So, is the hype real? Can you lay on the beach and get your passive income ring in thousands of dollars? I’m here to break the news to you: it ain’t real, my friend. Here’s the bottom line. No matter how passive your income is, you still have to put in the time and effort to maintain it.

There’s only a small percentage of the population that truly has passive income. These are people that invested in the early stages of Facebook, Instagram and Twitter for example. Their investment went 500X without much effort. But, what’s the percentage of that out of the entire population? Perhaps 1%?

There are only two areas that historically have been classified as true passive income:

1. Real Estate as Passive Income 

Real estate is a form of passive income although I tend to disagree slightly here as there’s still work involved, even though you may have a property management company involved.

2. Investment in the Financial Markets

Another form of passive income is investment in the financial markets, predominately in the stock market. Does it pay off? Historically, data shows that it does if your expectations are checked at the door.

So does passive income exist? Yes it does but it has to be practical. Does it require work and effort. Yes it does. Is passive income truly passive? No.

Let’s look into it in more detail as this topic fascinates me. There are literally thousands upon thousands of “experts” that go on YouTube and claim their latest system hack or automated business that made them rich. Perhaps is true, that 5% really made it. And making it is all relative here. But guess what? Their success wasn’t achieved overnight. It’s the grind in and out every single day that gets someone closer to their financial goal.

Let me ask this: if you know what works and you’re making thousands every single day, why would you share that with everyone over YouTube and then link to your eBook that you’re selling? I bet that most people that know what works keep that to themselves.

And to be honest, here’s what works: hard work, focus and perseverance.

Do me a favour. Keep your money in your pocket or invest it wisely in your business.

Don’t give it to a lot of these people that are selling you a dream.

So what does actually work when it comes to “passive income ideas”. Build something around your passion. I realize is very cliche and that some may say, following your passion is not the right thing, following the dollar is. Listen, I’m OK with that philosophy for the short term if you want to cash in on a trend/wave, but it will not get you far. By far, I mean a solid business that will keep going and provide value 5 years or 10 years from the start date. Know this; it’ll take time and discipline but eventually you’ll get there.

Here’s a plan of attack to achieve that financial goal that you may have:

1. Keep Working At Your Job

More than 70% of people are dissatisfied with their job. Don’t believe me? Here’s the latest findings from J.T. O’Donal on Inc. on Why People Hate Their Job. That’s mind blowing. But guess what, you’re not alone. At least you have a goal now. Create wealth for yourself and your family. Keep working to cover your basis necessities and start working on what matters: a business for yourself that you’re passionate about.

2. Invest Your Savings Into Your Business

Don’t be flashy with your money. Material things don’t matter. Experiences do. Invest your money into your business.

There’s never been a better time to start an online business. You can start a proper online business for less than $100 today. How many beers have you bought last weekend at the bar? I bet you spent over $100. Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat and Google Ads are an amazing tool to get your business in front of your target market. Use these amazing platforms wisely.

3. Know Your Financial Goal

What does success look like? Is it an extra $2,000 or $20,000 per month? Know your financial goal clearly so you can transition from your job that you hate to a business that you enjoy working on.

Reality Check 

You’ve been searching for passive income ideas. I get it. You want passive income, I also get that. But the reality is; you’re not going to get it unless you are very focused, disciplined and keep on grinding. I’m not telling you how to do it but the basic building blocks, if you’re willing to listen are:

Know How You Spend Your Time

Are you watching endless videos on YouTube or are excited about a new TV series coming up? Dose that eat up 1 or 2 hours of your day? Think about how much work you could have gotten done. Content, planning, connecting. It takes time and effort to become successful. Use your time wisely.

You Gotta Really Enjoy the Journey of Entrepreneurship 

You have to live and breath it. Otherwise, everything will at one point become boring. If you don’t enjoy the hassle and the chasing of your goal, might as well stay at your job that you hate.

Again, we live in a time where it’s never been easier to start an online business. Would it be easy? No. But hard work and perseverance will pay off, not in a month or two, but in years. If you’re willing to put in the work, the rewards are there.

Please, don’t be spending your hard earned cash on buying the latest eBook that promises you thousands of dollars per month with the coolest automated money making scheme. Passive income ideas are nothing but a dream.

Even the ones I mentioned here, real estate and stock investment require effort and time. Why would you think that thousands of “experts” want to sell you a dream? So, you can finance their cars, bottles and models. Do you really want to do that?

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What I learned by becoming a father

Patience

You become more patient. Learning how to be patient is critical. If you don’t master this, you’ll have a difficult time. Patience is such a key trait to have and develop when having kids that no one can truly measure it or speak of it until you experience raising kids. I’ve never though of the amount of patience that it takes to raise kids, so I’ve always discounted parents that had three or five kids with them at the time. Now, I salute them because I know what it takes. It takes a lot of patience. Patience, patience and patience. A key ingredient of being a grounded father.

