Help Your Child Journal

 ON SALE FOR THREE DAYS

BUY NOW

LEADERSHIP SKILLS FOR KIDS: HELP YOUR CHILD TO SUCCEED

Just in time for back to school my new book I AM A LEADER: A 90-DAY LEADERSHIP JOURNAL FOR KIDS is on sale for less than $10.00. Get your copy today.

GET YOUR DISCOUNTED COPY TODAY

3 Simple Ways to Foster Gratitude in Kids

July 16, 2019

Thank you for visiting my blog and I hope you take the time to subscribe as I will be posting interesting articles to help your child develop life-skills which will transition into leadership skills.

3 Simple Ways to Foster Gratitude in Kids

“Gratitude opens the door to the power, the wisdom, the creativity of the universe. You open the door through gratitude.” — Deepak Chopra

When parents think of leadership skills for kids, they usually think of character traits like confidence, courage, persistence, grit, etc. One trait that doesn’t often make the list is gratitude.  

As defined by the Oxford English Dictionary, gratitude is the “quality of being thankful; readiness to show appreciation for and to return kindness; a warm feeling of goodwill towards a benefactor.”

Okay, that doesn’t sound like it has anything to do with leadership, does it?  Sure, it’s a great quality, but leadership? Turns out, scientific research has shown the impact of gratitude on people’s overall well-being and ability to accomplish goals.

Two researchers from the University of California published their research titled “Gratitude as a Human Strength: Appraising the Evidence,” and in it, they concluded that “gratitude is an emotional state toward life that is a source of human strength in enhancing one's personal and relational well-being.”  

There is a lot of supporting evidence in business as well. Geoffrey James from Inc. wrote, “I'm utterly convinced that the key to lifelong success is the regular exercise of a single emotional muscle: gratitude.”

So how do we help kids regularly exercise this emotional muscle?

That’s a great question. Here are a few simple tips from “Leadership4Kids” that you might find useful.

1.     Use a Daily Journal – During my 12-week Leadership4Kids program, I ask each child to keep a leadership journal. As you can see below, one of the first things you see is the “I Appreciate” section.

I used to call this section “I am grateful for...” like most gratitude journals.  However, for some reason, kids respond better with the phrase “I appreciate,” perhaps because “I appreciate” is more action-oriented and “grateful” is too vague.

Also, as I have mentioned in a previous blog post, kids need very specific prompts, especially in the beginning. Here a few examples of specific prompts for kids.

-           Appreciate the first person you saw when you got up this morning.  This prompt is very specific. Nothing abstract here and this prompt usually leads to an appreciation for one of the parents. 

-           Appreciate something you threw away in the trash can earlier today. Again, a very specific prompt, which leads children to be more mindful about what they throw away. 

-           Appreciate someone you helped today. Although you helped this person, can you come up with a reason why helping him/her is the same as helping yourself? Very specific, again, which leads children to think about the reciprocal nature of cooperation and collaboration.

2.     The second way one can teach “gratitude” is through somatic exercises. A good method that I’ve learned from Dr. Paul Linden, founder of Being-in-Movement, is as follows, and you can try at home as well.

“Take a moment and think of someone in your life who has been particularly helpful to you, perhaps gone out of their way to take account of your needs or feelings and smooth what would otherwise have been a difficult situation. What do you feel? What do you feel in your body? What emotion actions are you doing?”

Most likely, you will feel warmth and a sense of opening/expansion. Now, remember part of Oxford Dictionary definition of gratitude is “a warm feeling of goodwill towards a benefactor.” Turns out, that “warmth” is a pretty universal when it comes to experiencing gratitude.

3.     Last but not least, do it together. Many families have “grace” rituals before meals, and that’s a great way to cultivate gratitude. If you prefer a non-denominational type of idea, you can do what I call “appreciations” before a family meal.  It is super fun and the kids get into very easily.

