Wise Decisions

Chapter 8Y.O.D.A. Rising: Parenting Young Children

I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.

—Maya Angelou

Now that you understand the power of your inner voice, let's explore the most significant idea of all: how your public voice as a parent becomes the inner voice of your child, shaping the broad underlying themes of how they feel about themselves and the choices they make.

To understand how stories and belief systems cross generations, we will start by reflecting on the genesis of your own untrained Inner Voice 1 and how that voice may be influencing the public voice you use with your child now. More importantly, we will explore how your untrained public voice can be intentionally transformed into a trusted inner coach for your child that will yield priceless decision‐making dividends for life. (See Figure 8.1.)

As a parent, you are your child's first and most powerful teacher, and just as teachers require formal training in order to provide high‐quality lessons to their students, so do parents, particularly if a healthy inner voice was not embedded in you as a growing child.

Wise Decision Insight: One of the greatest gifts you can give to your children is a strong and wise inner voice, a measured and thoughtful decision advisor that will be with them throughout their lifetime, something we refer to as Y.O.D.A. Rising.

The parent‐child bond is unlike any other relationship ...