Mentally Strong Kids Have Parents Who Refuse to Do These 13 Things
 
  
Number 1: Condone A Victim Mentality: No matter how unjust or tough the circumstances, refuse to attend your kid’s pity parties.
 
Number 2: Parent Out of Guilt: All parents feel guilty sometimes. Hold firm in your choices, even when it causes you to wrestle with some guilt.
 
Number 3: Make Your Kids the Center of the Universe: While it’s important to make kids your top priority, making kids the center of your universe instills self-importance.
 
Number 4: Allow Fear to Dictate Your: If you want to raise brave kids, be a role model who encourages facing fears. Be a guide but don’t become overprotective.
 
Number 5: Give Your Kids Power Over You: Show your kids that you value their opinions. But make it clear that you’re the leader. Establish a family hierarchy that gives your kids opportunities to practice taking orders.
 
Number 6: Expect Perfection: Kids will strive to meet your expectations as long as those expectations are reasonable. If you expect perfection, they’ll decide there’s no use in trying.
 
Number 7: Let Your Kids Avoid Responsibility: If you want to raise kids who become responsible adults, give them plenty of responsibility.
 
Number 8: Shield Your Kids from Pain: Kids need firsthand experience dealing with uncomfortable emotions like sadness, anxiety and embarrassment. With your support, they can gain confidence in themselves.
 
Number 9: Feel Responsible for Your Kids’ Emotions: Teach your kids to manage their moods on their own. They’ll grow up to become independent adults who don’t need other people to regulate their emotions for them.
 
Number 10: Prevent Your Kids from Making Mistakes:  Natural consequences are some of life’s greatest teachers. Let your kids fail sometimes just so you can support them in bouncing back. Teach them that their mistakes are opportunities to grow wiser and become stronger.  
 
Number 11: Confuse Discipline with Punishment: Don’t raise kids who fear “getting in trouble.” Use consequences that teach self-discipline so they’ll strive to make better choices.
 
Number 12: Take Shortcuts to Avoid Discomfort: Implement delayed gratification and show your children you’re strong enough to stay the course. You’ll teach them they’re strong enough to reach their long-term goals despite temptations.
 
Number 13: Lose Sight of Your Values: Make sure your priorities accurately reflect your values. Instilling your values in your kids gives them the strength they need to live meaningful lives.  
 
 
From the article: Mentally Strong Kids Have Parents Who Refuse to Do These 13 Things by Amy Morin – January 4, 2018 – SUCCESS Magazine
 

“An individual has not started living until he can rise above the narrow confines of his individualistic concerns to the broader concerns of all humanity.” - Martin Luther King, Jr.
 
How will your success lead to the broader concerns of all humanity? 

“I attribute much of my success to my ability to understand and avoid unnecessary distractions.” - Derek Jeter
 
What are the unnecessary distractions preventing you from reaching your goals?  

In the late 19th century, a bishop of the United Brethren Church was discussing philosophy with a college professor. The bishop's opinion was that the millennium was at hand. As evidence, he cited the facts that everything about nature had already been discovered and all the useful inventions had already been made.
As the story goes, the professor politely told the bishop that he was mistaken. "Why, in a few years," he said, "we'll be able to fly through the air."
"What a nonsensical idea, " the bishop said. "Flight," he assured the professor, "is reserved for the birds and angels."
Bishop Wright was the father of two young budding inventors named Orville and Wilbur.

Cited in Random House Book of Jokes and Anecdotes. Second Edition and  reprinted in Leadership...with a human touch, November 16, 1999, Page 5    

“Tough players project confidence and security with their body language. They do not hang their heads, do not react negatively to a mistake of a teammate, and do not whine and complain to the officials. Tough players do their jobs, and their body language communicates that…” - Jay Bilas
 
Would others consider you a tough person?  

“Only one who devotes himself to a cause with his whole strength and soul can be a true master. For this reason, mastery demands all of a person.” - Albert Einstein
 
What have you committed your entire self to obtaining?

“Don’t downgrade your dreams to fit your reality. Upgrade your convictions to match your destiny.” - Stuart Scott
 
How will you upgrade your convictions to reach your destiny?  

