Motivating Teenagers And Helping Them Reach Goals | Adam Norse | Episode 105

When teens are lethargic, unmotivated, or avoiding school work it makes parents crazy. We may try talking, taking away privileges, or even bribery to get them to do what they need to do. What they really need is motivation. Motivating teenagers can be sticky but tapping into their dreams can help. Adam Norse joins Mighty Parenting Podcast host Sandy Fowler to discuss motivating teenagers. Adam shows us how we can help kids tap into their dreams and use those dreams to motivate them to handle many aspects of their lives. 

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A Favorite Quote from the Show: 

“When kids pack their own sport duffel and clean their own uniform it helps them take ownership and provides accountability.”

High Points of Our Conversation on Motivating Teens:

Kids get caught up in the current of life rather than directing their life. Motivating teenagers can mean helping them find time to even think about their dreams.

They don’t really understand what success looks like for them.

Our kids get caught in social media and the busyness of sports, activities, and school and never think about spending time in self reflection.

Self-reflection isn’t normal for a teenager. They need space to think and permission to dream.

If they say, “I don’t have a dream” then help them make time to sit with a piece of paper, watch the clouds, or simply daydream. It takes a bit of work to uncover your dreams. Ask them questions like:

• • What do you like?
  • What don’t you like?
  • What do you like, or not like, about that?

Often our teens are only encouraged to dream about their job and not their life as a whole. But a personal dream can help in motivating teens even more than professional dreams.

Goals break dreams down into bite-sized chunks.

If they get into good habits early in life they can save a lot of pain.

It takes about 66 days for an action to become a habit.

Anything is possible but you hav etc do the hard work and habits make that easier.

When kids pack their own sport duffel and clean their own uniform it helps them take ownership and provides accountability. It also provides mental preparation.

Even when it doesn’t work out there are so many wins along the way that it’s worth it.

Motivating teenagers can mean helping them see the value when things don’t work out. Remind them that they identified a dream, set goals to achieve it, and created great habits. That shows that when you set your mind to something you can accomplish it.

Ask them where they can go from there. Then ask what they are going to do.

If they’re going after goals and dreams they need permission to have the courage to make a change.

Kids don’t want to be seen as a quitter and they don’t want to disappoint their parents. Oftentimes, this can leave them stuck doing something they don’t simply because they tried something new.

Teach your child to ask themselves if this is what they want to be doing. If it’s not then show them they need to fulfill any obligation they made but then they can quit and try something else. Like Stephen Covey says, “As you climb the ladder of success, be sure it’s leaning against the right building”.

Resources Mentioned in Show:

Grow Your Potential: A Teenager’s Guide to Maximizing Your Life

Building Resilience With Timeless Advice For Teenagers | Lisa Shumate | Episode 89

Career Anxiety In College And High School Students | Dennis Trittin | Episode 92 

Our Guest Adam Norse:

Adam Norse is the Program Director for a youth soccer (football) club in lower Manhattan, New York City. A big part of this role is educating teens  on “being the best they can be”.

Adam is passionate about educating, equipping and inspiring teenagers to identity and set about maximizing their unique potential. He also educates parents in the role that they play in the creating an environment that sets their sons and daughters up for success.

Alongside his role with the youth soccer club, Adam runs a non-profit called “Growing Potential” that delivers interactive workshops to high school students on maximizing their potential.

Adam has recently written a book for teenagers called Grow Your Potential – A Teenager’s Guide to Maximizing Your Life

To learn more or connect with our guest visit www.growing-potential.com 

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