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Guest Post-Six Strategies To Shift Your Life by Dr. Capri Cruz

3/17/2018

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​To live a life of Greatness, you need to shift. What does that mean? It means to incorporate new strategies so you can live better, plan smarter, be more present, and execute more effectively. These six strategies helped my life shift and I assure you they will help your life shift as well.

Before you go to sleep, make the conscious decision that when you wake up you will immediately take a couple of deep breaths to center your mind and your body before you do anything else. When you awaken, don’t check your email or social media. If it’s helpful, use a separate alarm clock from your phone so that you’re not tempted to check your phone. You must learn to be deliberate about how you move in life. From the moment you gain consciousness to the time you go to sleep, be aware of the moment. Be a deliberate being, not robotic in your typical ways of being.

Plan your week on Sunday, then review each new day the night before. This helps you wake up each morning focused to hit the ground running. When you fail to plan you plan to fail, undisputedly! How do you get ahead of life? How can you shift the influence on your own life? Deliberately plan what needs to get done before the day it needs to get done. We all have 24 hours in a day. Some people are just more effective at strategizing their time and therefore, applying their energy to certain tasks. Every second counts and when you’re serious about the results you want to create for you life, you will be serious about planning your time wisely.

Control your calendar; don’t let it control you. Great leaders wag the tail; they don’t let the tail wag them. Stay in control of where you place your focus and how your time is used. Use it judiciusly. Each line on your calendar is available for you to dictate. White space usually means wasted time when not accounted for. When you create goals for you life you realize time flies. It can get away from even the best of us. Nonetheless, there is opportunity there for you to become more aware of the power of using your calendar to guide your day. Effectiveness comes from being efficient. 

Visualize how you want your day to go before getting out of bed and feel your sincere thankfulness for at least 3 things to calibrate your energy. Visualization is the best technique to bring fort thought form into reality. Why? Because you are essentially downloading invisible software into your mainframe (your brain). You have the ability to control your brain but most people live their lives in reaction to their brain. It behooves us to ask, "whose brain is it anyway? It’s your brain. Does your car drive you or do you drive your car? It’s the same concept. Get in the driver’s seat of your mind and control it. Do you ever wonder how dreams come true? One must first dream. What is visualizing? It is dreaming in great detail. If you can see it, you can achieve it. If not, you continue to let life take you in the direction it wants to take you. The choice truly is up to you. The important thing to know is that you have this majestic power. When you incorporate emotions of gratitude with visualization, you essentially have activated your super powers because neuroscience research has confirmed that feelings of gratitude rewire the brain to think in a certain way. When that becomes a habit, it begins to happen automatically.

​Brush your teeth 2x a day, gargle, and floss. This habit taught me disciple. The bonus is that it’s a healthy habit (that most people overlook). This discipline taught me to pay attention to the small things that I would otherwise not want to do because as humans we seek the path of least resistance, meaning we are naturally lazy. It takes discipline to do the right thing when we would rather not. What small things did this habit empower me to be disciplined over? Washing all the dishes at night when I’d rather just go to bed, sweeping the front porch instead of overlooking the dirt and leaves, and ultimately becoming more alert to other little things in my life that have a huge lasting impact like shutting off lights when I’m not using them.  

​​Force yourself to network with “next level” people who you ordinarily would not. I view each new person I meet as my rehearsal partner for that one person I'll eventually meet who will help sky rocket my net worth. I literally force myself to be comfortable in uncomfortable situations so I can stretch my comfortably. Yesterday I took it upon myself to introduce myself to a judge and two prosecutors, and today I’m a better person for it. Look for the opportunities to expand your wings so that you can learn to fly higher, stronger, and longer. Great people excel. They keep challenging themselves to become better at things that will improve their positioning in life. They are aware of the power of "shifting". I hope you will be open to challenging yourself to find at least one thing each week to become comfortable doing that you otherwise would rather not. I believe one day you will be glad you did. 

To Your Best Destiny!
​
Dr. Capri Cruz
www.CapriCruz.com

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Let Me Tell You How I REALLY Feel About My Foster Care Caseworker!

3/5/2018

1 Comment

 
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I am going to be honest with you.
 
Honest with you about how I feel about some of my caseworkers who I have worked with while caring for children in foster care.
 
In all honesty…. I love them!
 
