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Meditate and Motivate: How to Get Kids to Do What You Need Them to Do

We should look at what meditation is and then learn what will motivate your kids to what you want and need them to do. Meditation is not just a technique; it's a way of being. When dealing with children you might want to calm you chaotic mind and that will help you to deal with the every day life of child rearing. Meditation is not a way of controlling one's thoughts. What meditation is found to be an inner gesture that makes the heart and mind be aware of the present, no matter what is going on around you.

By meditation, we can relax our mind and body and allow ourselves to listen to the sounds around us. Can you hear what your children are saying? Can you read their body language or their eyes? Just being more tuned in to your inner self will make you more attuned to what others around you are thinking and feeling. This will in turn, enable you to figure out what will motivate your child the most to get them to do what you need them to do.

So, what does motivate your children? This will vary from child to child. What works with one may not work with their sibling. What motivated my children was praise. The better they acted or did in school, the more praise I gave them. Negative talk is not a motivator. You can find something to praise them for; did they get up without being told to twice? It's praise time. Did they bring home a good report card? Its praise time again. You will soon know when praise can be used as a motivator.

Another motivator is to let them work toward a goal. Is there something special they want? Is there an area that needs to be improved on? Set them a goal and let them work toward that goal in getting that special something they have picked out. My grandson's goal is to buy a guitar. Every time he gets a good report card, he gets a monetary reward for each good grade. He also gets an allowance that he has to earn. His goal is to get all of his chores done so he can earn all of his allowance and not just a part.

Motivation to get homework done is a real big area in some homes. How do you motivate to get that homework done? Do you tell them when their homework is done; they can play with their friends? Talk on the phone? Maybe play video games? Again, it's different with each child. One of my sons had to have his homework done before he could have an afternoon snack. That was a big motivator for him because he loved his afternoon snack.

The school and public library has a great motivational program to get students to read books. That was usually no problem in my house as both my children loved to read, but during the summer when they could read and earn McDonalds certificates, that motivated them to read even more! One year it was tickets for the area's softball team. For girls, it was something different that they would enjoy.

One of the best years my oldest son had in school was when he was able to earn "dollars" to spend at their school store. Parents gave items or small prizes were bought from a wholesaler. The items were not large. However, there was at least one big-ticket item. This gave them extra incentive to do extra work to be paid more "dollars" and eventually earn the big prize. It was my son's best year because he got "dollars" for behavior, doing homework, being quiet in class, and reading books. He did earn his big prize.

Meditation and motivation can go hand in hand when it comes to your children. Meditate on what you want your children to do, how do you want them to behave and how do you enhance their learning ability. When you have been more open to them, you will see in what areas they can be motivated easily.