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- How to keep your teen motivated this summer...
Happy Friday everyone, welcome to today's newsletter - let's chat about your teen’s motivation this summer.🌞🍊
Remember, we're here to help you worry smarter, not harder!
A Quick Thought From Us💭
Summer has commenced! With so much time on your teens hands, how do you ensure that they maintain healthy habits and motivate them to use their time creatively to pursue engaging activities?
Is this your teen?
Here are 3 ways to instill goal oriented mindsets for the summer:
Listen
What inspires your teen? What passions does your teen have that they now have time to pursue? Try signing them up for a class to learn something new—a challenge but still in line with their interests.
What prevents them from feeling motivated? Are they struggling with FOMO, insecure about their ability to get into college, or anxious about trying new things? As a parent, acknowledge that their feelings are normal and that you are here to support them by listening to their needs.
Be your teen’s cheerleader
Summer can be a time for new friendships, environments and challenges. For many teens, this is a source of anxiety.
Their motivation comes directly from confidence. When your child feels like you believe in them, they will believe in themselves.
Focus your praise on their attempts and perseverance, rather than the final outcome.
3. Encourage your teen to create personal goals
Break these goals down into smaller ones.
Consider creating a dream board with your teen to visualize their small and larger goals in life. It can be a great tool for honing goal oriented mindsets.
Activities for you and your family
Get outdoors! Stay active!
According to the physical activity guidelines for Americans, children 6-17 years old need 60 mins or more of physical activity a day. This includes activities that will get your heart and lungs to work harder than usual.
To lead by example, set up weekly activities for the family to participate in. This can include family walks, barbecues, games outside, etc.
Encourage your teen to gather a group of friends for a weekly outdoor pickup game!
Schedule family chore time to promote working together and maintaining discipline throughout the summer.
Help others!
Encourage your teen to help others. It can help keep things in perspective and practice independence.
Set up volunteer work for the entire family and encourage your teen to take on a volunteer task by themselves.
Motive your teen to find a job within the neighborhood. Simple jobs like tutoring, mowing the lawn, watering plants, or dog walking are constantly in demand—and, as a parent, you won’t have to drive them to work.
You can set this up through posting flyers in the neighborhood, sharing by word of mouth, or posting on the neighborhood Facebook page.
Learning the Landscape - Being a teen in 2023, kinda sucks
The current generation of teenagers has suffered more than any other due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the stressors of the modern digital world. Teenagers face more pressure to succeed than ever before and the combination of social distancing and social media has left teens feeling lonely, stressed, and anxious. In addition, parents are drained and burned out trying to manage the unknown ramifications of their teens' struggles in an unfamiliar digital world. Teens have always turned to their friends and parents to help them get through the hard parts of adolescence. Unfortunately, in 2023, teens have been left to rely only on themselves.
Feeling a bit more in tune with your teen? Schedule time to chat with our Somethings experts and learn more about our program below.
Send us feedback, questions, ideas, and more to [email protected].
See you all next week!