My wife and I have been taking personal development courses for several years now. Most of them have been with T. Harv Eker and Marshall Sylver. Both are stupendous at what they do. During one of our course, it occured to me that I needed to create something that I could use with my kids to help them gain from our experiences on these courses. I decided on a list of declarations that we could all say together before bed. Every night before bed we were already saying prayers, so it was just natural for use to add the declarations to the routine.

So every night, we begin with our prayers. At the end of the prayers, we each say something we are thankful for and something we pray for. Natalie still gets these mixed up a bit, and the boys have a good laugh about it. Actually, this part came from a Marshall Sylver course we took. We had to give something to someone else for them to remember us by and each time we would look at it or touch it we would say what we were thankful for.

My gift was from Ryan. He gave me a flat, pink, polished stone that he had polished himself. Ryan, at the time, was a successful real estate investor at the age of 18. He was a great inspiration. Anyway, I walked around with that stone in my pocket for probably a year. Each time I touch put my hand in my pocket, I would touch the stone and it would remind me to be thankful for something. Anything. As I write this, I am remembering that I haven’t carried that stone with me for a long time. I will do that starting tomorrow (Maybe you could send me a reminder, okay?). Luckily, the “thankful for/pray for” that we do every night keeps me honest.

Some point along the way, Matthew added: “And now we shall live for Christ” to the end of this. He is very perceptive.

Next, as a transition between the prayers and the declarations, we all state something thing that Amelia added and that was:

Every day, in every way, it’s getting better and better!

Then we go straight into the declarations. We started out using the signature Peak Potentials laminated cards (I had created one card for each of the kids, each with their name on it). The declarations come from many sources, and mostly from the T. Harv Eker courses we have taken. After a few weeks, we didn’t need the cards anymore. This is how it goes:

Everyone loves me!
Because I love everyone!

I am beautiful!
I am perfect just as I am!

I always smile!
Smiling just feels right!

I am a master of my mind!
I see “awesome” in everything!

I am happy!
I choose to make it so!

I am here for a reason!
I add value to other people’s lives!

I am a child of God!
I make this world a better place!

I improve continuously!
I practice everything!

I am a warrior!
I succeed in spite of anything!

I am a champion!
I achieve anything I desire!

I am Kyle Edginton!

We end off the last part by saying our name (please replace my name with your own or that of your child) and giving each other a solid, energetic Hi-5. Okay, so not always energetic, but a Hi-5 nonetheless. It is bedtime after all. The point is that saying our own name and striking a Hi-5 afterwards, helps to imprint what you have just said in your mind and make it believable for you.

Has it made a difference? I think so. The kids fit over who gets to say their “thankful for/pray for” first. They have creative ways of giving Hi-5s…and 10s…and feet…and whatever else they can think of.  My kids are happy (generally). They care about other people (mostly). They are confident (nearly always). And they are beautiful (ABSOLUTELY!!!).

Has it made a difference?

I am Kyle Edginton!
I say it does!