25 Oct PLAN FOR A BETTER YEAR
HEY KIDS, LETS EVALUATE YOUR YEAR SO FAR…
AND LETS SET SOME GOALS AND PLAN FOR A BETTER YEAR NEXT YEAR!!!!
GROW YOU EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE AND BE THE BEST VERSION OF YOU!
In-fact I’m definitely going to throw in some anxiety solutions for kids to choose to take away and have as back up tools, and I’m really going to teach kids to be compassionate and empowered.
Have you ever noticed that we adults like to set goals and work towards improvement. But are we setting them correctly?
Im here to teach kids to evaluate and improve. Why wait till they are adults to put this into practice? Why allow them to begin next year with the same habits. Why have wants and dreams and not plan for them (or not know how to plan for them)? Why be afraid of change? Lets be our best versions of ourselves.
TO DO THIS WE NEED TO EVALUATE AND IMPROVE.
So once per year I like to invite kids to my:
Planning for a better year workshop.
And yep I think November is a great time to do this. December is too full of celebrations, concerts, wind downs etc, and January is still holiday mode. And February is far too late to organise goal setting.
To have a better year, you need to know what you LOOK FORWARD TO and where you prefer to allocate more and less time.
We will look at HEALTH and set some goals, looking at their importance and how to achieve them.
We will look at RELATIONSHIPS and how we visualise our connections with family, friends and others in a more positive way. We will set goals and put measures in place to achieve them.
Of course we will definitely look at SCHOOL and move ourselves forward to how we want our year to be. We will look at behaviour, academics, sport and everything that schooling entails (even sleep). We will look at opportunities and setbacks, and better ways to learn.
And lets not forget HAVING FUN. How can we ensure we are doing things to please ourselves too. Having fun comes with lots of learning and benefits. We don’t want kids to forget how to have fun do we? Lets have a look at what kids think fun is.
So I will get the kids to reflect, look at achievements, meaningful events, and we will use lots of emotional talk revolving around feelings. Lets clean things up if we need to. The aim is to create a sense of calm and ensure the kids can let go of anything that may have created any emotional blockages for them. We can then work on different scenarios and options that may have been available.
Another thing I would like to work on is the ability to practice RESPONDING instead of REACTING. (have another read of that sentence so you can really hear what I’m saying) We will learn to place a gap between an event and response, and this gap may be a breathing exercise to help calm and avoid an undesirable reaction. Yes self control.
We will look at it as if we are INSTALLING better versions of ourselves as we evaluate our usual thoughts and behaviours, and we decide to practice new ways of thinking and behaving.
We will make priorities e.g. homework may take priority over a game – but with this being the child’s priority (thats the important bit).
And how routines such as self help skills and independence lead you towards a better version of you.
So many sporty kids out there, however I’m noticing so much stress and anxiety. So lets be better versions and enjoy what we do again, and do it better that this year. Why have kids become so miserable when they lose a game? Its ok to feel the emotion, but for how long? And why should it lead to depression and inability to sleep? Lets get back on track.
So in my view, I see planning for a better year to involve all the above and more.
If we are brave enough to admit to a small fear, we can set a challenge to tackle it and face it, and watch it slowly diminish. Lets get out of comfort zones, do different things, break routines and be creative. Lets do some LIFE TWEAKING!!!
As part of planning for a better year next year we will explore practices specifically for:
- Inner strength, focus and confidence
- Learning to bring more calm with breathing
- Slowing and flowing with hard situations
- Less stressful thoughts and seeing whats happening more clearly
- Being more caring and handling big, upsetting feelings better.
Each child will walk away with their own unique plan
I really look forward to helping kids create a better year next year.
Amanda Dounis