Congratulations! You’re here. So now what? The start of anything new is accompanied by some excitement, a bit of curiosity and a certain amount of fear. The exciting thing about this new thing – 9 Steps to Your Best Family - is that you have decided to devote some time to being a better parent and having a stronger family. I know you are curious about what each step will entail - who wouldn’t want to know what’s around the corner. It’s probably the fear part that feels the biggest right now.

Let’s talk about that fear for a moment. Are you more afraid of the process or the outcome? Some moms and dads are really worried that going through the exercises and doing the steps will make them worse parents in the end. Others are concerned about having to do the exercises in the first place. ‘What if, when I’m done, I’m more messed up than when I started? What if I don’t learn a thing?’

Well, what if you do learn something? Think about this. Even if you only learn one thing through the whole course, after doing all 9 steps, that’s one thing more than you know today. And even if you only change one thing in your family because of the course then your family is assured to live a different destiny.

There is a scientific fact that if a butterfly flaps it’s wings on one side of the world, the weather on the other side of the world is altered. There is also a personal development fact that if you only alter one thing about yourself or your behavior, you are sent on another trajectory path. Learn one thing. Change one opinion. Do one thing different and your entire life is profoundly altered.

So instead of thinking about all the steps and exercises you have to do, think about finding one thing in each step that you can use to change how you are living right now. Find one small change you can make in your outlook or opinion. That makes tackling the process easier.

As for who you will be at the end and what your family will look like, I can’t predict. But neither can you. That’s life though. You can’t predict who you’ll be next week even if you don’t take the steps. You and your family change all the time. Who you were last year isn’t who you will be next year. Because each day you gain precious life experience, you change who you are.

Release your fears of the process and outcome in order to embrace the potential for yourself and your family.

Take this first step with confidence that you will only discover what you need to move forward. What you discover is part of being a more effective parent.