Tackling life as a single parent – Part 2

The following is the final in a two-part series on tackling life as a single parent, ensuring that your children receive a wholesome life. It features life coach Natalie Taylor, who was recently listed among Yahoo’s Top Ten Performance Coaches to be following.

Making ends meet as a single parent can be quite the task. However, in a bid to strengthen those who, by whatever reason, were left alone to safely navigate their children’s life to success, Life Architect Natalie Taylor is sharing tips on how single parents can go from simply surviving to thriving.

“For the single mom or dad who is raising children and looking to have A successful life, there are some very key things to pay attention to. One of those things is having a plan. We talked about having a plan in Part One of this series, but now, we will focus specifically on what that looks like.

“Most of the time, single parents find themselves in a situation where they have no plan, and some of them are very focused on trying to be a great mother or father to their children but have no strategy for how they are going to do so successfully. So they are just kind of making up everything as they go along with the child as their focus, not realising that if they are depleted, then the child would also begin to experience that depletion,” she said.

Vision for self and for offspring, according to Taylor, is a much-needed quality in order to create the masterplan to successful parenthood and life.

Touching on the importance of getting together what Taylor referred to as the Five Fs, Taylor shared that while their children should be included in the overall vision, parents should ensure that they are at the core of it as according to the popular adage, you can’t pour from an empty cup.

“The five Fs include Faith, Family, Finances, Friendship and Fitness. Consider where you stand in your faith, where you see your family a year or years from now. Think about where you see your family living, what do you see yourself doing?

Begin to breakdown what the plans are with regard to finances. Is there a saving or investment plan in place? Are you prepared for retirement, sending you child to college? Is there a housing plan? Is there something that can be leveraged or left as a legacy for your child?

We saw what has happened with COVID, where many people were unprepared for emergencies and all the things that could go wrong. Is there a financial plan to take care of yourself and children in case something happens?

“Where friendship is concerned, what kind of people and influences do you want around your children? If you plan on dating again, how do you navigate that space? What is a do or don’t?” Taylor asked.

The single mother of four told Family and Religion that the fifth F stands for Fitness and includes the overall health of the parent and the children.

Taylor questioned: “How does the family eat? Does the family do activities together? Are there any generational health challenges that the family should be looking out for? How do you feed the child to prevent these illnesses?”

According to Taylor: “Planning is very important. Life does not end when you are a single parent, but in order to succeed, you will need to plan strategically so you can begin to not just survive, but thrive.”

`@gleanerjm.com