“Moral persuasion over a period of time makes a difference, but we shouldn’t be naive to think that just because we raise it in a meeting it will make all those problems go away. It won’t and it doesn’t.” -John Key
Persuasion can be used in both good and bad ways – the skill of persuasion comes with a sense of power. Getting someone to do something that you want them to do is known as persuasion. Influence, on the other hand, is a lot different than persuasion. The correct way to influence other people, especially your kids, is by setting an example yourself.
Kids are generally better persuaded by reasons they think they came up with. It is true for adults too. The art of persuasion includes being a good listener because when you know what people care about, it becomes easier to persuade them. For example, if your kid doesn’t like vegetables but like cartoons who are strong. You can use Popeye’s love for spinach and the strength he got after eating it into persuading your kid to eat spinach or other vegetables.
Your kids might do things because you persuade them to, but they are not always going to like them. While influencing them is something that will make them want to do things with their own accord. Children catch on more to what we do than what we say.
Having both persuasion skills and influential skills is among the most powerful traits of successful leaders. Raising kids is similar to being a leader, you lead them to follow the right part, to have strong morals and develop strong cores, to go for what they dream.
“Various influences – our parents, other family members, teachers, books we’ve read, discussions we’ve had, life experiences – all merge together to form our core values.” -Maya Green
More influence should be used than persuasion to teach the kids what we want them to learn. They will follow our actions, which is why setting a good example for your kids is important. There are two parts to influencing correctly. You have to remember both, influence is powerful and it is subtle.
When you realize that, you will understand how much your bad habits will impact your kids. You might not notice them adapting to the same habits but when it hits, it will hit strong. When kids are influenced onto the right path, it is easier for them to have emotional stability. Emotional stability is the ability of a person to overcome stress and difficult situations without letting themselves get highly affected by it.
Final Thoughts
Teaching our kids and guiding them is crucial to their development. Parents are their first role-models and have heavy influences on their children’s lives. We need to realize the power both these skills hold and use them to teach the kids to be better people.