This is exactly what we do in my family. Before we start dinner, each of us gives an appreciation about each other - very simple things such as ''I appreciate mommy for making this yummy dinner' or ' I appreciate myself for working hard during today’s basketball practice” or “I appreciate the lawn outside.” Whatever comes to mind is fine, and this tends to open up for some interesting dinner time conversations as well.

The point is doing it together as a family whenever possible.

I hope you find these tips useful. Thank you.

Peter J. Liang Press Release

July 17, 2019

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

American Author Peter J. Liang to Launch A Leadership Journal for Kids

Parents can support leadership growth in their children with the “I am a Leader: A 90-Day Leadership Journal for Kids

New Orleans, LA – July 16, 2019 – American author, Peter J. Liang has tapped into his experience of developing leadership training and created a magnificent program for children between the ages of eight to twelve. As children mature, they often find themselves in challenging situations. When a child has developed leadership skills, any situation will be easier for them to conquer. Liang authored “I AM A LEADER: A 90-Day Leadership Journal for Kids,” that helps a child to develop leadership skills. The program taps into various skills that a child can use.

ABOUT THE BOOK

The Leadership4kids  program is an exciting, fun, action-packed program designed to help children gain specific skills so that they can apply them in a school setting and other demanding leadership situations.

The I AM LEADER journal came straight out of the daily assignments from Peter's Leadership4kids program. After seeing countless examples of how a simple daily journal can help kids gain skills such as self-awareness, confidence, and grit, Peter decided to publish it so more children could benefit from the daily practice of journaling. Just in time for the beginning of the school year, “I am A Leader: A 90-Day Leadership Journal for Kids,” launches August 8, 2019.

RAVE REVIEWS

Exactly what I have been looking for, a simple journal to help my son (10-year-old) reflect on his day. The writing prompts change daily, and they cover a wide range of topics. My son's favorite week is courage. Jessica D.

My eight-year-old daughter loves this journal. It has become part of our nightly routine now. Louise C.

I LOVE this journal. Very easy to get started and we are already on day twelve. My daughter seems to really enjoy the centering exercise too. Catherine L.

This journal is a wonderful way for kids to learn about leadership skills. Kids need this, and parents do too. I bought it for my nephew who is nine years old, but I can see this could be good for older kids as well. David K.

My son is eleven years old, and I've always wanted him to start a daily journal practice. When I found this on Amazon, I thought I'd give it a try. 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Peter J. Liang is the founder of Leadership4kids, a leadership development organization committed to helping kids become better leaders through mind and body education to improve movement patterns, self-confidence, and presence. 

For nearly ten years, Peter has used his experience gained as a successful business and tech executive, and a board member for various organizations to help kids develop leadership qualities such as gratitude, courage, and grit so they can live a more fulfilled life.  embodiment practice, Peter has also been trained in Being in Movement mind/body education, stress reduction, compassionate power, and peacemaking.

Contact Information

- PeterjLiang@gmail.com

- www.peterjliang.blogspot.com

Leadership4Kids

July 14, 2019

The reviews are in and parents can't say enough about I AM LEADER: 9O-DAY LEADERSHIP JOURNAL FOR KIDS.

Listen to some of the reviews in the trailer below.

Centering Exercise for the Body, Mind and Soul

July 11, 2019

Thank you for visiting my blog and I hope you take the time to subscribe as I will be posting interesting articles to help your child develop life-skills which will transition into leadership skills. Here is the first one.

A 3 Minute Centering Exercise for Kids

One of the first things you see on the “I AM A LEADER – A 90-Day Leadership Journal For Kids” is what I call “centering.” It’s also one of the first things I teach children in my Leadership4Kids program. 

So, what is a centering exercise? The “centering” exercise, or sometimes called “grounding,”has its roots in mindfulness and meditation which has been around for thousands of years. It’s a great way to help kids connect deeply to the world around them and become more aware of the rhythms of their own body.

