Your email has a feature that sends out a quick response to whoever's trying to contact you. That's fine for emails, but many of us carry that auto-reply mode into our daily conversations. Your kids ask you to play with them after work. Your auto reply is, "Not right now." Your spouse asks you to help with something around the house, without missing a beat, you reply, "I'm busy now. I'll do it later." Well,...

The best way for your child to learn to be a good decision-maker, is to involve them in your everyday decisions. For example, if you are in the market for another car, ask your child to research it with you on the Internet, go with you to the car dealer to look at cars, discuss with you the options…new or used, lease or purchase, low or high mileage. Sure, you'll ultimately decide, but bringing them into the...

The teachers I know tell me it's being an involved parent. Teachers invest a lot of their life into your child. They spend countless hours preparing lessons, grading papers and pouring knowledge into the minds of the children in their care. In most cases, the only time they hear from a parent is when something goes wrong. So if you really want to show your appreciation, be a present parent. Get involved in...

It's the sound of a whining child! Parents will do almost anything to make it stop. But yelling or responding harshly to a whining child is one of the worst things you can do. Instead, try this. First, ignore it. If you do, your child will learn that whining doesn't work. Second, when your child begins to whine, simply leave the room. Third, remove the cause of the whining. Fourth, name it…say something...

Maybe you're buying your wife some flowers or you're taking her out for a nice lunch. Well all that is wonderful but be sure to help your children honor Mom too. If they're really small let them color a card for her—or you buy one and let them scribble on it. If your kids are older have them use some of their allowance money to get her something of their choosing. This will help teach your children that they...

Maybe you've had a bad day at the office, or you're stressed about the bills. You're grouchy, you're ready to unload, and you let the words fly. You take out your frustration on your mate hoping they'll take the bait. Well, there's a better way to vent. When you see your spouse, just say, "I'm cranky." They'll ask why, and that's when you get to let it all out—but more like a report instead of an attack. Your mate...

If you look at how many of us live our lives, you would think the answer is clear… image is key. Your image is how you're viewed by others. We spend a lot of time creating our image… with our house, our car, our clothes, our friends . . . just so people will see us a certain way. Sometimes it's real, sometimes it's not. But your identity is who you are. It's real…it never changes. When you're clear about your...