to include in your support system, as they can exhibit toxic behaviors that can cause us to question ourselves and second guess our worth as a means of manipulation.

 

Rather, consider the people in your life who are always willing to give you a fair chance. People who are supportive and confident in your abilities. People who won’t put you down for their own satisfaction or because you don’t always line up with their ideals.

It can be defeating to get your support from someone who may or may not withdraw it at any time. The ups and downs of toxic relationships have a huge impact on our lives. We do have the power to avoid them, however. And in recognizing a toxic relationship before it gets too far, we are providing ourselves with the security of knowing that we should never base our sense of self-worth based on anything that someone else says. Especially a toxic person. 

 

However, that isn’t to say that there is no benefit in having a good support network. Knowing that you have truly trustworthy people in your life is so important. If you are able to have friends and family members who truly want to see you succeed, being able to surround yourself with them is a powerful and uplifting experience. Telling them about your ups and downs will always help, and you will get several new perspectives on difficult situations that may open your eyes to new opportunities you may have otherwise missed.

 

Never overlook the power of the people who care about you most! Sometimes a listening ear is all you need to turn a bad and stressful day into the beginning of a new perspective that could change your life forever! 

 

About Improving Yourself for Your Teenage Children’s Development

Among the different aspects of improving children, a very profound way is to try and improve oneself. Many experts have spoken about how it is important that parents first try and remove the negative traits from themselves if they want their children to improve. And this is all the more important when the child is at an impressible age such as the teenage. 

 

A teenager is easily influenced by what their parents do. If the father smokes or comes home drunk, the teenager might feel that this is all acceptable behavior. The teenager will certainly begin to emulate that. Things may not happen when the child is still living with parents but in later life, when he becomes a father himself, he might think it is all right to come home drenched in booze.

 

Whatever you do today is going to affect your children’s future lives. That includes all your positive and negative behavior. Even a seemingly minor thing like arguing with your spouse over who brings in the newspaper each morning can leave its indelible impression on a teenager’s life. For, the teenager will grow up thinking that such arguments are commonplace, they can happen and will happen, and that could lead to discord in their future life.

 

This will sound very difficult, but if you want to improve your teenager’s present and future life, you have to give them a totally positive environment at home. You have to teach them the values you want them to grow up with, and you have to ensure that you abide by those values yourself. You cannot expect to just be a preacher. You have to practice what you preach.

 

Positive values such as hard-work and integrity are also passed on from parents to children most emphatically during their teenage years. If a son sees his father slogging at work, he will respect people’s dedication to work. If a daughter sees her mother doing everything she can to run her house, she is going to have those values in her later years as well.

 

This is how you can teach your children the most valuable lessons in life when they are teenagers… by living them yourself. There is no other way to go about it. If you don’t abide by what you want to teach your children, then they aren’t going to adopt it into their lives, come what may. 

 

Learning from Your Children—A Quintessential Form of Self-Improvement

There are a lot of ways in which you can develop yourself. People who are on a constant quest of self-improvement always keep looking at avenues that they can use to enhance themselves. They look at the people around them and learn. And a very important resource here is one’s own children. There are people who look forward to learning from their children, and improve themselves in the process.

 

For a very significant portion of your life, you are teaching your children various aspects of existence. You educate them, your train them in the basic skills, you enable them to become good fits for the society they are living in and so on. But then, there comes a time when your children start growing beyond you. They are more abreast with the rapidly changing technology; and that is one reason for that. There is also the fact that children are younger than their parents, and their younger minds are more receptive to knowledge and information. It is not at all surprising when we see a father-son team and find out that the son is the better-informed of the two.

 

Parents who look forward to learning from their children start quite early, right from the schooling days of the children. Now, there might be many things you learned and forgot, many things you just didn’t learn because they weren’t invented back them. Learning along with your child is like going back to school, but a school that has revamped itself according to the contemporary times.

 

Every step of the way, your trysts with your children could be a learning process. Even when you are just trying to handle your kid, you are learning new aspects of qualities such as patience, compassion and understanding. You are developing in the process. When you are teaching your child to become responsible, you are becoming more responsible yourself.

 

Learning from your children isn’t all about seeking the new knowledge and information that they have amassed because of the big advantage that they are living in present times; it is also that you are learning how to develop your personality. A lot of people become more confident when they move with their children. They feel pride in their children’s achievements and it improves their demeanor as well. These are all different aspects of self-improvement that can happen in being spending time with your children. 

 

Which Parental Approach Is the Best?

For first time parents, it becomes very difficult to choose among the various approaches at parenting that they hear. Some parents are quite strict with their children while others are more laidback. There are all kinds of parents, and to confuse matters more, there is no uniformity in the way their children grow up to be. Why, even within the same house, siblings can turn out to be radically different from each other! So, what form of parenting should you choose?

 

If you decide to be a very strict parent who puts a lot of restrictions on their children, the whole thing may backfire. Such forms of parenting worked in the medieval periods, when children didn’t know better. They weren’t exposed to anything apart from what went on in their own family and, of course, there was a much-stinted view of family values that let such behavior be accepted. Today’s children are better aware of what goes on around them. If parents are too restrictive, they may possibly rebel.

 

At the same time, it doesn’t work being a very laidback parent either. Children are going to pick up the wrong habits along the way and it becomes important to you to correct them. You may even have to admonish them at times. Fail at that, and the children may grow up to be wrong and then they may blame you for not showing them the right path.

 

Though there is nothing like a foolproof method of parenting, it is important to avoid the extremes. Don’t be too strict and don’t be too lenient either. You have to walk on the middle path. You have to show your children what’s wrong when they err and you have to reward them when they do something commendable. This is the form of parenting that you have to emulate. This is the most practical approach, the situation-based approach. You don’t decide in advance how you are going to react. You take things at a time and then you behave as per the situation. 

 

How to Develop Yourself as a Parent

You may be expecting too much from your children, want your children to do things in a particular way, but in that you may have lost sight of the most important fact. And that is, there might be shortcomings within you that are keeping you away from becoming a good parent. Are there any such pitfalls? You have to realize them when there is still time and improve upon them. This is what can keep you developing as a better parent.

 

Your children will try to emulate you, consciously and subconsciously. Many of their developmental aspects are going to depend on your personality. For example, if you behave in society in a particular way, your children are very likely to behave in the same manner as well. This is because of exposure. Children become like what they are exposed to because they don’t know of any other way. When they learn the options they have in later life, it is too late for them to change themselves. That is the reason why people from a family tend to behave in a similar manner.

 

There are many such traits that children directly or indirectly pick up from their parents. Some of these include honesty, diligence to work, way of interacting with people, money-mindedness, love and affection, behavior with friends, etc. Every minute of your life you are training your children on these aspects, and most times you don’t even realize you are.

 

For instance, if a storekeeper gives you some money by mistake and you return it, children learn the value of honesty. They understand that they should not keep what is not theirs. When they see you working hard, they realize that hard work is important. When they see you helping your friends, they realize friends are important. These are lessons you are giving out to your children at all times.

 

Hence, if you want your children to be better individuals, maybe you need to improve yourself first. When you work in these positive values within yourself, your children are going to see the results of those values, see that they are good, and then try to incorporate those values in their own lives. They are going to become better individuals just because their parents were better people. So, you know now where the real training for your child begins—within yourself as their parent.