The other morning, my two and a half year old son was not up for his morning bath!
“Let’s take a bath!” I said as enthusiastically as I could.
But my words just didn’t have enough “Wow! Yes! Let’s!” energy to motivate him!
So, what’s a motivational author mommy to do?
I thought about the words I was using and reframed them!
“Let’s take a bubble bath with lots of bubbles!” I said with a peppiness that got his attention.
He perked up!
Then I added: “Let’s go swimming in the tub with lots of bubbles!”
Suddenly, he’s on board and psyched!
Now, how can YOU apply this to your own life? How can you re-think and re-frame the experiences you don’t want to do?
For example: Doing the Stairmaster at the gym might be re-framed as “YAY! I’m excited to do that Size-4 Jeans Machine!”
Think about how you can re-frame things you are presently avoiding so you are focusing on the reward, the playfulness part of doing it, the parts you enjoy within the activity, the positive results, etc.
Feel free to share a way you can re-frame something in a more positive and playful way to motivate yourself. Love to hear. And love to hear ways you motivate your kids as well!
Xo Karen
Note: I shared this message on my Facebook page, and here were some of the awesome re-framing ideas my Light Sender Tribe community shared!
Tami: When my kids were little, I realized they don’t want me to tell them they have to take a bath. So I got out a clipboard and paper and went to each one and said I have an available bath appointment at 6:30 or 7. When would you like your appointment? Each one would happily pick a time—and happily took their bath when the clock said it was their appointment time. They loved deciding when!
The Orange Rhino: Re-framing is so helpful! Bedtime used to be a disaster because I went into thinking ‘Ugh this is gonna stink!’ I changed it to ‘Yes! Lets get this party started! It’s my last 45 minutes with my boys before I say goodnight for 12 hours! [Okay, 10 hours if I am lucky.] Let’s make it a great 45 minutes!’ Works like a charm.
Stacy: Oh, one of my favorites for my kids was back when I had a lot of trouble with picky eaters (boys). I started naming food items gross names, like, my son would look at the onions in something and ask if there were onions in the soup (duh, you know there are because you are picking one out). I responded, ‘Nope, those are pieces of witch skin’ or something. We ate troll brains and dried up boogers and fingernails and worms and monkey guts and all sorts of things—the grosser the name the better—especially if they were the ones coming up with them.
Suzanne: I call my kids’ chore chart a responsibility chart—makes it sound more like they’re being treated like big kids/young adults. The more freedoms they want, the more responsibilities they take on!
Virginia: I work as a Residential Cleaner, and I get psyched by thinking of ‘cleaning’ as a great cardiovascular workout or weight training. I re-frame the more tedious tasks by playing ‘beat the clock.’
Vanessa: I make happy faces with at least one meal a day. Today was mini bran muffin eyes, strawberry nose, with a banana smile.
Sabine: Nobody was amused to remove the snow with an ordinary snow shovel…Sitting in the kitchen I asked loud and clear: ‘I wonder if it’s possible to blow the snow away with our electric blower…’ Immediately two sons ran outside to try and to find other male-friendly solutions.
Lesley: I went to physio today to make my knee better! And I’m washing the kitchen windows so I can see the birds on the bird table better!
Peta-Gai: Today, I was writing Board Minutes in my lawyer job, when all I wanted to do was play with my makeup company makeup, write my website, and decide on photos to make my website look pretty. I re-framed it as: ‘I’m so lucky to have a career that pays for my baby, Iridis Cosmetics, and that the sooner I finish my lawyer job, the sooner I can play with makeup again!’ Boy did that spur me on!!!! Re-framing is SUCH a key to success!
James: While my three children were growing up, I would always re-frame ‘homework’ as home studies, world exploration, and life improvement!
Steve: Dishes in the sink? Be grateful you have running water and plates on which to put any food you want. In every moment there’s something to be thankful for.
Theresa: I used to have an awful time with my son, waking him up. Now I turn the TV up full blast so he hears his favorite show.
Cynthia: Yay, I am excited about getting a shiny new permanent tooth today for a great smile! (Trying not to think about the dentist drill.)
Karen Salmansohn is a best selling author and award winning designer with over one-million books sold and founder of the popular inspirational website notsalmon.com. She writes and art directs inspirational books/motivation for both adults and kids. She’s also very friendly, so feel free to drop on by her site and say hello!
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