“Inside of me are two dogs. One is mean and evil and the other is good and they fight each other all the time. When asked which one wins, I answer, the one I feed the most.” - Sitting Bull
 
Which dog are you feeding the most?  

“Nurture your mind with great thoughts, for you will never go any higher than you think.” - Benjamin Disraeli
 
What would your thoughts reveal about your goals and personality?  

The Learning Tree
  
My grandfather baited the hook with a worm. He did it slowly, allowing me to watch and learn. He handed the rod to me, held my arms and taught me to cast my line into the blue water. Our bobbers floated together, as we sat on the shore hoping for a bite.
'I remember when I could sit here and watch the fish swimming in the water.' 
He said. 'Sometimes, they'd jump out and land beside me. I didn't need a rod and bait back then.' He was teasing me again. I liked it. The sun warmed us. We sat and talked.
'We have to be patient.' he continued. 'The fish may come or they may not. It doesn't matter. We're out in the sun. It's a beautiful day. If it had rained, we wouldn't be here. We're lucky to have the warmth of the sun.'
He leaned back against a tree and sighed. 'Yes, it's a great day.'
I watched our bobbers. No fish pulled them under that day. It didn't matter. I was with granddad. I felt grown up. Just being with him was special.
Later, I sat in the back of the boat and watched as he rowed. His powerful muscles rippled with each pull on the oars. I wanted to be like him when I grew up. He was well liked by everyone. He'd struggled hard all his life for the little he had, but he managed to find time to laugh.
My grandfather was an amazing man. In the short time we had together, he taught me many things: how to bait a hook, the love of a good laugh, the value of a good friend, respect for my elders, to work hard and to love harder. The list is long.
He didn't always teach me directly. I pictured him with my mom, when she was a child, teaching and guiding her to maturity. The things he taught her would be passed on to me.
The family tree is a learning tree. The larger, older branches support and guide the new smaller branches. They balance the family structure with their strength. Over time, the branches above grow large, join with other families, and shade the older branches below. The old branches grow weak from the lack of light, die and fall away. The branches above take over their role on the learning tree, supporting the new family members.

Written by Michael T. Smith

“Only a man who knows what it is like to be defeated can reach down into the bottom of his soul and come up with the extra ounce of power it takes to win when the match is even.” - Muhammad Ali
 
Are you able to reach into your soul and give the extra effort when the match is on the line?  

We used to take grace and civility for granted. Now, as we progress - is that the right word? We find it so rare, so elusive, so precious, that when it presents itself, we are startled. What does this say about us? Why have we given ourselves permission to dismiss others?
Civility might have died when our lives reached warp speed, maybe when we sat down at the computer and ponded the desk because downloading something from the Internet took three seconds instead of 0.3 seconds. I know I grow testy when it takes me ten whole minutes  to do genealogical research on the Internet even though it would have taken me six months by mail.
Is it that we don't have the time to treat one another as human beings? Or our we just too absorbed with our own problems? We worry about money. We worry about being downsized into oblivion. We worry about health. We worry about our children. We worry if we're going to die in peace or by some lunatic's bullet.
Maybe we're so worried that we've forgotten the common decency our parents taught us. Or maybe we've rejected it.
Here's a promise from me to me. Either I promise to buy a faster modem for my computer or I stop pounding the desk. I've started following the advice of a woman who wrote to my column saying that she makes it a point to let someone in ahead of her on the highway everyday. Great idea.

by Jeffrey Page cited in the Bergen Record and published in Leadership...with a common touch, November 16, 1999, Pages 18-19 

“Success is neither magical nor mysterious. Success is the natural consequence of consistently applying the basic fundamentals.” - Jim Rohn
 
Are you consistently sticking to the beliefs and values that will get you to your goals?

"Sam Holden, writing in his associations magazine, The Rotarian, suggests that every group like his is made up of four kinds of bones:
1. The WISH BONES who spend their time wishing someone else would do the work.
2. The JAW BONES who do all the talking, but very little else.
3. The KNUCKLE BONES who knock everything that anyone else is trying to do.
4. The BACK BONES who get under the load and do the work.

From: Leadership...with a human touch, November 16, 1999, Page 10

“Nothing is so strong as gentleness, nothing so gentle as real strength.” - Saint Francis de Sales
 
How would you go about showing your strength?