13. May, 2010 
We see this year as more than just a chance to explore and experience the world and its residents, but an amazingly unique opportunity to spend lots (maybe too much!) time with the kids. So what to do with all that time? Dana and I both like to coach — on the field and in organizations — so why not think about this year as a chance to do some intense coaching of the kids? Problem is: kids don’t often like parents as coaches.
One day Dana came back from some educational seminar on raising good kids or something like that with a sheet of 12 simple Guiding Principles culled from the Bible, Koran, U.S. Constitution, Boys Scouts and Girls Scouts creed and so on. We realized that these Guiding Principles could be the framework around which we build our coaching plans. We asked both the kids and their teachers to identify two of the Principles they needed the most work on. There was a statistically significant correlation between the kid’s answers and the teachers. Which was good. So now we have the focus…just no real idea how to start the coaching.
Here are the 12 Guiding Principles
- Responsibility
- Contemplation
- Initiative
- Perseverance
- Optimism
- Courage
- Respect
- Compassion
- Adaptability
- Honesty
- Trustworthiness
- Loyalty
My father suggested we use fear and intimidation to better impress our Guiding Principles on our children. Inspired, he offered the following visual:
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