I first encountered the “centering” exercise as a student studying Tai Chi and Qigong with my martial art teacher Sitan Chen, who won thirty-two gold medals in national and international Tai Chi competitions around the world. Ever since then, it’s been a big part of my daily routine.

Why is "centering" or "grounding" important for leadership development? Being a centered leader means having the ability to maintain one's balance, even in the midst of action. A centered leader is also more down-to-earth, know where she stands, what she stands for,  and much, much less of subject to peer pressure.

To teach this “centering” to kids, I have simplified the exercise quite a bit over the years. After studying with Dr. Paul Linden, a sixth-degree black belt in Aikido and founder of Being In Movement® mind-body training, I have adapted his methods of “smiling heart” and “shine” into this simple effective, and quick exercise which perfect for kids. It really helps them to relieve stress, improve confidence, feel great (mind, body, and spirit) and develop a positive mental attitude at school and at home.

Read the script below in a calm, relaxed voice and follow your child’s cues for the pace. Or, if this is uncharted territory for you, go to https://www.leadership4kids.com/centering. You will hear a guided audio version of this centering exercise. It only takes three minutes. So give it a try.

Let’s begin by finding a comfortable position which can be either sitting or standing. Once you feel comfortable, let’s take three deep breaths together…

…Breath in slowly through your nose and out through your mouths. Let your tongue hang loose, and your belly get soft. Imagine you are a balloon, so when you inhale, your tummy gets bigger and when you exhale, your tummy gets smaller. OK, ready?

Deep breath #1: (Make sound of inhale/exhale so kids can follow)
Deep breath #2: (Make sound of inhale/exhale so kids can follow)
Deep breath #3: (Make sound of inhale/exhale so kids can follow)

There you go. Three deep breaths in to help us settle in a bit. Feels good, right?

Now, the second part of the I AM A LEADER centering exercise is called Smiling Heart. 

Continue breathing deeply... Sit with your eyes closed and spend a moment picturing whatever it is that makes you smile inside. Everyone has something or someone that makes them happy inside; perhaps a friend, a toy, a flower, a song.

Ready? Let’s start

Breath in, Breath out. (Make sound of inhale/exhale so kids can follow)

Breath in, Breath out. (Make sound of inhale/exhale so kids can follow)

Breath in, Breath out. (Make sound of inhale/exhale so kids can follow)

How did that go? I thought of playing and goofing around with my daughter last night. That always brings a smile to my heart, and that makes me feel so good and so grateful for this wonderful day. The third part of the I AM A LEADER centering exercise is called Shine.

Continue breathing deeply... with your eyes closed. Imagine that you are the sun or a lightbulb or a firefly. What do you do? You shine. Feel every inch of your skin glowing outward, as you shine in every direction possible...

Breath in, Breath out. (Make sound of inhale/exhale so kids can follow)
Breath in, Breath out. (Make sound of inhale/exhale so kids can follow)
Breath in, Breath out. (Make sound of inhale/exhale so kids can follow)

How did that go? What happens inside of your body? What sensations do you feel flowing through you?

Okay. Take in another deep breath now and exhale slowly. Whenever you’re ready, open your eyes and give your body a big wonderful stretch!

Great job! You just completed the centering exercise and thank you for being such a kind, focused, and courageous leader.

  

“I AM A LEADER – A 90-Day Leadership Journal For Kids” is available on Amazon.com.

July 6, 2019

Welcome to my first blog post! This is an exciting time as I share my Leadership4Kids program with you.

I am Peter J. Liang, the creator of the Leadership4Kids program which provides a leadership development committed to helping kids become better leaders through mind/body education.

I started this program in 2017 after a desperate search for an after-school program for my kids. There wasn't any on leadership. Therefore, I took it upon myself and developed the program. Through word of mouth, the program has spread quickly. I have also developed a leadership journal that helps children.

On August 8, 2019 the "I AM A LEADER - a 90 Day Leadership Journal for Kids" will be available on Amazon. 

Please subscribe to this blog to stay up-to-date on all things Leadership4Kids.