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Family Resolve
Making Positive Changes
This New Year By Mark Stackpole
Rejuvenating the SoulMark Victor Hansen is a world-renowned professional speaker and author. Best known for co-creating the Chicken Soup for the Soul book series and author of The One Minute Millionaire (Harmony, 2002), Hansen has dedicated his life to making a positive difference in people's lives. For parents looking to get their message across to young children, Hansen has some straightforward advice.
This New Year
"Be involved in your child's life," he says. "Develop age-appropriate activities that exemplify family teachings. Use these activities to teach them as much as possible at an early age."
Hansen and his family begin each year by creating a list of things they want to accomplish during that year. "What I teach, believe and practice is for each member of the family to begin each year with 101 goals," he says. "These goals are both individual and family-oriented. When we sit down to write them, the question is, 'What are we going to do together this year?' We break our goals down into categories and consider financial, social, spiritual, mental and health-related issues."
In addition to setting goals together as a family, Hansen believes that there are a few very important gifts that parents can give to children in order to provide a sense of what is important. "Give your children family pictures," he says. "Create family memories and leave a pictorial family history. Keep a journal so that your kids can really know you. My children got to know me by knowing what I was thinking at any given time. Maintain a library. The books you keep will give your children an idea of what you read, what was important t you and what you found influential. Kids can see where you have dog-eared a corner or underlined a sentence."
