parenting for the authentic life
I’m working on a talk about how we can parent to help our children live an authentic life much sooner than we did.
I’d like to think I’ve lived a pretty authentic life, but for the most part, I was unaware of it. I can look back at a few minor things in my life that I probably would have done a little differently had I been more aware of how to be my most authentic Self, but thankfully, they aren’t anything I regret.
I was in my late 30s when I began to tap into and understand the authentic life.
I’d love for the boys to understand this in their early twenties. They may not be actually doing it, but I want them to be aware of their authentic Self, look for the omens from the Universe, and pursue the path they are being called to. If I can help give them 15-20 more years of designing, living, and evolving with their authentic life, then I will give them something no amount of inheritance can compete with.
Right now, most of my “teaching” is aimed at helping them absorb what I’m talking about, reading, and listening to through osmosis, but I’m no longer willing to accept that I’m doing enough to help them understand what I understand.
I told Ang earlier this week that I will institute a mandatory evening session of family yoga that ends with a ten-minute meditation. I know the boys will first complain, and their meditations will be the furthest thing from meditation. I also know that eventually, they’ll begin to figure it out, and they’ll certainly look back on when they were older and be thankful that their crazy dad made them do yoga and meditation every night. They won’t really understand until they are older.
I’m also going to buy them each in the same leather-bound notebook I have and have them start each day writing one thing they will accomplish. And they’ll end the day writing down three things they are grateful for. I shared this with them, and it led to a great conversation with Leo about how much we have to be grateful about each day—a clear sky, the sun warming us on a cold morning, our health, our family…..
My desire to help the boys discover their authentic Self and life is a long-term play, which is fine with me, but I also think it will help them in the short term—they just won’t know it.
It’s our responsibility as parents to provide for our children, try to make their lives better than ours, love them unconditionally, support and encourage them, and give them knowledge we have gained through life experiences so they can hopefully understand these things sooner and with less pain that we had.
I can’t think of better knowledge to share with Roman, Leo, and Silas than the authentic life.
See you tomorrow and keep pursuing,
JC
🦅 A few ways I might be able to help you live your authentic life:
📝 LifeDesign+ LifeDesign+ is rooted in the Kinder Institute of Life Planning’s EVOKE process, which is a five-step process to help discover what your authentic life looks like and begin to design a plan to bring that life to reality. It continues to incorporate the alignment of your spirit, mind, body, and money to ensure you evolve with your authentic life, as the authentic life is not a destination, it’s an evolution.
📈 LifeDesign+ for financial advisors LifeDesign+ for financial advisors mirrors the LifeDesign+ relationship, including the focus on the alignment of spirit, mind, and body, with an important distinction—once the plan for your authentic life has been designed, we shift our focus to integrating your new plan with your practice.
🤝 Outsourced life planning As your outsourced life planner, you bring me in to take your client through the Kinder Institute of Life Planning’s EVOKE process to help them better understand who they are, what they want their life to look like, and create a vision of this life for you to execute on the financial plan. Since you are their financial advisor, you will be a part of each of the meetings, so you understand the “why” behind your client’s new plan.
