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For most of you, school is either over or almost over. Around this time of year, I see families go in one of two directions:
- Give up and get by
This is where your teen limps to the finish line, exhausted and beat down. You figure there’s only a few weeks left, may as well get by and then it’s summer.
- Decide to finish strong
This is where your teen chooses to finish as strong as they can, even if they’ve struggled all year or all term. They want to salvage their remaining time to feel good (or at least better than they do right now) about themselves when it’s over.
Both of these are valid. Contrary to what a lot of families assume, I don’t judge either way. The big thing is making sure your teen knows they have the choice to give up and get by OR finish strong.
They need to know that limping to the end is not the way it has to be, that they are actively choosing to do so instead of stepping up and finishing strong. Either option is equally available to them.
We want them to know that students who decide to finish strong feel smarter, happier and overall more capable than those who don’t. They also have more confidence and perform better in the new school year and overall look more forward to it (or at least, dread it less).
It’s especially important that they understand the above because we want them to equate their choice with the outcome they’ll experience. Most teens don’t understand the extent to which what they choose directly creates the outcome – the reality – that they then experience.
If they choose to give up and get by, they’ll feel meh about the year and themselves. They might feel ‘meh’ about the new school year or tell themselves that this is the year they’ll do better.
If they choose to finish strong, they’ll feel smarter and more capable including leading into the new school year. They’ll have evidence to back up their thinking that this is the year they’ll do better.
As long as they know these things then their choice is, of course, theirs.
If they choose to finish strong and want help making this as easy and enjoyable as possible, let’s chat (or if you think they want to finish strong but they don’t think they can or that it’s worth it). Book in here for a call with my team to see if/how we can help based on their situation.
To your kid making informed choices,
Kelsey
