NEW Beginnings in a NEW Year!

If your household is anything like mine was with teenagers, I know and understand your pain and frustration!  The start of the new school year is a tremendous amount of stress for everyone in the family.  Empower your teenager to be successful and help them minimize their stress. First, reinforce that it is normal to feel nervous and uneasy as they face the enviable changes of the new school year.  Second, encourage them to focus on new solutions to the challenge ahead.  As both a parent and a teen, the importance of the first month of school can all be simplified by identifying systems.

Teach your teenager to look for the mechanics and identify how and why things work.  Share with them examples of how systems create success in high school and life with practical examples.  Ask them why star athletes are successful.  What traits do they have in common?

Common answers include:

·         Star athletes do not start conditioning on the first day of the season, they practice and condition most of the year

·         They discipline themselves to practice daily to improve their technical abilities

·         They set goals and focus on achieving one goal at a time

·         They succeed because of what they do off the field, not on the field

·         They do not let other people distract them from achieving their goals

Once your teen understands this concept, encourage them to spend these weeks discovering the answer some these questions:

·         What system does each teacher have for grading students?

·         What makes each teacher feel as if a student is participating and interested in class?

·         How is this year’s social system different to navigate than previous years? 

·         How will I get everything done? 

·         How do I use this year to prepare for future success? 

In the meantime, as a parent, you get to work on your own systems for success:

·         How do I create a culture in the home and family that facilitates my child being successful? 

·         What challenges does my teenager face?

·         How do I empower them to succeed? 

·         How do I recognize effort and reinforce positive behaviors? 

As a parent, I encourage you to spend far more time recognizing effort, internal motivation and discipline; and far less time recognizing results.  By doing this you will be teaching your teen a life-long skill of using systems and behaviors to succeed!

Enthusiastically,



Bridgit Parise