In the book, The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership, John Maxwell writes;
“We should work on changing ourselves before trying to improve others.”
Working to improve ourselves is a full time job. In fact so much so that my mentor and instructor, Mr. Tom Callos has many times said to me and others, that whatever it is that you need to work on for yourself, you should bring your students along and have them work along with you.
Every time that I research or write about a subject, I find myself looking at myself and finding ways for me to improve in those areas. Whether we are a parent, instructor or a 7 year old with a younger sibling, all of us have a responsibility to ourselves and to those looking up to us. That responsibility is not just to tell them what to do, but to demonstrate in our daily lives how to do it.
Yes we are going to fail from time to time, but that is a lesson for them too. When I fail what shall I do? Fall down 7 get up 8. The gift that all of us can give our children, students and others in our sphere of influence, is being a good example.