Judith Symonds PhD

Once I got started developing my own life and my own thinking, I wanted to make sure that my children were also educated with enough information that they too could sail through life.

Ultimately, my first tip is the most powerful. My children will learn to sail through life with me being a positive role model in their lives and through the changes that I am making. I am passing the knowledge on to my children and this is beautiful because I don't have to do anything except continue on with my own journey of personal discovery.

There are also primary school level books that can help with equipping youngsters with extra skills that aren't taught in school such as how to sail through life. The first is 'Unstoppable Me! - 10 Ways to Soar Through Life' by Dr Wayne Dyer with Kristina Tracy and the second is 'It's Not What You've Got! - Lessons for Kids on Money and Abundance' also by Dr Wayne Dyer with Kristina Tracy. This is my second tip and obviously is not restricted to only these books. I recommend these books for upper levels of primary school where there is some understanding of prosperity.

Younger children are very tuned into any messages that we send as parents. For example, when the children ask for yet more toys, I started out saying what I heard my parents say when we used to ask for more toys from the toy catalogue which was 'We don't have enough money'. However, this reason is not accurate in that of course we do have money as my son pointed out. (He pointed out that I had $20 in my purse at the time.) It would be more accurate to say that we choose to spend our money in our ways and to put in place some limits around the amount of money that can be spent on toys.

Hence, I now take a different approach. I have learnt to ask why it is really needed and I add in numeracy lessons by looking at how much things cost, how much money each child has in their piggy bank and then looking at how long it might take to save up and get that larger thing that they desire. My own anecdotal observations show that the success of this strategy depends on many things including personality and disposition of the child and birth order. This is my third tip.