Parenting Success

 by: Alvah Parker

At a Women’s Bar Association lunch one of the attorneys ordered a diet soda and then explained to the rest of us that her children were doing a “healthy living” program so she stopped buying diet soda to drink at home. She said having this diet soda was a real treat for her.

She then confided in us that the real difficulty her kids were having with their “healthy living” was eating 5 fruits and vegetables a day. The topic for the day was marketing and it seemed to me that she had just displayed a couple of marketing principles even though the topic hadn’t come up yet!

First of all the woman was trying very hard to model to her children the behavior she was encouraging. As a child I always pointed out to my mother when her actions did not reflect her directives – she told me not to smoke for example. Her response was “Do as I say not as I do.” Sorry Mom it doesn’t work. It just made me all the more curious about smoking. I did try it but fortunately for me I didn’t like it.

No matter what your profession or business if you don’t use your product or service you are not a model of what you offer. A lawyer who doesn’t have a will, doesn’t pay taxes, or “signs’ a business agreement with a handshake doesn’t advertise her own service very well.

Second the attorney and her children were measuring their success in eating healthy. The only place she wasn’t complying was with the requirement of 5 vegetables a day. Tracking results is an important part of a marketing campaign. How can you tell if you are successful if you don’t track your results?

Another way this mother was helping her children was with support. Trying to eat and live in a healthy way can be hard for children. Having their mother’s support, the support of each other and that of their school is a really great way to get encouragement.

So too when you market a law practice the attorney needs to have support. The Bar Association is one place to get that support. Other places might be through a coach, a mastermind group, or other attorneys.

Just the other day I was listening to a teleclass on parenting with Jack Canfield, the author of the Chicken Soup books. He has written a book called The Success Principles. Even as I listened to his discussion I thought how many of these Principles we use in our daily lives without knowing it. Let’s give ourselves credit for being successes in our own world! Here are a few that mother and her children used in that healthy living program:

• Success Principle 13: Take Action

• Success Principle 20: Commit to Constant and Never-Ending Improvement

• Success Principle 21: Keep Score for Success

• Success Principle 41: Build a powerful Support team

Canfield will be speaking on a telephone discussion group on parenting again on May 17th at 9PM ET. This time his focus will be his book Chicken Soup for the Fathers’ Soul. Jack Canfield adds wonderful stories to a rich parenting discussion. To learn more about it click here: http://tinyurl.com/4t7uy