life tips

Life Changing Things to Make you Successful

October 14, 2018 By Joni Kinney 2 Comments

It’s effortless to point fingers at other people or things for our lack of success. Frequently I hear things said about why we are not as successful as we think we should be. However, there are very few people who are making purposeful life changes to be successful. Do not be one of those people. Making small changes can change your life. Here are some things you can do today to set yourself up for life-changing success.

5 Easy things to change your life

Stop Complaining

Everyone seems to complain about other people and yet I rarely hear people complain about their actions. Merely stop complaining about others will be life-changing. Now if you are reading this and you are saying, but I complain about myself all the time. Ask yourself are you complaining about your actions or your self-worth?

So to get the best out of our new life-changing behavior, you need to stop complaining about other people. You don’t control them. What do you control? YOU, you control yourself. Your reactions, your thoughts, your feelings about others.

Let go of Negative Energy

Negativity is everywhere. You need to learn the power of Positivity: How it can change your life! So you need to let go of all the Negativity we see and feel from ourselves and other people.

If someone in your life is not providing a positive influence in your life, let them go. You do NOT want or need that to be around you everyday.

I know this can be hard… but no one ever said doing the right things were going to be easy.

Look for Gratitude

Do not say there is nothing to be happy/grateful for in your life. Even in the very worst of times, there is happiness. Find it.

Write down at least ten things you are grateful for that happened today. Not stuff like I’m so grateful for my kids. Yep, we know that. But what did they do today that made you happy today.

Maybe you are happy the sun came up today. Did your spouse tell you they love you? Maybe you got 5 minutes in the bathroom without interruption. Whatever it is, no matter how small or seemingly insignificant write it down. Aim to get at least ten items of gratitude wrote down every single day.

If you do nothing else to change your life, do this. Find the positive appreciation in every single day. Life is short people, don’t use your time concentrating on anything but the good.

Fail Forward

Have you ever made a mistake? Ok good, so have I. We all do, we are human after all. Making mistakes is good, it gives us an opportunity to learn something new.

Do not allow yourself to wallow in the self pity of the mistake you made. Instead, fail forward by learning something from it and moving on.

Determine your vision

Determine what you want to do with your life. Are you living as the best person you can be? If you are not, what would it look like if you were? What would you be doing? Think about your career, family.

Once you have a picture of your best self, write down what that picture looks like. You have just determined your goals. Next, you need an action plan on how to make those goals a reality.

Small changes can be life changing. Be the best person possible by finding your vision, positivity and creating a life that is all about:

Dad’s View : Ultimate Guide of things to teach your Daughter

April 1, 2018 By Jason Kinney Leave a Comment

Awhile back my wife wrote a blog about “The Ultimate Guide of Things to Teach Your Daughter“. I thought it would be good to do write an article of the things to teach your daughter from a dad’s perspective. Keep in mind, like everyone’s son and daughter, my daughter is very unique. Even though she is into dying her hair and talks to me about ‘boys’. She is the same kid that almost every month has weekends of her kicking people in Taekwondo or attending a wrestling event. To this day if you ask her, her dream profession would be a wrestler such as Nia Jax in WWE.

Top 5 Ultimate Guide of things to teach your Daughter

Be Comfortable in Your Own Skin – This is easier said than done. It took me almost 40 years to be comfortable in my own skin. Many of our conversations on this surround doing what you are comfortable with, not what “the group” may want. Try to live a healthy lifestyle but at times if you want that donut, get that donut. Just be happy with who you are on the inside and the outside. Life is too short to worry about what you may not be.
Experiences Over Materials – Travel while you are young. Get those memories of travel when you can as you never know what tomorrow brings. Memories such as going to the wrestling event and seeing your favorite wrestler or going and sitting in the white sand on Siesta Key in Florida with friends can’t be replaced. Those sports figures and cards can be. Going for a road trip in the Polaris Slingshot and feeling the wind on your skin is better than sitting in front of the television. We have been fortunate as we travel a fair amount, we do our best to make sure she realizes our travels are not like most families. Work hard to enjoy each little trip and journey along the way.
Even When You Do Your Best, Sometimes You Still Need a Little Luck, but Never Give Up. I have seen most of my daughters taekwondo tournament matches. I have seen her dominate, I have seen her squeeze out a win. She has lost, She has been rocked and I thought for sure she would give up. She never backed down. Over the years, you hear people say “I am the best”. When she started her Taekwondo journey, I started from the beginning telling her “There are millions of others doing this, you most likely will never be the best”. A lot of people disagree with telling their kids that there will be someone better than them. I fully believe the honesty will help her prepare more than a false sense of security.
Boys have Cooties – I am still working on this one, it was a lot easier when she was younger. Just having issues continuing to convince convincing her of this.
Family Time – Each weekend, Cheyenne and I have a breakfast date. Her and I go out every Saturday and Sunday and go get breakfast and sit in the car and eat and then go to Target. We have done this since she was around five years old just allowing for open conversation and her to see that her and her opinions matter. I am hoping that she remembers to do the same when she is a parent many years down the road.

