When I heard the reply ‘No Thanks – I’m not good at that’ from one of our Year 10 boys the other day my mind froze for a second before it went into overdrive…’What? Who cares! Why not try it? Just give it a go!‘ was what raced through my mind.
This all came about from me offering a group of boys a hacky sack to play with. It was cold, they had no football to kick so I offered them a hacky sack – which to me is awesome – it’s skill development, it’s fun… ‘No Thanks – I’m not good at that’ was what I got in return. ‘Absurd’ I thought, followed quickly by ‘why do teenagers often choose to not do something because they feel they’re ‘not good’ at it? Surely the road less travelled option can be the most fulfilling route?’
I’ve thought about this a lot over the last few days, wondering how to motivate our teenagers to get out there and try new things. To not just reside in their comfort zone and choose the path that is safe. Psychology promotes that a strong mental state involves acting like a confident person, even when you’re filled with self-doubt. This brain process actually promotes mental muscle and activates you to feel surer of yourself. Research has even shown that acting confident increases other people’s confidence in you.
I’m still working out how I can motivate our teenagers to choose the road less travelled option as a first choice, rather than let opportunities pass them by. Changing a behaviour leads to changes in our thoughts, emotions and mental muscle. I think there’s a valuable lesson in this way of thinking for all of us, choose the road less travelled next time and see where it takes you.
#mentalstrengthwins #dontgiveup
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