by Sharon Kay Baran
These past few years took a toll on all of us, especially the children, having to learn how to do school via zoom, learning the computer for the younger children, staying away from their friends and some family members, teachers, etc. I can’t even imagine how the children felt; alone, scared, anxious, and fearful, to mention a few. We made it through 2020 and 2021, and things have moved in a better direction; there is still some residual left for both children and adults.
I have several tips that have helped my clients and me during this transition.
Gratitude – What is Gratitude? It’s being thankful for what you already have. It can sound like: “I am happy that.…” or “I am thankful for ….” Or “I love that …” and “I am grateful for ….”
How you feel is more important than the words you say—express Gratitude in the present tense. Gratitude is a powerful tool for helping you attract new things into your life.
You must feel good about where you are now to attract more goodness into your life. Some Benefits of Gratitude include 1—calmness 2. Gratitude can help you handle disappointments. 3. Gratitude shifts your mood!
Self-Talk – The Power of your Thoughts and Words
Self-Talk is critical for helping us build positive self-esteem and powerful self-confidence.
I want to go into a little more detail about how to powershift when you experience self-talk and how to create positive self-talk throughout the day.
Shifting negative self-talk!
There are two steps for shifting negative self-talk; first, you must notice it! That means to listen to what you are saying to yourself and to the thoughts that you are thinking – hear yourself.
Listen to what you say to yourself in the mirror. Listen to what you say to yourself when you are about to meet someone new. Listen to what you say to yourself when you are about to do something that makes you nervous, like take a test or stand in front of your class.
Most important is to listen to yourself when you’re feeling the grungies! (The grungies are a sign of negative self-talk!) What are you thinking about? What makes you feel sad, afraid, angry, depressed, guilty, lonely, etc. The grungies are often a sign of negative self-talk, your feelings.
Second, STOP and SHIFT!
Stop and shift means stopping the grungy talk and Shifting to Power Talk!
When you hear negative self-talk, stop it IMMEDIATELY! A cool trick is to use a “stopping phrase.” A “stopping phrase” is a flag to let you know to stop your negative thoughts so you can Shift a positive thought.
Managing Change
We learned a thing or two about change these past two years.
Life is all about change!
As kids, you change grade levels, teachers, and classmates every year. Some changes are small such as learning a new subject or having a new textbook, while others are huge, such as changing schools or dealing with divorced parents. Did you know that people respond very differently to change? Some kids love change while others not so much.
How you respond is often based on whether you wanted the change or whether you think the change is “good” or “bad.”
Change often pushes you outside of your comfort zone, and the dragons will come when that happens. (The dragons are the negative self-talk, your thoughts). You may feel a little nervous, anxious, or even sad, but the only way to slay the dragons is to face them head-on and step into the change. JUST DO IT!
Every time you slay the dragons, you build self-confidence. You get to choose how you want to respond to change – even if it is something you didn’t want.
How you manage the changes in your life will directly impact your happiness and your ability to achieve your dreams. You see, you cannot create who you want to be by staying where you are. You MUST Change.
Three steps to Managing Change are:
- List and manage concerns
- List benefits and positive impacts.
- Visualize embracing the change.
Want to learn more about Gratitude, Self-Talk, and/or Managing Change? Reach out for a thirty-minute free consultation to see how I may best serve you and your child. Sharon Kay Baran, Certified Life Coach for Kids, sbaran1965@gmail.com or 734-636-6737, Empowering Kids 4 Life!