Time

You value time more. Trading time for money. When I was younger, I thought that chasing the dollar was the ultimate goal. Now that I’m “wiser” and have two boys, this changed. And it changed for the better because, trading time for money is not worth it. There’s always the back and forth decision of, “I can earn more by taking on X, Y, Z client” but in the end, how much dollar value can you put on seeing your kids smile, scream or being excited to discover a new toy or sound. Don’t get me wrong, money is important but use your head wisely. My advice, think twice about trading time for money. Make sure your family is onboard with your sacrifices and goals to meet your financial objective.

Money / Investing / Financial Independence 

You become more financially savvy when becoming a father. I’ve talked about trading time for money above. There’s a fine balance  between earning and spending quality time with your children. Having a career, a business or being financially independent is important. So work out a plan that gives you the ability to achieve that. So why is money, investing and financial indolence more important now that I’m a father? It’s because I want to spend more time with my children. I want to spend time educating, traveling and being able to do what I want when I want. The only way to be able to do this is by planning each step that will get you closer to your desired financial goal.

Confidence 

You’ll be more confident. I’m very fortunate to learn from my education, work and traveling that I’ve done so far. This gave me confidence in that no matter what, things will work out in the end. A lot of people are afraid to leave their town, their state or country. What a mistake. The lessons you’ll learn by traveling can never be taught in a classroom or understood by a friend’s great trip wrap-up when catching up.

A higher level of confidence helps with raising your children.  It’ll help them become more independent and more importantly emotionally intelligent when it comes to other cultures. If you haven’t been in a position to travel much, that’s OK. Start taking short trips with the family and expand that to a longer one, potentially living in a different country for a while. Obviously, it all depends on finances and other obligations, but if you want to do it, you’ll find a way to make it happen.

Inquisition

You’ll become a “child again”. I’ve always been inquisitive. Perhaps is part of being a Gemini! Carry that on to your kids. The wonder, inquisition and knowledge sought builds positivity and overall development of your children. One of the easiest way is to do this is by taking a car toy and exploring how it’s made, its parts and how it all functions. Great lessons here in building that inquisitive mind that will help tremendously as the kids grow up. There’s not much development when watching endless videos or movies. Lesson here: becoming inquisitive again is awesome.

Diet

You’ll eat better. Your diet is a major player in how you plan and build activities with your children. This is especially important for “older” fathers. You’ll want to eat better because that will give you a lot more energy and the ability to do a lot of fun activities outdoors: hide and seek, swimming, football, cycling, you name it! If you continue eating poorly, that will show through your energy levels. And if you’re a father of one, two or more, you need that energy! So, eat well and enjoy your time chasing the kids around. It’s one of the best things ever; feeling healthy and having fun outdoors with the kids.

These are some of the learnings that I’m happy to share when becoming a father. What about you? What are some of your learnings when becoming a father? Please comment below so we can all learn from each other.

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First, it’s worth looking at some of the research done. Below you’ll find some of the findings that make sense. This is based on Christine’s Carter’s book, Raising Happiness – 10 Simple Steps for More Joyful Kids and Happier Parents. I’m only outlining a few points from my perspective:

How To Raise Successful Kids

1. Happiness
2. Social skills / how to build relationships
3. Teaching optimism
4. Emotional intelligence
5. Adequate play time
6. Self-discipline

So what are the most important areas when considering how to raise successful kids? Based on science of “common sense”, I do believe that there are five key factors to consider.

Happiness

Without a doubt this is critical. And it starts with you as a parent. If you’re miserable, you’ll reflect that on how you treat your kids. Work on yourself first. Get it as right as you can. You’ll then be able to project that happiness onto your kids. As you know, every single toddler sees and copies your behaviour. Be happier by focusing on what you’re grateful for. I’m not getting into how to be happy as a parent here. The message is clear, get happier.

Playtime

One of the fundamental building blocks to happier and successful kids. Playtime is an amazing way for the kids to discover the world around them. To touch, feel and wonder. This doesn’t have to be scheduled in or follow a rigid plan. Let the kids play and run around. Ideally, you’ll want to have them outdoors. Get to the  playgrounds where other kids are present to encourage social interaction. Playtime is how kids learn. Give them that unstructured playtime so they can learn and develop.

Encouragement / Taking Risks

Positive parenting is key here. There’s a video on this if you’re not sure what it entails on our site. Please watch it. Encouraging your kids is key in developing their self-esteem. That combined with the safe assurance that you are there is a huge factor in developing successful kids. For example, how many times have you said “good job” when your kid went down the slide at the park or is eating well? Keep this with any other positive behaviour that he or she is showing. Encouragement and positivity are crucial factors.

