You’ve Got To Help Yourself First, Then Your Child…Not The Other Way Around!

As a parent we want the best for our kids and we often have the tendency to take care of their needs before our own. If you’ve ever flown anywhere on an airplane, then you’ll remember that when they go through the safety drill before take-off, they plainly tell you that in a state of emergency you need to put on your own air mask first and then put on  your child’s one.

They don’t tell us to do this just because they think that adults are more important than kids. Absolutely not, if anything kids are way more important than us adults if for the simple reason that they are our future, they are in charge of the next phase of humanity and for humans to survive we must nurture and protect our kids.

So why then do the airlines tell us to take care of ourselves first?

Simple really, if we don’t put on our own air masks first then we may not have time, or the air, to put on our children’s ones well enough. Sure if you only have one child then you may have time to put their one on before you pass out, but then what? Your child survives without you to take care of them?

What if you have more than one child? Which child do you give that first air mask to? Which one gets to survive while the others faint away alongside you?

If you however follow the airlines instructions and make sure to put on your own mask first then you will have the air flow necessary for you to keep your head on right to make sure that all of your children will be taken care of as quickly and as carefully as possible. You will be able to clearly see which child desperately needs air, and can make quick judgments about who to put the next mask on, an so forth.

If you don’t take care of yourself first then you won’t be able to take care of your child. The same is true in all areas of your life, including one of the most important areas for both you and your child: your self-esteem, your personal success.

How can you expect to teach your child how to be successful so that their self-esteem can soar if you are struggling on a daily basis with your own self-esteem due to your own unfulfilled dreams?

It’s important that we model to our children that which we wish them to achieve in their own lives. If we want them to have unfaltering faith in themselves then we first need to have the same for ourselves. If your child hears you telling them how wonderful they are but see you beating up on yourself for your own mistakes and lack of success then which do you think will have a longer lasting affect on their own psyche?

They will undoubtedly copy you, and doubt themselves. Our kids model who we are. If we want our kids to believe in themselves then we first need to believe in ourselves.

The wonderful thing is that we don’t need to be perfect first in order for our children to learn positive things from us. By watching us take the time to improve our own situations and build our own self-esteem they will learn that success takes time and effort and that that is not a bad thing. That it’s a very good thing to make time for ourselves, to let ourselves come first once and a while. That’s how they’ll learn to put themselves first too in their own lives.

My friend Natalie Ledwell is a perfect example of this. From all outwardly appearances she always looked like she was happy and positive and that things were going well for her. However, deep inside, she was not reaching the potential in her life that she truly felt she could and therefore never really let herself feel that ultimate joy and fulfillment that would allow herself to truly love herself as she deserved.

Does that sound familiar? Do you put on a happy face for your child, pretending that all is well, when really deep inside you honestly feel that you were meant for more? That you could achieve more than you have?

Do you want your child to model you? Do you want them to grow up pretending that all is well when deep inside they are very unfulfilled and maybe even depressed that they can’t seem to achieve the dreams they really feel they should be able to achieve?

Well the reason I believe Natalie is such a great role model is because she decided to take the time to work on her own self-esteem, to learn all she needed to learn to become complete for herself so that she could truly love herself and be the potential that she always felt deep down inside that she could be.

Today Natalie is launching her new book, “Never In Your Wildest Dreams”. I’m so excited to share this with you. Nat has been a good friend of mine now for over 6 years and she has been a constant inspiration to me. I’ve been blessed to watch her grow and see her blossom to her full potential. The great news is that Nat has kept a record of all of her learning and growth, what’s worked for her and what has not.

Go take a look at the short movie preview of her book here and you’ll see what I mean.

It’s time to take care of yourself first so that you can ensure that your child will be taken care of too. You deserve to reach your full potential. You deserve to fully love and accept yourself. You deserve to have great self-esteem….and you’re child deserves this too!

Enjoy Natalie’s new book! Make sure you check it out today because Nat’s got some great gifts she’s giving away as part of her book launch including a free trip to San Diego!

Cheers…Amanda…Excited Life Enthusiast! ;o)

P. S. Did you find this article helpful? If so, then please help me empower more kids, teens and their families by leaving me your own comments below and clicking the ‘like’ button and ‘sharing’ it with your friends on Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, Instagram, Pinterest, etc. Thank-you for helping me empower more Healthy Wealth Mentality kiddos. We need them! 😀

“Together we can raise kids and teens who are money savvy and get to follow their dreams because they know how to handle and value their money…and not come back crawling home to mom and dad to get them out of financial trouble!”