How does one help their children succeed in life? Guest Article By Kathleen Boucher

Congratulations to Kathleen Boucher. She recently was awarded the 2014 Book Of The Year award for her book A Simple Idea To Empower Kids: Teen's Edition and 2014 Preferred Choice Award (Kids Category) for A Simple Idea To Empower Kids: based on the power of love, choice and belief.

How does one help their children succeed in life? By teaching them to have a strong work ethic.

Wouldn’t it be great if each child born on earth came with their own unique instruction manual? How valuable would that be? And yet for all the books written to help parents, I have not found any that discuss work ethic. But hold on. I can hear you saying,” Wait a minute we are doing the best job that we can. We raise our children to believe in themselves, to take care of their bodies and their minds. We teach them to value their family, their friends and their community. We teach them to understand that to live in a country that is free is a gift not to be taken lightly.
Is it even important to teach our children a strong work ethic? What is it exactly?” Work ethic is defined as a set of values based on the moral virtues of hard work and diligence. Where do these values come from? How can we teach them to our children? Children often learn by example. In this case they observe the work ethics of their parents or caregivers and the values that govern their behavior.

Here is a story I have told my children ever since they were small. Unfortunately, I gave the book away.  A young man worked in a soda fountain shop after school to make extra money. His job was to clean the floor and the shop after it closed so it was ready for business the next day. He worked there three evenings a week. He never missed an evening of work or called in sick. One day the owner of the shop came to him and told him he could no longer afford to pay him. On his last evening of work the young man decided he would make the soda fountain shop “sparkle,” it was so clean. He wanted to be remembered for the great job he did and his strong work ethic. Two weeks went by and the owner appeared on the young man’s door-step, frantic the young man had found another job. He asked him to consider coming back as he was such a hard worker that he realized he could not do without him. The young man did.

So the question is: Does having a strong work ethic make a person more valuable in the work- place? I believe it does. Does a person stand out and get noticed when they have a strong work ethic? I guess that would depend on how many people one is working with that also have a strong work ethic. The answer would still be yes in my opinion. So how is this set of values learned? I am a firm believer in leading by example. I also think one should talk to children about having a strong work ethic as part of their up- bringing. This is the way it was taught to me. At work, you do the best job you can. You take pride in the work you do. You show up on time. Lately I have noticed there are more people out in the work- force doing the bare minimum than there are those that go the extra mile. I know of a young man who, if his store does not have the item the client needs, makes an extra effort to find the item and directs them where to purchase it. People go out of their way to shop at this store because of the service he provides. So include a discussion with your children about what it means to have a good work ethic. Teach them that a strong work ethic and going that extra mile will make them invaluable in the work- place. It will fill them with pride of a job well done and a sense of self-worth that one cannot put a price on. Let us empower our children to succeed in life and live their lives happy.

Kathleen Boucher is the author of A Simple Idea to Empower Kids and A Simple Idea to Empower Kids:Teen’s Edition

Kathleen Boucher has been a registered nurse for the past 37 years. She currently lives in Canada. She loves people, especially kids since she gets to actively help them realize that there is 'greatness' in each one of them.

"My goal has always been to do something that brought value to the entire world. It is my hope and intention that this great book ‘A Simple Idea to Empower Kids’, empowers kids around the world. John F, Kennedy had the right idea when he said "Children are the World's most valuable resource and its best hope for the future." Let us empower our kids to help them find their purpose and live their lives authentically doing something they love. Let us teach them early that they can do, be, or have anything they desire. The sky is the limit!"

Visit her website to learn more and download free motivational posters! Posters are available in several languages.