- How will I measure "success" in my life?
- What character traits will I model to others?
- How will I build strong relationships and work effectively with others?
- What role does faith play in my life?
- How will I persevere through life's inevitable hardships?
- How do I become a masterful decision maker, goal setter, and time manager?
- How will I succeed in college academics?
- How will I select and thrive in my career?
- How will I know he or she is "the one" and prepare for a lasting marriage?
- How will I achieve my financial goals and manage my money?
- How will I measure "success" in my life?
- What character traits will I model to others?
- How will I build strong relationships and work effectively with others?
- What role does faith play in my life?
- How will I persevere through life's inevitable hardships?
- How do I become a masterful decision maker, goal setter, and time manager?
- How will I succeed in college academics?
- How will I select and thrive in my career?
- How will I know he or she is "the one" and prepare for a lasting marriage?
- How will I achieve my financial goals and manage my money?
Equipping Young Adults for Real World Success
ADDRESSING THE NEEDDennis Trittin founded LifeSmart Publishing to help address the life skills deficit hindering today’s younger generation. Observation and research suggests this looming crisis is rooted in several cultural and institutional forces:
1. increasing fragmentation of family life
2. immature or absent parenting
3. schools viewing character/life skills as the domain of parents and therefore focusing primarily on traditional subject matter; parents incorrectly assume schools are fully covering key life subjects (e.g., finance)
4. inadequate youth employment opportunities
5. harmful cultural messages from the media and entertainment industries
The end result is that our society is producing a generation of young adults largely unprepared to negotiate life, develop and maintain healthy life-long relationships, demonstrate honorable and effective leadership, build stable households, and succeed in a--- Read More
Making Friends in New Places
7/30/2020 11:21:58 PM
This time of year always brings back memories of my first semester in college and the social adjustment I hadn’t anticipated. As a small town guy who knew everyone, being surrounded by a sea of strangers instead of my “regulars” was a brutal reckoning that life would never be the same. In those days, we lacked technology to keep us connected, and phone calls were simply too expensive. I remember resorting to writing letters to my friends who had scattered and were experiencing --- Read More
Is Your Parenting Style Affecting Your Teen's Behavior?
5/12/2020 12:31:08 AM
How would you describe your parenting style? And, how would you characterize your child’s attitudes and behaviors? The truth is, they’re connected in more ways than we realize. Although parenting isn’t about “picking a style” and running with it, we do have some tendencies that stem from our background, experiences, desires, and beliefs. Borrowing from our latest book, Wings Not Strings: Parenting Strategies to Let Go with Confidence, let’s delve into --- Read More
Fun Conversation Ideas for your Students and Children
4/27/2020 9:01:36 PM
Let’s face it. We’re all getting a little restless with these lockdowns. We miss the direct, face-to-face contact with our family, friends, and teachers. And, depending on the state in which we live, it can feel like we’re attached to a ball and chain. When we’re lonely or bored, it easily puts a strain on our relationships—especially when our world is scary. In light of this, we created a list of fun conversation topics to share with the children in--- Read More
Can One Conversation Change Your Life?
4/7/2020 2:44:02 PM
Being cooped up has given me more time to reflect on the people who have impacted my life. Usually, they’re the family and friends that stood with me for a long time, sharing experiences and support when I needed it. Without them, who knows how things would have turned out. It’s one of life’s greatest mysteries. Meanwhile, there are others who are placed in our lives for a fleeting moment. Maybe someone you befriended or who gave you a pearl of wisdom when you faced --- Read More
From Lemons to Lemonade: Turning Trials to Triumph
3/24/2020 10:36:42 PM
No matter who we are, we eventually face trials and crises. They usually happen to us individually (death, sickness, job loss, divorce), but in rare situations, like now, it affects us all. Although the degree and nature of our burdens vary, in generalized crises no one goes unscathed—especially in one that involves both our health andfinances. That’s a double whammy that hits extra hard, and we’re all hurting. The question isn’t so much whether we’ll fa--- Read More
Parenting With Freedom or Fear: The Bicycle Test
3/16/2020 11:29:12 PM
When we wrote our new book, Wings Not Strings: Parenting Strategies to Let Go with Confidence, we chose our title based on the imagery it represents. At launch time, will we, figuratively speaking, release our “eagle” with wings to soar, confident, capable, and free to fulfill his/her dreams? Or, will we be releasing a “kite,” whose strings we control and maneuver out of fear, and whose freedom we inhibit? Although our title was aimed at the teen being--- Read More
We're Busting These Nine Career Myths
3/5/2020 12:53:52 PM
Over the years of mentoring 17-24 year olds, we’ve been struck by the numerous misconceptions that are causing anxiety, disillusionment, uncertainty, insecurity, strategic mistakes, and regret as they plot their career courses. Whether due to incomplete training in high school and college, lacking self-awareness, or mistaken assumptions, their progress is being thwarted by several career-related myths. This blog is designed to help you debunk these myths with the teens and yo--- Read More
Ten Verbs to Start Your Parenting Day
2/16/2020 11:03:44 PM
Although it is certainly our desire, sometimes it’s not easy to be at our parenting best. The busyness and challenges of life, and our children’s dependence on us, can leave our tanks near empty at times. Stresses in our own lives are not always easy to compartmentalize, and they can easily spill over into our parenting. And, during the teen years, when our relationships often experience greater strain and conflict, it’s common to carry our frustrations and irritations into the--- Read More
Three Tips for Lasting Love
2/4/2020 8:27:51 PM
As many of you may have noticed (and many of you may have not), the hit NBC show “The Bachelor” is back for its 23rd season this winter. That is 23 seasons of one man (this year, it’s Pilot Pete) dating a couple dozen women, with hopes of proposing marriage to one in less than two months. The show has a cult following, but it’s no wonder only a very small percentage of the outcoming relationships make it long-term. The whole premise is very unrealistic and doesn’t m--- Read More
How This Teen Wrecked Her Part-Time Employment
1/29/2020 9:47:00 PM
Are your teens/students ready to excel in the workplace? Here is a story from our area of how one teen chose pleasure over work. Whether you’re a teacher, parent, or guardian, it would be a valuable case to discuss with the adolescents under your guidance. It directly addresses some of the concerns employers are expressing about their younger workers. Here goes. . . An Italian family moved to Port Smalltown (not the real name) to establish a new restaurant, living out the--- Read More
Is This Your Year to Fertilize or Prune?
1/8/2020 3:39:56 PM
Those of you who know me well know that gardening isn’t my thing. In fact, my thumb is so brown that you wouldn’t want me near your plants! I’m not sure why, but I think I overdo it with watering and fertilizer. More is better, so they say. And, so it often goes with our early planning for a new year. I, for one, habitually fall into that trap. It might look something like this: A five new goals list, complete with a fancy new planner to keep me on task A l--- Read More
