Coaching for Change

“Oh, man! This is so frustrating. I can’t go out anywhere. I can't play with my friends. All my activities have also been stopped.” ranted a 12-year-old. “I had planned a play date with my friends today. But then we found, we can’t play in the clubhouse anymore! Just playing by myself at home is so boring” whined a 10-year-old. “I have my GCSE coming up. But sitting at home and doing the self-study is hard. I am missing my school and my friends. I feel like I am under house arrest” lamented a 14-year-old. Tween and teenage is a time when the child’s brain is generally anxious over the smallest of things. When we add a virus and an epidemic to the equation, it goes crazy with frustration, anxiety, and stress. Sonia Lupien at Centre for studies in Human Stress has a handy acronym for what causes stress in our lives: N-Novelty  Something that you have not handled in your life before. U-Unpredictability  Something you had no way of knowing occurs T-Threat t...

GOAL SETTING Goals are critical. They keep you focused on what’s important, and allow you to make the best use of your 24 hours each day. We all know that. And yet research shows only 20% of the population sets goals and 92% of those goals are never achieved. And it becomes more challenging when the person you want to set goal is an Adolescent! It is difficult for teens to see beyond the present. Goal setting challenges them psychologically because it involves having to wait for a long time to see the results, which, again, is a good lesson to teach as kids grow up. They should learn that anything good is worth working for and that it is only over time and effort that we see the true results of all of our hard work. Very few things come to us immediately. We all know without a goal in mind we can end up wasting time and energy and are finally left with nothing in hand. In a bid to demonstrate to them how gratifying, energizing and fulfilling goal setting and accomplishing can...

Are You Burning Bridges With Your Child? “My 13-year-old daughter is just so unenthusiastic and passive for just about everything. I have to constantly remind her of small things like putting her shoes away to packing her bags. She is intelligent, but she needs to be reminded to do her homework and prepare for her assessments. When she does it, she does it well…but my pain is the reminders. I feel like a broken record player…you know one that keeps playing the same track again and again!! Arghhh!!! Other children her age are so active and self-motivated” , ranted my client. Fatigue and frustration were apparent in her voice, face and body language. This is a story of not just one parent but of so many of us. As a Mum and Teen Coach, I have had the privilege of listening to both sides of the story on the same issues. The parents see themselves being ignored and disrespected. They also feel frustrated as the responsibility of getting everything done lies on them whilst ...