1. Teach the child on goal setting. First, you should let your child understand the meaning of goal. Then once he understands what the goal is, tell him to think of the goal he wants to accomplish. Like for example in school, your child wants to get a perfect score in his exams. You should help him define his goal. Like telling him to spend at least 15 to 20 minutes every night studying for every subject before the scheduled exam. Then, a night before the exam, tell him to study at least 30 minutes as exam preparation.  In this way, he will not have a hard time studying for all his subjects.  Tell him also that perseverance is very important in order to achieve his goal.

2. Let the child write down his goal.  Once the child already thinks of his goal, may it be short-term or long-term, tell him to write it down.  In this way, your child will not forget all about it. It will help him realize that goal setting should always be a part of his life, and he has to take it seriously. It should be a part of his personal “to-do list”.

3. Observe what motivates your child. Motivation begins with wanting something. Encourage your child to really think why he wants something, and then you tell him that motivation will help him become successful in his goal. Like for example, your child wants to buy a game boy.  So as a parent, you can tell your child that if he will study hard and get high grades in school, you will buy him a game boy as a reward for all his efforts.  In this way, you can help your child be motivated to do something to make his dream come true.

4. Praise your child in all his attempts to work hard. Positive encouragements, especially from parents that can help boost the ego of the child to work hard. Tell your child that if ever he commits some mistakes, he should not be negative about it.  Instead tell him that committing mistakes will lead him to success. It is from these mistakes that a person will try harder to be successful in his endeavor. As a parent, you should not ever forget to praise your child even how simple his accomplishment is.

5. Let your child make his own choices within the frames of moderate parental guidance. Just like everyone, kids want to make their own choices, may it be good or bad. As a parent, though, you have to let your kid understand on every decision he makes. You have to guide your child gently with encouragement about the goal he wants to accomplish.

6. Emphasize “do your best” to your child. Tell your child that in every work he does, he should put all his best efforts on it. For without hard work, everything that he plans will just be useless. Emphasize to him that he has to take things seriously in order to make his dreams come true. Once he does this, he will experience happiness and contentment with everything he does. This will help him establish a foundation for a good work ethic, something that he will carry throughout his life.

With all these tips, teaching your child on how to work hard will become less difficult and makes you become more fulfilled as a parent especially if your child also cooperates.

We should take into consideration that before entering the working class, we were able to decipher already during our college days the career we want to pursue after college graduation.  Of course, it is the general rule that one will likely settle with a career that fits his/her course in college such as Accountancy students will go for accountant jobs, Biology students for a medical-related profession, or a Journalism major student towards a mass media job.

Sometimes, however, it is not by default that a fresh college graduate will pursue a career in-line with his/her college course. There are some who chose a career far-out from what they studied in college – i.e., a Chemistry major running an Italian restaurant, a Business Management graduate as a successful fitness instructor, or a Biology graduate who is now a top-brass intelligence officer.

Hence, we ask – What drives people to choose a career that is off-tangent from the course they studied in college? What are the factors considered in choosing a career to pursue?

PASSION AND PRACTICALITY

Passion and practicality are two main factors that influence individuals what kind of career they will pursue. A combination of both makes a very idealistic well-being of a career oriented person. It is not all the time that one can savor these two very important things in a career. There are those who chose to follow their passion instead of wealth and fame that he/she can get from another job. There are some people, on the other hand, who chose the practical reasons in choosing a career, such as higher income, power and fame, and a less stressful job.

Passion.  During the time when we still students, we had this vision of what we want in the future. There were dreams of becoming a lawyer, a doctor, or to take good care of a one big happy family. Other dreams were drawn towards the limelight such as being a famous movie star or politician. Because of this vision, one chooses a career that will get him/her to that vision. In other words, this is what an individual really wants to do. This is passion.

Not all people passionately love their jobs. There are those who chose the other side of the fence rather than pursue their passion. There are some, however, who grow loving their jobs. Passion is something that is very important because if there is no passion and drive to do one’s job, every day will be a drag in going to the workplace.  Instead of enjoying work, one gets bored easily and shows no excitement in the workplace.  This can actually adversely affect someone’s performance in the job. Because he/she has no drive to do the job because of the lack of interest to it, there is a tendency that work outputs are sheer product of mediocrity.

Practicality. There are some graduates who get into a job which they do not like in the first place. Among the major reasons why people choose practicality over passion in their chosen fields is the fact of higher income from the job, simple job yet earning so high, the comfort offered in the job, and the prestige of the job.   Accordingly, choosing practical reasons over passion is, in itself, a practical thing to do. For others, one can still pursue the thing that he/she really wants to do after retirement.

In times like now wherein global financial crisis is at its hype, one should choose a job or career that is practical.

Looking the abovementioned scenario of what a fresh college graduate is likely to go through after graduation; one can say that it is not that easy to enter the “working class.” One has to make tough decisions on what career to pursue – on whether one will choose his/her passion or to pursue a career that is more practical, regardless if that is really what one wants.

Furthermore, the most important thing about in the working class is that one should be able to contribute in the society.  It is not necessarily something very expensive or material stuff. By simply being a good citizen and honest worker are enough contributions in the society. Furthermore, by paying taxes as well as observing environmental laws, one has contributed a significant part in the society.

Meanwhile, when it comes to choosing a career path, one should balance what is worth pursuing at – weighing the advantages and disadvantages because the corporate world is way bigger (and most of the time more cruel) than the world we have inside the school.  Furthermore, if one is caught in the situation that he/she has both passion and practicality on his/her side in choosing a career, then one should not waste time to grab that opportunity. If there is only the presence of one (whether passion or practical reasons), we should see to it that our decision will be for long-term results. Foresight is the key for success.

All of us come face to face with the allure of debt, particularly consumer debt like credit card debt, salary loan, car loan, housing loan and other personal loans. Credit though, is good at times, especially when used as leverage to earn more assets. However, when misused or abused, debt will surely cause trouble and is a death to those who mismanage it.

Debt problems, as in the case of credit cards, seem harmless at first.  This is because, credit card companies give a pre-approved credit and annual membership fees for the first year waived.  Primarily, we think of subscribing for a credit card for “emergency” purchases. However, this does not what happens most. Like for example, you wander through the mall and find out that they are having a sale to most of their items. And here you are, bringing the credit card with you, and so you are tempted to buy many items using your credit card. This comes with the thought of paying off the whole amount as soon as the bill arrives. However, before you know it, you would have racked up so many charges that you can only afford to pay the minimum amount. And here, the debt problem arises because aside from your purchased amount, you are being charged a very high interest for not paying the full amount.

If you are already encountering this debt problem, it is already time for you to think of better solutions to pay off your bill. You may borrow from your relatives or friends at concessional rates, if not, without interest at all.  You may sell some of your assets that you no longer need or use and pay the proceeds to your debts. If not, you may also consolidate your debt in one lender that charges the lowest interest. After you’ve zeroed your debt, stay debt free. The best way for this is to avoid temptations and occasions of spending. Like for example, visit malls frequently, and if not, leave your credit cards at home.

Managing debt is therefore, very important. You should take it as trying to lose weight. The first step is to see how much you currently weigh – that is, you should know how much you owe and what kind of debt you need to pay. The simple reason for this is that you need to know if you have enough cash to pay for a certain debt when it falls due. In addition to classifying your debt according to maturity, you should also take a good look at them to identify, which are necessary and, which are not.  Moreover, you should “cost” your debt to see, which have very high interest rates.