Emotional Intelligence / Building Relationships

Building relationships and having emotional intelligence are also critical elements to a child’s development. By being able to identify emotions and building relationships with others, kids develop a good psychological well-being. One of the areas to begin with is to let your child know that feelings are OK but that certain negative behaviour is not. Explaining the reasons in clear details will help the child understand what is right and what is wrong. This will guide your child to knowing how to focus their emotions which will help them in the long-term as more relationships are developed.

Reasonable Boundaries / Discipline 

Discipline is hard. No one teaches us how to do it. We do what we think is right based on what we know in the past. I believe that we should discipline with explanation each time discipline is needed. There is a fine line between being too controlling and setting up reasonable boundaries. Understanding the principle of why something is not allowed gives the kids the ability to sort out between what is acceptable and what is not.

Healthy Environment

I strongly believe that providing a good diet and overall healthy lifestyle for your kids goes a long way. I’m not referring to second hand smoke here and the other obvious unhealthy factors. I’m speaking about lifestyle choices as a family. For example, your daily habits as a family are important. Eating your dinner together as a family for example. Getting enough sleep, going for walks, showing love toward each family member and letting your kids make their own choices within reasonable limits can help form on overall healthy environment.

How to raise successful kids is very subjective. Although there is science based evidence, who really raises their kids on a set rule of 10 principles?

I’m fully aware that the above factors are very limited. However, I do believe that these are the core building blocks.

What about you? What do you consider as the top key factors on how to raise successful kids? Are these on your list? If not, do let us know which ones you see as critical so we can all learn and benefit from each other.

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Funny kids jokes for the new dad! Enjoy!

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My initial though was that of a betterment. What can possibly be wrong or negative about parenting or fatherhood? Sure, there are those moments where you are dead tired, changing diapers for the 2nd time within 10 minutes, millions of tossing and turning moves with the occasional kick in the balls, endless babbling to avoid sleeping and the list goes on. But, in the end, it’s all worth it.

Here are five reasons why parenting makes you a better person.

New Purpose: 

How many of us make years resolutions or other promises that we’ll be thinner, wealthier, finding perfect love, taking that exotic trip and on. The most dangerous “In one day” attitude.  What an empty promise. Not to anyone else but yourself. Parenting on the other hand gives you clear purpose in life. You’re now responsible for a soul. You’re responsible to ensuring safety. You have a lifetime task to educate, to pass on your knowledge and experience. You’ve taken on the role of a provider, educator, protector. And that’s a new purpose that can’t wait for lame excuses or delayed action.

Patience: 

Being Present: 

There’s video that I enjoyed watching with ex President Obama speaking to first year college students. The message is clear yet powerful: being present matters most when you’re at home with your family. And by being present I don’t mean present in the sense of physical form. Be present in the moment away from distraction of t.v., phones, tablets etc. It’s about enjoying the moment with your sons and/or daughters whether you’re on the floor playing, taking them for a walk in the stroller or helping them get on a slide in the park. Be present and you’ll never be disappointed.

Understanding what matters most: 

Becoming less selfish: 

I’m a single child. Guess who’s being selfish? Once you’re a parent, you become less selfish. It’s about putting your child first. This touches upon priorities and what matters most that it teaches you to be less self centred. It’s not something that you can set out to change. You have to experience it for yourself to be able to give up that last piece of your favourite snack.

You appreciate your own parent(s) more: 

One of the largest lessons learned is the deeper appreciating for your parents. I never imagined how much work it’s involved in being a parent. Having a full understanding of the work involved when having kids makes me a better person as I’m more grateful for everything that my grandmother and mother did for me, even though I didn’t realize this when I was young, single and free.

Conclusion 

Parenting is an incredible amount of work. There are no short cuts. Although some parents may experience the negative side of parenting as seen above, I strongly believe that one will be a better person as a result of becoming a parent. It’s the realization of what matter most in life. It’s about deeper personal learnings that help you grow in a stronger and more balanced person.

What about you? What are some of your reasons that parenting made you a better person? I’ve noticed that a lot of content is from a mother’s perspective. Would love to hear both a mother’s and father’s input and how parenting changed you for the better. Please share your comments below.

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I recall being overseas and was amazed on how people of all ages were glued onto their phones. Hardly anyone being social. No wonder the “older generations” are quick to point out that we now live in a digital world. But, are we all hands off? According to Pew Research Center on mobile phone ownership over time, it is estimated that the vast majority of Americans or 95% have a cell phone of some kind. As of January 2018, the smartphone ownership is at about 77%. Consider this fact for a moment: in May 2011 the smartphone ownership in US was at about 35%! In 7 years, we experienced a grown of 42% in smartphone ownership! The largest population with a smartphone are the 18-29 year olds. Surprisingly, the 65+ own a cellphone of some kind (85%) and 46% own a smartphone.

