A Teenager With Unused Potential…??

THE FACTS  

1.      The future is NOT rosy for an increasing number of college students (maybe even one you know).  Reports show that more and more have poor self-management skills – self-discipline, self-motivation, goal-setting, emotional intelligence, time management, etc.

2.      A teenager’s college and life success is based far less on academic grades and learning and even family background than most people expect.

3.      THERE IS A SOLUTION: Launch-Your-Life (LYL) is a one-on-one success coaching program, delivered by text message, email, Skype and phone [geography is not an issue]

4.      Every LYL participant WILL GAIN!  Poor, average or excellent, participants WILL accelerate and strengthen their achievements.

5.      The LYL process, leads students to THEIR OWN self-motivated focus on academic success.

TO LEARN MORE, CLICK HERE… Launch-Your-Life.com

6.      The LYL process is designed to be enjoyable and rewarding. Students become happier, more fulfilled, more confident. 

7.      LYL works for those who work it.  As participants start to see SUCCESS, they want MORE.

8.      Cost is minimal especially compared to costs of college, sports camps, music lessons, karate, etc.  [and college costs will be maximized with their improved performance.]

9.      Daily time commitment is only 8 minutes!

 

TO LEARN MORE, CLICK HERE… Launch-Your-Life.com

That’s GREAT!!

That’s GREAT!!

That’s our motto,

That’s our process,

That’s our goal!

We all know that positive reinforcement – a compliment about something specific – is the most powerful means of shaping and improving human performance.  But who do we compliment the least?  OURSELVES.  Same for our kids! [They compliment themselves least]. It’s a natural human tendency to critique ourselves – because we’re the only one(s) who can see inside our heads – and KNOW when we didn’t give it our full effort

So one of the premises we follow at Launch-Your-Life is to REVERSE those self-expectations.  A paradigm reversal such as that can be one of the most powerful learning and memory-cementing devices there is. Think about that: we remember MOST an experience that was LEAST expected. 

Using our model, almost no matter what a student did or does, we start by saying “That’s Great!”  And most of the time, the student’s reaction is “What?? Huh??” They simply weren’t expecting that response.

This accomplishes a couple things.  First – it gets their attention – because it was THE LAST thing they expected to hear.  So now we’ve got their attention - they’re listening.  It’s up to us to build on that.  Not like Pollyanna or Mary Poppins – but qualitatively.  We point out some positive aspect or element of what they did - AND THEN, we focus on building and strengthening their next several, sequential response(s) – which builds positive expectancy momentum, self-confidence, motivation, all building toward a big and successful FINISH/completion/fulfillment!

No More Helicopter Parents!

Recently. I heard a mother say “I’m the worst helicopter parent – I can’t stop myself…”  [I’ve also heard people are tiring of the term “helicopter parenting.”]  So whether you’re ‘guilty’ of helicopter parenting or not, let’s transcend it– and focus on STRENGTHENING what a parent can do - - to build achievers, succeeders and champions.

Let’s start here: those notorious IQ tests –the real ones, administered one-on-one by a licensed psychologist, measure THE SPEED at which people learn, NOT whether or not they CAN learn.  Take that one step further - when a student encounters difficulty learning, it simply means the learning may take more time, not that they CAN’T learn.  And instantly one excellent quote comes to mind:  “All things are difficult before they are easy.”  (Thomas Fuller, circa 1650.)  So if your teenager is experiencing difficulty learning – in any field, your role becomes supporting their progressive steps toward mastery. 

And based on the research findings of Carol Dweck and colleagues – who found that, when students understand that the ability to learn is NOT finite and limited – that they are NOT ‘terminally dumb,’ students CHANGE their perception of “failure.”  They realize that a failure is simply a step along the way to success.  And that directly supports the notion that failure is a REQUIRED step along the path to success.  [The key issue – and this is where parents’ role becomes more valuable – is that the student LEARNS from a failure.]  Failure is simply a road sign that says “we’re not there yet.”  Remember those family road trips when your kids asked, after the first 4 blocks – “are we there yet?” - Same thing. J

One of the best ways to reverse a misperception is to hugely alter the expected paradigm.  When a student glumly looks like – or even says – “I’m so dumb” – or “I worked so hard and failed – I give up” - you could say something like “you got a D? That’s great!  At least it wasn’t an F – and you’ve got room to develop and grow.  Now how do you think we can do that?”

Or – “you studied a lot for that chemistry exam – and didn’t get the A you expected.  If you had it to do over, how would you change your strategy?”  [and DON’T let them off with “I’d study harder.”  That’s too global and hence meaningless.]

So the key elements are: (a) intelligence is NOT limited, and (b) recognizing that failure is just one step closer to success! [AND you should throw in – those who don’t fail aren’t even in the game!!]