2 Bonus things to Teach your Daughter

Save and Budget – Cheyenne does not get an allowance, she gets a chore chart. Since she was seven, she had separate cans to put her money in; one for travel, one for spend, one for electronics. Some of those jars give a bonus if she saved a certain amount or she’d only have to save 1/2 of the real cost of the item such as a new iPad. My mom taught me a long time ago to make sure they are invested in the items they want. Most likely they will care for it a lot more if they have something to lose in the deal. I really am hoping this will when she is older and has to her own monthly budget
Her Dad is Human – This is probably the one that people may have the biggest exception to. I have an agreement with Cheyenne that “Ask any question, I will never lie to you, but I do right to refrain from answering”. This has led to many interesting conversations. She is smart enough to figure out that if I refrained from answering, that means she probably got the answer. This has led to her realizing that we all make mistakes. We are all human and nobody is perfect.

If you have questions or have suggestions for other articles please contact me.

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The Ultimate Guide of things to Teach your Daughter

March 13, 2018 By Joni Kinney Leave a Comment

As most moms I try to do my best to instill some basic principals of life to my everyday interactions with my daughter. She’s at an age where she’s had to deal with mean kids, and yet isn’t old enough to really understand how some of these interactions will truly shape who she will become as an adult. So I made a list of things that I want her to know and learn about herself and life in general. This is my ultimate guide of things to teach your daughter. I mean really it’s the same for all kids… but I only have a daughter. 🙂

Ultimate Guide of things to teach your daughter

Do not ask questions if you are not ready to hear the real answers. If you don’t really want to know the answer to “Do you Love me?” if the answer is NO. Then you should not ask the question. Sometimes we think we are ready for those answers but we really are not.
A Few best friends are better than lots of friends. Knowing who your friends are when you are going through your worst moments is so much more important than having a lot of friends who won’t truly support you when the going gets tough.
Basic Budgeting – and sticking to it even when it sucks. Budgeting can suck, because I really WANT this thing I haven’t finished saving for… but in a year you will thank me for having self discipline when your car breaks down or your tv goes out and you have money set aside to fix it or repair it.
Fighting is ok, it’s how you resolve it that determines how good of friends you are. If you’ve never had a fight with your boyfriend, or a girlfriend then you aren’t really as good of friends as you thought. Now obviously this doesn’t apply if you just met or just started dating, but at some point you are going to disagree. Disagreements are ok, and normal. How you resolve them and that you can resolve them determines what happens next.
No one else is you… don’t let their opinions decide what you like. If you love to sit around and watch cartoons on Saturday or you love to watch that tv show from 3 years ago no one else liked. Those are totally ok things and you should do them. Don’t let others decide how you feel about something. Own your feelings, they are yours!
There is always something new to learn. Even when you are 90 you will not know everything. Technology changes, people change, our world is ever evolving. Learn that you will never know everything.
Don’t judge others, you don’t know what they have endured. It’s so easy to say – oh that person stinks or why don’t they just wash their hair, clothes, etc. BUT… you don’t know if they are going through a bad spot in life or if they are truly choosing to be or act that way. They may have a medical condition or they may need help.
Your choices today may determine your future. Posting pictures, picking on others or just anything will stick around forever. If you post it, think it or say it assume everyone will forever be able to retrieve it.
Being kind and respectful is more important than being popular. As the saying goes, stay humble and kind and help those behind you on the line. There is always someone who knows less than you, and if you see them struggling stop and help. You never know when someone will repay your kindness.
Being beautiful on the outside may bring people to you, but being beautiful on the inside is what keeps them coming back to you.

Please feel free to contact me and if you agree with all or some of these please share!