How screen time affects children’s development, based on research

Implications of too much screen time:

Liraz Margalit from Psychology Today wrote a research paper in 2016 on What Screen Time Can Really Do to Kids’ Brains. In short the study found that:

1. Too much screen time too soon has a negative effect on the ability to focus, pay attention and communicate to other people as well as building a large vocabulary. If you think that you are giving your child the ability to educate them through a tablet, think again. The most critical ages of a child development is from zero to three as the brain develops the fasted during this period. All kids require stimuli from the environment not through screens (playing, listening, watching others, etc.). If a child is exposed to screens for extended periods of time, her or his development is restricted.
2. This can have the following consequences:
   1. Trouble making friends easily
   2. No real world connection – No on/off switch, resulting in instant gratification of clicking on other videos or images which translates into immediate response

Latest Research:

How about our own effect on our children development? How does that play? A new study from University of Michigan, C.S. Mott Children Hospital is out and it does present some sobering facts about parents that spend too much time on their phones, tables or laptops. The study took into account 170 parents (two-parents homes) in the US with children who were over three years old.

The parents were asked questions about their time spent on their phone, tables, laptops and TVs. Specific questions looked at the duration, the reasons and how these parents use tech devices. The main focus was on how the use of these devices interrupts family time such as checking emails, texts or social media updates. Parents were also asked about their children’ behaviour when checking texts or emails. Key reactions include hyperactivity, grumpiness and negative behaviour of the children.

Conclusion:

The main conclusion of the study is that, the child feels frustrated because there’s not enough importance place on them. This in turn makes the child feel the need to act out for attention, due to parents’ focus on their mobile phones. The fight to get the attention back is usually negative as the child feels that he or she is unimportant. Sobering facts.

Other studies have also concluded that too much screen time on children development, even teenagers or adults can have the following health issues:

1. Vision issues
2. Poor posture due to excessive time spend on various devices
3. Brain development and learning problems
4. Mental health and depression
5. Lack of attention and sleep problems

Listen, as I mentioned, we’re all guilty. Knowing that, how do we address this issue which is critical when it comes to child development. I’m suggesting some solutions below. By all means, these are not the “all in one” answer to all families that are looking at managing this issues better.

How to manage the impact of screen time on child development (and as a parent also):

1. It start with you, so limit the time on your phone, laptop or table the minute you walk into the house. You’re the role model, so be a good one to follow. Most of all, this will give you the ability to be present in the moment versus being there but thinking of something else. Your children deserve your full attention the minute you walk in the door.
2. No phones or tables at dinner. Simple straight rule that you can follow. I must admit, we sometime do have a table at the table so that we can feed Noah but realizing that this is not the best option for the long term.
3. A movie is fine as long as it does not go over 1 hour. So limit your time accordingly and time it in a way that is beneficial for the family. Example, don’t watch TV too late or too early.
4. Get outside and explore the world. Children develop by interacting with other children. I make sure that I take Noah to the park at least four to five times per week, weather pending. This gives him the ability to develop his social skills, his courage (he can get on the slide by himself now!), and play with other children.

Now that you have the latest research on how screen time affects children’s development, how are you going to address it? What was the biggest challenge and the best solution you implemented as a parent? How did it work and what was implementation time frame for it? We look forward to hearing about your own views and recommendations so that we can all benefit together as families.

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Here’s an interesting fact: the first words recorded for a children song was in 1860 by Edouard-Leon. Later on in the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s, more children songs were composed and recorded.

So what songs really stick out and get your child singing along? Below you’ll find our top picks that Noah enjoys as Aiden is a little too young at the moment! The songs are in no particular order.

Children Music Favourite and Most Popular Songs

1. Baby Shark

2.  One Little Finger Nursery Rhymes

3.  The Finger Family Song Nursery Rhymes

4.  Ten in Bed Nursery Rhymes

5.  Jonny Johnny Yes Papa Nursery Rhymes

6.  The Wheels on the Bus Nursery Rhymes

7.  Mary Had a Little Lamb Nursery Rhymes

Bonus Tip

As every family nowadays, we watch a lot of children music on YouTube. Some of our favourite channels include:

1. Chu Chu TV

2. ChuChuTV Surprise Eggs Toys

3. Super Simple Songs – Kids Songs

There are countless benefits of children music. It also helps if you are from a musical family or if you simply love music in general. Some of the benefits include improving social skills, building confidence and it teaches children discipline. Additionally, certain children music inspires kids to be more creative and patient. Lastly, music encourages your child to be more expressive which a vital part of the development process.

So there you have it, these are out top favourite songs that we listen again and again. What are your child’s favourite songs? Are there any YouTube channels that you subscribed to that you’ve enjoyed as a family? If so, we’ll love to hear what channels are worth exploring! Please comment below so we can all benefit from your knowledge and recommendations!

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