7 profoundly life-changing ways you can be a sensational parent.

There are many routes people take to be a sensational parent, but Zig Ziglar has a few tips that anybody can use to sharpen up their parenting style – no matter who they are. In his presentation Golden Rule Relationships, Ziglar discusses how to be a sensational parent by explaining how you can reach your children emotionally and be an effective parent and provide them with security and significance.

1) Bond
To begin with, Ziglar points out one of the best parenting tips of all time in the form of a fact. “Rules without a relationship will lead to rebellion.” If your child is acting out and breaking all of your rules, could it be that you are not spending enough time building the relationship between you two? Mutual respect comes from a place of love and a strong bond. For your child to listen to your rules, you need to develop a relationship with them and ensure that the bond is strong so that they grow up respecting you as you do them. Then when they want to break the rules, they will think again rather than just plowing through your barriers. They will want to respect you and your wishes if they have a strong bond, a strong connection with you.

2) Security
Insecure children bring out many disasters in life. These are the children who are abused in relationships later in life, the children who are taken advantage of because they feel like they need to be accepted into a society they do not feel secure within. Provide your children with their own type of security so that they can move forward in life feeling supported and like they have everything to gain rather than everything to lose in life. “When you express your love and acceptance, you give them security.” Be the pillars of support and provide your child with love and acceptance. Give them security so that they can take their own calculated risks and live a fulfilled life reaching for their dreams, knowing they have you to fall back upon. They don’t know until you tell them. So tell them; every single day.

3) Significance
“When you express and show your appreciation, you give them significance.” No child wants to be left behind while their parent is off at work, chasing their own dreams and ignoring their child. Show your appreciation for your child. Spend time with them. Tell them that they have taught you a better work ethic. Be vocal about your appreciation for the children in your life and you will remind them just how significant they are so that they don’t do things in an attempt to feel significant in your life. Even if you are business-savvy and spend very little time at home, remind your children of your appreciation for them. Reach out to them. Tell them you care. Remind them of their significance. Don’t wait for them to cry for help.

4) Importance
In the same vein as significance, it is vital that you show your children and teach them how important they are as individuals. “When you express and demonstrate your availability you say to them, you are important.” You want your children to grow up calling the shots in their own life because they know they are important, not waiting around for other people to tell them how to live. You want your child to reach for the stars because they know they are important and can do whatever they dream of doing. You want your child to feel important because only then will they not seek validation through other people; waiting around to feel important because somebody tells them they are important. Teach them that their time matters and they will live a life that they control themselves, rather than one where other people are dictating their actions.

5) Lovable
Your child has to know love in order to live a good life. Teach your children they are lovable so that they do not seek out love in the wrong places. “When you express and show your affection, you show that they are lovable.” By letting your child know they are loved, you are opening an incredible door in their lives. You are proving to them their own self-worth, that they are lovable and can be in happy, positive relationships. You are lessening their chances of being in abusive relationships or seeking love in places they shouldn’t, or may regret later. By showing your affection for your children, you are showing them how to love and be loved. Don’t ever underestimate the importance of teaching someone how to be loved. If you don’t, someone else will — and it might not be the way in which you intended for them.

6) Love Unconditionally
“We’re supposed to love our kids regardless… unconditionally because they are ours.” Arguments happen. Mistakes happen. Life happens. Be sure that your child knows that no matter what happens, you will always love them. There is no benefit in a power play over love with your children. You have to teach them and show them not only that they can be loved unconditionally, but also that they are loved unconditionally – loved by you.

7) Happiness
Finally, introduce your child to true happiness. Teach them to live in a forgiving, proper way through love and faith. Teach them how to wake up in the morning with forgiveness, counting their blessings and finding the good in life despite the bad. “Start today properly with your child and end the day properly with your child and what happens in between will be lots better.” Teaching your child to seek happiness and always look up in life will go a lot further than anything else in life. You have an impact in their life – make sure it is a good one.