My son, watches everything I do! He tries to imitate me and do it the way I do. I am his role model. I need to model the behaviors I want him imitate. I can have a positive or negative effect on the behaviors he displays and the life he will have. The other day, I was cleaning some pots. He came over to see what I was doing. I was using a rag to clean the dirt had collected at the bottom. When I put the rag down, he grabbed it and attempted to wipe out the second pot. He looked just like me. My sister saw this and took these pictures. "She calls them, anything you can do, I can do better."
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My mom (she's a teacher) told me that 80% of what you learn in life is learned by the time your turn 4! You spend the rest of your life perfecting what you've learned. My one year old learns something new everyday. It could be how to pet a dog, how to walk on a moving walkway at the airport, how to use a fork, how to turn on a faucet and how to treat people. Most of his learning comes from watching what others do and say. If he sees you doing it, it must be right, so he does the same thing.
The phrase "Do as I say, not what I do," should be "Do as I say and as I do."You have to model the behaviors and actions you want others to replicate. You have to be the role model. If you are going to give advice to others, you have to model the advice you're giving. If you don't model what you communicate you confuse the person you are communicating with, which will lead to the question, "Why?"...."Why don't you do what you what you say?"...."If you don't have to do it, why do I?" Your actions can have a negative or positive effect on others...how they feel about themselves and how they feel about and treat you. You can build their trust in you or you can loose their trust.
So, remember "Do as you say," be a role model and others will attempt do the same too.
