Imagine trying to run a marathon while wearing a backpack loaded with bricks. Yikes!
You might be able finish the marathon, but it would be very difficult, and you would be much, much slower with the backpack than without it. (You might be walking and/or crawling at the end of it!)
Sometimes as parents we inadvertently hold our kids back with a bag of bricks as they are trying to run a marathon… We stand in their way.
How?
By not teaching them how to harness their emotions.
The way our kids feel, or what emotions they experience, matters.
Emotions matter because they affect how our kids show up and what they do.
Emotions are like a backpack. The bag can be weighed down with a bunch of bricks, or pumped up and fueled as if it were a jet pack.
Let me explain:
If a child is feeling powerless, weak, discouraged, dumb, or inadequate, imagine how they will show up in their life, in their family, and as they are learning…
Weighed down. Moving slower. Unfocused. Not taking action. (Weighed down by a bag of bricks.)
Contrast that with a child who is feeling powerful, capable, confident, and smart…
How will they show up in life, in their family, and as they learn?
Motivated. Excited. Focused and energized. Taking action. Moving quicker. (Fueled by a jetpack.)
Which child is going to make the most progress?
Of course the one feeling better.
We hold our kids back when we don't teach them how to harness their emotions in order to feel better, so they can do better.
We can stop holding them back, by teaching them how to use their emotions to their advantage.
If you want your child to make the most progress, you need to do two things immediately:
1. Help them experience positive emotions on purpose.
(Think: confident, capable, smart.)
2. Help them learn to process negative emotions.
(We can’t get rid of them completely, so we need them to know what to do when they happen.)
The process for doing this is simple and straight forward, but not at all what you would expect.
I will be talking about how to take these steps live in my Facebook group this Thursday at 12pm Central.
You can help your kids use their emotions to make progress, instead of allowing their emotions to hinder them.
I’ll be teaching how on Thursday.
Join here and get ready to set your kids free. :)
You can do this!
P.S. If Thursday is already past, don’t worry, the video is saved in the group and you can watch the replay. Join here!