Motivating Teens: Helping Them Meet Their Potential
I have three children: 13 (boy), 17 (girl), and 19 (boy). Over the years, I have experienced so many feelings about being a parent, and I have asked so many questions about whether I am doing it right. I am desperately trying to establish reasonable boundaries, set fair expectations, and show unconditional and never-ending love to my children. I don’t just love my children because they are my children, but because they are truly interesting, fun, and enjoyable people to be around. Still, they make mistakes. And in those moments, I question what I could have done differently? How could I have protected them from these mistakes? Is it a reflection of me, or my parenting? One minute they look like they have it all together, and the next they are caught fighting at school, not turning in their homework, or even worse…..” I know they are good people and I hope they embrace life with all their potential.
Does this sounds at all familiar? As parents, we want our children to be happy and we want them to reach their potential. We worry and we hope we are doing it right. It is important to recognize that parents play an important role, but they are not fully responsible. In reality, a teen’s motivation, or desire to instigate and sustain certain goal-directed behaviors, is often out of our control. Stay engaged
Dear Sue;
I love your site. Congratulations to you. I, too am passionate about helping students. I am a certified Life and Career coach and developed a free site for parents and teens to teach emotional intelligence skills. I would love if you could use my site(www.masterfulkids.com) as a resource. I will put yours down as well.
What I have found helpful in getting students motivated; is helping them find their inner passion and developing it. This helps self-esteem. I also have my students set realistic and specific goals(S.M.A.R.T) goals. Thank you. Hope to hear from you. Robin Schafer
Hi Robin,
This is Shelly, and I wrote the article on “motivating teens, helping them meet their potential”. I just wanted to say thank you for you comment regarding what you have found to be helpful in getting students motivated. Your point about helping them find find and develop their inner passion is such a good one! I guess in some aspects it is providing them with exposure to a variety of things and allowing for flexibility at home and in the classroom. I would love to hear more about how you use SMART goals. Thanks again, Shelly
8mJYQ2 I’m not easily imsrpesed. . . but that’s impressing me!