How to Discipline More Effectively & Spark Internal Motivation in Strong-willed Children

“Discipline literally means to teach. And Jesus disciplined by how he lived his life, not by lecturing, punishing, and sending his disciples to their rooms.” -Kirk Martin. Raising Christian Kids has decided to re-release our disciplining series, which was originally released in March of 2023. We feature experts who share their knowledge and are passionate about helping parents and caregivers navigate the rough waters of disciplining. We cover many topics, such as disciplining strong-willed children and children with varying cognitive abilities, the different types of consequences, and the most problematic issues parents face in today’s chaotic society. The wisdom that’s shared will hopefully help you raise children who are teachable and obedient to you and, most importantly, obedient to God. Celebrate Calm founder Kirk Martin has helped almost one million parents stop the yelling, defiance, and power struggles with the most strong-willed children. He is also the host of the Calm Parenting Podcast, and he offers a multitude of resources and packages on his website for you and your child’s specific needs. During this episode, Kirk elaborates on the following key points to help discipline children, especially those who are strong-willed: Ways to overcome apathetic children who don’t want to change their behaviors. The benefit of giving impulsive or anxiety-prone children the tools to succeed rather than getting angry at them for not behaving right off the bat. How to make mornings more fun for younger kids – a treasure hunt or challenge in the morning can be a positive motivator to get them to want to get up versus telling them they have to get ready for school. Connection breeds cooperation – we can connect with children on things they are interested in and use that as a tool to connect and discipline them more effectively. Spark internal motivation using a mission and mentor tactic – getting another adult in the child’s life to spark motivation or have them do activities that they are good at to motivate them to want to do well in school. Some of the major things that parents often do wrong when disciplining their children – reacting emotionally and taking things personally. Stop the power struggles with your strong-willed children, and check out Kirk’s Calm Parenting Package, which includes 30 hours’ worth of resources, from 13 different programs to help you discipline more effectively. Love this episode? Please leave us a rating/review and share this episode with a friend! You can find a list of all our episodes here.