Remember, just because you said something, does not mean your children heard it, understood it, and can translate what you said into productive action. Once you have in mind a very specific idea of exactly what it is you want your children to do, many times your strategy to bring about that behavior will become very obvious. Criticize performance and not the person. As a matter of fact, most of the time it is possible to give the person a compliment while the behavior is being corrected. This sounds easy, but it takes great care and planning to do it.
Repetition is fundamental to all learning.
It is rare that we ever learn anything on a first exposure, and our children are no different. So, remember that when you set out to teach them something and accept the fact that you, most likely, will have to repeat it a couple of times. Also, remember that if you have repeated something a number of times and your kids are still not doing it, then you need to find another way to say it. Self - motivation is the only kind of motivation. No matter how much you would like to motivate and control your children, the controlling force in their lives will be what they tell themselves.