Helping-Young-People-Succeed

PERFORMANCE
Dr Pippa Grange
Performance Psychologist
One is that we have to teach young
people to be resilient. There is a difference
between hard/tough and being strong,
and ideally we teach young people to be strong enough to be
able to honestly look set backs in the eye and bounce back from
adversity, rather than pretend that adversity doesn’t happen, that it
is somehow ‘odd’ rather than normal, or that adversity should be
avoided at all costs (which can end up with a ‘don’t try’ attitude so
that failure is circumnavigated). Young people need to persist with
challenges and when things are not going their way, to reflect,
change something, keep moving, etc. Resilience is the greatest
asset for young people.
a young person if you are prepared to model vulnerability. It sets
up realistic expectations rather than perfectionistic ones. If you say
you are stressed, feel like you’re not on top of things, feel hurt,
disappointed, fed-up, etc. it is less uncool for them to say it too. But
be cool about it :-)
The third thing is teaching young people to reflect and be mindful.
It is something most of us are still rubbish at as adults, but it is a
habit and one best formed early. To consider what you are doing,
and whether it’s what you intended to do (especially in relation
to interactions with others) is a brilliant skill and a good basis for
sound leadership at any level. One big advantage young people
have is that they are in the moment, they stay in today rather than
tomorrow—imagine making that a habit for success!
Two is that we need to let young people know they can show
vulnerability and it’s completely fine. When young people are
finding their identity they can experiment with all sorts of different
attitudes and personas (again, normal), withdraw from relationships
and form new ones, and they can be at the whim of all sorts of
moods (not their fault!). It gets hard to say they feel crap/sad/
angry…especially if they don’t know why. It is a huge gift to give
leapperformance.com.au
3