As I watch my children grow, it amazes me how much our parental involvement influences us  -- we learn deeply from how we are taught and I try hard, every day, to give my kids a fair, honest, and straightforward approach to what I think they need.

I was struck by the fact that one of the children in our neighborhood didn't know their home phone number, so I resolved to make a list of these top things that I think every child, including your own, should be able to do.

In no particular order, I believe a child in the 7 - 11 year old range should be able to, or be learning how to:

1) Recite their parent or guardian's full name, street address, and phone number.

2) Cook eggs, toast, and ham, or some equivalent simple meal.

When we work as part of a team, we achieve more.

When you are on your own, you are limited by your energy levels and the number of hours in a day. When you are on your own, you are limited by your own belief about what is possible. When you are on your own, you are limited by your current circle of acquaintances and business contacts.

When you develop a mastermind group, you expand your opportunities. You leverage the skills and abilities of others in your group. You gain access to other ideas, methods, backgrounds, and reasoning capabilities. You grow your mental and spiritual muscles. You are unlimited in finding the "right" connections because you exponentially increase your contacts list.

Why do so many of us continue to think we need to "go it alone?"

I invite you to consider the benefits of joining or creating a mastermind circle:

A Successful Woman is owned and operated by Monica S. Flores and 10K Group LLC.

We seek contributing writers to submit regular articles to our popular blog.

All content must be original and only published to the ASuccessfulWoman.com website.

I like to talk about success habits and tools, and in this post I'd like to go over our physical health as a part of our daily success practice. Our health and wellness, along with nutrition, whole foods, exercise and relaxation, are so important for our perception of our daily life.

Every day let's find something to celebrate in our own bodies and in our lives. One thing that I've found in my monthly cycle is I need to be aware of when I need extra care and stress reduction: while I don't like to think I'm at the mercy of my hormones, at certain points I definitely can feel the effects of being a woman of childbearing age.

This is one of a series of "lessons on success". This particular lesson is very important to me and ties in with the idea that we all work, live, and share in concentric circles of community.

Your current circle of friends determines to a large extent:

1) your ability to find work, leads, or referrals

2) your income and expenses (we are typically within 15% of the net worth of those in our peer groups)

3) your invitations to gatherings, events, and celebrations

So, if our current circle of friends is where we're currently at, then one way to increase our abilities and our understanding is to "push" a little bit and find someone who is out of your "comfort zone."