Motivating Your Teen

Even though they may act tough teens still need a lot of support before they will believe in themselves. Whether it’s getting organised, trying out for a school team, making new friends or applying for a job, teens often need a little motivation before they can channel their energy and get off to a good start. For a parent, staying involved in your teen’s life, communicating effectively with your teen and providing support at all times are all important aspects of motivating your teen.

Stay Involved in Your Teen’s Life

One of the best ways of motivating your teen is by paying attention to them. Getting to know their likes and dislikes, friends and foes, and hopes and dreams proves to them that not only do you consider them important, but interesting as well. Staying involved in your teen’s life will also allow you to understand what they are going through, how they are feeling and the types of pressure that they are under. In short, the more you know about your teen’s life the more you can provide whatever type of emotional support and motivation they may require.

Communicate Effectively with Your Teen

In order to truly understand what your teen is experiencing you must be able to communicate effectively with them. Many teens are reticent to engage in deep discussions with their parents, but there are a variety of other ways in which you can learn more about them. For example:

• Pay attention to the activities that they enjoy doing and those that they despise.
• Get to know the names of their friends and teachers.
• Observe their body language when they talk about a specific topic.
• Look out for the books, magazines and websites that they enjoy reading.
• Listen to their tone of voice when they speak about particular topics.

Provide Support at all Times

Many teens need motivation before they begin something because they are afraid that they will fail in their attempts. If you are a tuned in parent and know what is going on in your teen’s life, you can provide support and motivation when you know that they may need it. Many parents support and motivate their teens by:

• Providing options for their teens so that they don’t feel forced into anything.
• Telling their teen that they love them without making a big deal about it.
• Praising particular talents or skills that they admire in their teen.
• Thanking them for specific things, such as looking after a younger sibling.
• Asking their teens for help with things that their teens are good at.
• Asking their teens their opinion on anything from dinner options to current events.
• Giving their teen the independence to make their own mistakes.
• Commiserating with their children when they do fail.
• Offering their teen help when you think they might need it.
• Simply being there if their teen needs to talk.

Motivating your teen is a twenty four hour per day job. Use your own life to set an example for your teen, but make it clear through both words and actions that you are there for them and that you believe in them. Stay involved in your teen’s life, communicate effectively with your teen and remain a source of support and you will soon be motivating your teen without even realising it.