As a proud “Generation X’er” raised by old fashioned “Baby Boomers”, my most effective form of disciplining my “Generation Y” kids was to threaten them with the action of what I call, WWMPD, “What Would My Parents Do”. My stories alone of how and what my parents used to do to me and my three brothers when we screwed up was enough to cause a few sleepless nights for my kids.
For years I have relished the opportunity to leverage the stories of my childhood upbringing. Fraught with belts and switches, I methodically used the stories to motivate my kids to take a desired action. This technique I learned at a young age from my Mom and her six sisters. We were often times forced to sit and listen to them read the stories from the book of Revelations in the Holy Bible and would be frightened into doing good and maintaining the Christian faith. Those were indeed good-ole times.
Yes folks, many of us Generation X-ers were raised on the threat of “Bodily Harm” and “Bible-ly Harm”, and both methods were affective on me. As a kid, I honestly was more afraid of what my parents would do to me than what the bible would do to me because I was terrified of what we Texan’s called, “Butt Whoopins”. The interesting thing is that my two older brothers and I used to almost always seem to get our “Butt Whoopins” at the same time.
I remember one time standing in line in my parent’s bedroom mentally and physically preparing to be assaulted by Dad for one of our most recent screw-ups. My two older brothers were actually arguing over who was going to go first because they both wanted to be first to get it over with. Even as an adult today I struggle to understand the logic in there argument. My logic and belief was that if I went last, my Dad would have an increased chance of being tired and remorseful and would probably take a bit more pity on me, so I waited. I also figured while I waited I would cry uncontrollably in advance with snot-bubbles and tears of terror in hopes that this action would evoke an even bigger feeling of remorse and pity, but my efforts were futile. My 5’ 9”, 330 pound Dad had the strength of ten men and the stamina of a gazelle and remorse and pity took a back seat to “well-deserved-butt-whoopin”.
I must admit that my vivid memory of these past events and storytelling ability have served me well in raising my Generation Y’ers. But even more than that, I’ve discovered a piece of leverage that’s even more powerful than the threat of bodily harm. This newly discovered leverage appears to be even more powerful than bible-ly harm too. The threat of this one action results in immediate compliance in almost every case, the mire mention of it can make eyes pop open and command attention from Generation Y and even many Generation X’ers. Well, what exactly is this new secret piece of leverage? Hmmmm…
I would love to share my new effective finding with you today but I just don’t have enough room to do it here, so you’ll just have to get my book, “Make it GREAT” when it’s released this November of 2012. You can pre-order the book to guarantee your copy because the first batch will be a limited number.
Many have already taken advantage of pre-ordering the book which includes a bonus CD that’s loaded with Tips and Takeaways to making it a GREAT life. The Bonus is for Pre-Orders Only.
I’m also a HUGE fan of what I call “Creative Conscious Capitalism” which means that this book is being leveraged to do good in this world in more ways than one. As such, a portion of every book sold will directly benefit a child in need of water, food, clothing, shelter or education in several parts of our global community.
So, Pre-Order Today to lock-in your value and save your seat. http://www.cedriccrawford.com/the-book/
I can’t wait for you to see and hear what I’ve seen and heard. Let’s all continue to Make it GREAT!
