Family Values

I went to dinner with a famous motivational speaker and corporate trainer named Jim Cathcart this evening.  I had a grand old time and spent the evening picking his brain about success and public speaking.  We had an interesting discussion about parenting and how those who put in the hard work up front find that their kids become easier to manage over the long run.  Jim gave himself a great compliment when he told me that his son was the type of guy that he would like to grow up to be one day! 

That lead us into a discussion about how important family is and that structure really does improve relationships.  He mentioned to me that when working on the Board for Junior Achievement, he put together an entire program for families based off of the Mormon Church's "family home evening" program.  He told me that he flew to SLC to learn about it and implemented an amazing program based on the same principles in the Junior Achievement curriculum.  

I thought this was interesting.... Structure can improve relationships?  Then I started thinking that relationships are based on communication.  And when there is a structured setting where communication flows freely among individuals those relationships grow deeper.  I am grateful for my parents and the structure that we had growing up that allowed me to learn a great deal from my parents.