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On My Own Manual

by Sheila Darrell

100 pages; quality trade paperback (softcover); catalogue #03-0013; ISBN 1-55395-650-8; US$14.50, C$17.00, EUR12.00, £8.50

The greatest gift you can give your teenager or any young adult before they go out on their own is the gift of knowledge. The "On My Own Manual" provides some of the basic knowledge they will need to be successful when they are truly out on their own

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about the book      about the author      sample excerpts or Table of Contents      catalogue info

About the Book The On My Own Manual is a comprehensive guide to independent living for young adults. It also includes sections for personal information to be added for that very special person, such as favorite recipes, birthdays and anniversaries of friends and families, and addresses for family and friends. The information contained in this book will significantly reduce the stress of the transition of leaving home, not only for the one leaving, but the one's being left. As parents we do our best to teach our children the things they will need to know when they leave the nest, but it is impossible to cover it all. It's even more difficult to ensure they retain it.

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About the Author Sheila Pringle Darrell retired from the United States Air Force after serving twenty honorable years. She earned a Masters Degree in Business Administration from Golden Gate University, CA. Her teenage son, young people she volunteered time to work with, and many of the young airmen she supervised while in the United States Air Force inspired her to write this book. She was truly concerned about the number of young adults that were starting a life on their own without the basic survival skills we all should possess. Skills such as cooking, doing laundry, managing finances, basic automobile care, goal setting, and creating a plan for their life. She currently lives in Germany with her husband Wayne and their teenage son, Kevin.

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Sample Excerpts and Table of Contents

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Dedication

Introduction

"Life's Canvas"

A Plan for Your Life

Caring for Yourself
-Personal Hygiene
-Healthcare (First Aid)
-Relationships

Goal Setting

Automobile Care

Caring for your home and belongings

Common Courtesy

Common Knowledge

Common Sense

Community Service

Cooking/Recipes

Family Recipes

Favorite Recipes

Education

Employment
-Job Application
-Resume
-Income

Finances -Personal

Laundry

Official Documents

Shopping

The Law

Tips

Family & Friend addresses and phone numbers

Birthdays & Anniversaries

Things I Wish I had Taught, Told & Shared

Recommended Gifts to Request

Your Gift Wish List

Recommended Things to Buy

Recommended Reading

Index

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INTRODUCTION

I woke up one morning and realized that my only child would be leaving home soon. I found myself in a panic. Did I do enough to prepare him for his future? Does he have the survival skills he will need when he is out in the world without mom or dad? Could I have taught him more? I began to feel deeply depressed. The thought of him not being prepared brought tears to my eyes and a heavy feeling in my heart. I knew I would miss him, but I was excited about watching him grow into an independent young man, until this day. Now I found myself trying to play catch up.

Now I reflect on the times I was critical of several of the young people I supervised, often complaining about their lack of common sense. Today, I find myself asking if someone will be saying the same thing about my son. The last time I had a feeling that came close to this was when I watched a television show with an individual asking high school students questions such as, "Who is the Vice-President of the United States?" Much to my surprise overhalf of the teens did not know the answer. I immediately summoned Kevin to ask him the same questions. Although, he knew the answer to most of the questions, there were some I felt he should have known, but he didn't. I worked for weeks to rectify the situation. I made him watch the news at least once every day.

My hope is that this booklet will be helpful to fill in the gaps for the things parents may have forgotten to teach or tell our children. Or maybe to just refresh the things that were taught. It's a guide to assist individuals on their journey to successful independent living.

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A PLAN FOR YOUR LIFE

Going through life without a plan, is like starting a trip without map. It makes getting where you want to be a lot harder.

There are numerous self-help or self-improvement programs available to you today. Many of them are excellent, but rest assured that if you do not apply the techniques the program will not work.

Throughout your life you may have been asked, what do you want to be when you grow up? I propose better questions would be:

• What do you want out of life?
• What do you want to contribute to society?
• What would you like to be doing when you are 50 years old?
• What are you doing now to get where you want to be in the future?

I truly believe a plan for your life is a must if you have a true desire to succeed. Do you make New Year's Resolutions? Do you keep them? Most people don't. I didn't. That's why I stopped making them. I now set goals for myself, goals for my life. I don't just identify things I want to work on for a single year. New Year's resolutions suggests that each year you should have new resolutions. Isn't that precisely what most people do? Or they simply restate the same resolutions year after year and never achieve them. I had losing weight as a resolution for many years and I never accomplished it. I would not include it in my list of goals because I knew in calling it a goal would force me to work. I knew I didn't have the will power to do it. Goals are more important to me than a resolution. I will cover goal setting in more detail later in the book.

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Catalogue Information

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