Through the years as a foster parent, I have worked alongside so many different caseworkers. In that time, I have had some incredible and amazing caseworkers, and have come to call a large number of them my friend.  I have found that caseworkers are often over worked, under paid, under resourced, and overwhelmed.  Indeed, they have a most difficult job.  In truth, I do not know if it is a job I would wish to have, or one that I could handle.  They simply have too much paperwork, caseloads, responsibilities, and paperwork accountable to them, with less and less time and resources given to make it all work.  On top of that, it seems that someone is always upset with them, at one point or another. The birth parents are mad with them, the child is upset with them, the judge disagrees with them, and perhaps you might be a little frustrated with them.  It is a thankless job, to be sure.  Yet, what so many forget is that our caseworkers have feelings and emotions, just like foster parents. They may disagree with a court’s decision about the child in your home being removed.  They may experience feelings of frustration with the process.  They may be upset over the birth parent’s progress. They may even experience feelings of grief and loss themselves when a child leaves your home.
 
Indeed, as I recognize that today’s case workers are truly overworked and under resourced, I have tried to help them as best I can. After all, we are both working to help children in need, right? In order to help them, help your foster child, and help yourself, there a few things you can do to ensure that the relationship between the two of you is a positive one.

Before you meet with your caseworker, whether at home or another setting, make sure you are prepared beforehand. Have all proper forms and information gathered together which you might need for the caseworker. This includes any school progress and report cards names and contact information for his teachers, calendar of upcoming events in your household, medical paperwork, receipts and invoices, and any other personal observations you may have noted for your foster child. Also have with you your foster child’s medical information, such as doctor’s name, address, and phone number, primary health care information, as well as any dates for future medical and dental appointments.

If you should be traveling to meet at a predetermined location, make sure that you arrive on time, and that both you and your foster child are dressed nicely. You may be meeting with the birth family, and you will certainly not only wish to look nice for them, but you will also want your foster child to be dressed and looking nice for his family. A nice clean pair of pants, button up shirt, and nice dress shoes is appropriate, and presents a nice image for yourself, as well as the fact that your foster child is looked after and well taken care of in the eyes of the biological parents and family members. You surely do not wish to give the impression that your foster child is living in a dirty environment, and that he is not living in a safe and loving home.


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Like any healthy relationship, it is important that your relationship with your foster child’s caseworker is an open one, and is built on trust and mutual respect. It is important that you share all information with the caseworker about your foster child. Be honest with your caseworker about any concerns you might have in regards to your child. If you see signs that your foster child is having trouble adjusting to your home and family, share these concerns with the caseworker. Perhaps you have seen troubling signs after a visit with your foster child and the biological family members. If so, let your caseworker know. If you are worried about a possible reunification with the biological family, express these worries to the caseworker. If your foster child should become sick, let the caseworker know, even if it should be a day at home from the common cold or flu bug. Caseworkers have the responsibility of documenting everything when it comes to each of the foster children in their caseload. Do not be afraid of holding any information or concerns. Instead, the more you share with the caseworker, and the more honest you are, the stronger your partnership will become, which only benefits the wellbeing of your child.

Take steps to develop lines of communication with the caseworker. Make sure the both of you have current telephone numbers and email addresses, for both home and work. Plan ahead, if possible, for home visitations, as well as visitations with the birth parents. There will be times when you will need to make a request to your caseworker, whether it is for permission to take your foster child on a vacation, attend a summer camp, or perhaps even attaining some additional reimbursement for a Christmas present. If you work from the beginning in establishing a strong partnership, these requests will be easier to make, and have a better chance of being met.

Finally, join me in thanking the caseworkers that we are caring for. Send them a note, give them a call, text a message.  Just take time to thank him or her for all they are doing to help the child living in your home.
Thank YOU case workers. What you are doing truly matters!

-Dr. John
The Foster Care Institute


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    AUTHOR
    Dr. John DeGarmo is the founder and director of The Foster Care Institute, and is recognized as a leading expert in foster care. Dr. John is an TEDX Talk speaker, international trainer and speaker, consultant, author, and most importantly, a father.  He has been a foster parent  with over 60 children who have come to live in his home from adoption and foster care. He is the author of many books, including the  book  
    The Foster Care Survival Guide: The Essential Book for Today's Foster Parents.

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