But this is where it gets tricky because the best way to do that is through positive role modelling, and that takes time. I'm a parent and I have failed miserably at times on this; where do you find the time. I'll get to that later. But don't let your child go through life not understanding the positive thinking / positive action equation. If nothing else, when they are adults, it'll save them the disappointment, the let down they'll no doubt feel from trying to find useful help in the positive thinking self help books that are suffocating the market.

I've been many things during my years on this planet. None of these were achieved by saying daily positive affirmations from a self help book. Life's too short to waste your time doing that. Not to say that I'm particularly good at anything either. I've never done anything to represent my country. I'm a bit of a Mr Average. What I've always been able to do though is turn an idea into an action and it is through this I've been able to have a lot of fantastic experiences which continually reinforce a positive outlook on life.

Ideas on paper mean little unless you can use them to improve your life or the lives of others and that necessarily means breathing life into your ideas. Of course you've got to have ideas to begin with and I'll show you how I'm able to come up with ideas. That's a little later.

A lot of people have asked me how it is I am able to do so many things. The short, trite answer is just don't sleep, and there is some truth in that. Curiosity started to get the better of me. I started thinking whether I approached things differently. Maybe there was a method I followed and I didn't realise that I was. To my own surprise I found there was a step by step plan I followed to make my ideas spring to life. To me it’s like putting one foot in front of the other, it’s as natural and easy as breathing, but to a lot of people it’s really hard. I started to think could I teach this to people? And you know what, I could. So I started going into schools talking to 15, 16 and 17 year olds about this. It's a talk I named 7 Things I Wish They Had Taught Me At School. To my surprise the teachers found it just as interesting and useful.

It started with this. Tell your kids this and take note yourself as it is NEVER too late to change.

YOU DON’T JUST HAVE TO BE ONE THING IN LIFE

Admittedly Gen Y are waking up to this on their own. Through necessity most of us will have one main profession but you can always have secondary lives on the go.

But there's not enough hours in the week! This is something I regularly hear from people who are having trouble moving forward. Let's look at that claim.

There are 168 hours in a week and you work 40 of them approximately. If you’re getting a good 8 hours a night you sleep 56 of them. That leaves 72 hours a week to do other things.

You’ve got to eat & shower, let’s allow 3 hrs a day for that = 21 hrs. That’s 51 hours left. Ok, so you’ve got to catch the bus, buy food etc … you can have another 10 hours for that.

That leaves 41 hours, that's over 40 hours a week at your disposal.

Here's a sad but true fact. The majority of people choose to spend that 41 hours in front of the TV or the computer. Turn off the TV. Truly. It's the one thing that's enabled me to have many interseting and fulfilling careers. I've been a soldier, documentary cameraman, builder, author, amateur botanist, magician, juggler, mountaineer, parent and high school failure.

You have the power to start changing your life. Positive thinking for children doesn't come from the TV. You’ve got to prioritise, and it all starts with one simple click of a button. If you choose to spend your time sitting in front of the TV then that’s your choice, however get used get used to this sound ... swoosh ... that’ll be the sound of your life passing you by.

To borrow an analogy: You know Jesus had walked on water, divided loaves and fishes, died on the cross and risen from the dead all by the time he was 33 ... now there’s an over achiever.

There's a famous Australian entertainer named Rolf Harris and he once said, 'Take your obsession, make it your profession and you’ll never work a day again in your life.' I've taken that to heart.

So please don't be sucked into thinking positive thinking for children is the be all and end all. They are like little sponges and take in what is going on around them. Positive role modelling can achieve far greater results and that's something you as a parent can achieve.

Of course I am not suggesting that what works for me will work for everybody but if you can get your child to follow some of the steps that I use you will have given them something far more useful than any positive thinking for children book can offer. What I offer are tools that they can carry around for the rest of their lives in their own toolbag of lifeskills. By using these tools you keep moving forward, step by step, generating your own positive thoughts because life all of a sudden looks like one big opportunity once you have the tools to take it on. Positive thinking for children, positive thinking for adults doesn't come out of a book, it comes out of your actions. Always has, always will. Good luck.