Realiteen Talks

It may feel impossible to not compare yourself, particularly regarding body image, to others, from celebrities touted in the media to people who are a part of your everyday life.

However, these comparisons can have a negative effect on your self-esteem, placing unrealistic and damaging expectations on you that can affect your self-worth.

On this episode of FranklinCovey Education’s Realiteen Talks, host and High School Practice Leader Gary McGuey was joined by a panel of teenagers to explore how to break the cycle of unhealthy comparisons and learn to love yourself for who you are.

Comparisons can also be drawn between your current self and the person you want to become, such as when you’ve set a goal to lose weight, be more fit or something else entirely. While pushing yourself and setting goals can help you progress, that growth can only occur with a healthy attitude toward your journey.

The panelists offered some tips for managing comparisons, body image and self-esteem.

Recognizing your uniqueness and the beauty of being a singular individual, though difficult, can help put you in a better headspace, as can remembering that everyone has a unique journey that no one else can truly see and working to set realistic, achievable standards for yourself that make you happy.

College isn’t the right post-high school path for everyone, but it’s a part of many teenagers’ lives. In turn, it’s a part of many a stressful night.

However, there are strategies for approaching college preparation without those stress-inducing moments of panic. There’s a beneficial method for everyone – it’s all about finding it.

Often, it can seem like life is happening to you – and that can lead to a perceived lack of control. Challenges and obstacles come one after another, leading to even more chaos, and it’s enough to overwhelm just about anyone.

But what if something as simple as your mindset could change that pattern?

On this episode of FranklinCovey Education’s Realiteen Talks, hosted by High School Practice Leader Gary McGuey, a panel of teenage guest weighed in on the topic of mindset – and how the right attitude and approach could change your eventual outcomes.

“Whenever I think of the power of mindset, I really just think about your mentality or the way you approach different situations,” one panelist said. “Whether that be approaching academic, athletics or other relationships. … [It’s] also your mindset of positive thoughts versus negative thoughts.”

The mind is a powerful and influential thing, the panelists said. In fact, it can be one of largest factors, if not the biggest one, in determining success or failure in a given situation. Without a positive mindset, it’s hard to remain motivated in the face of adversity.

Many outside factors can influence your mindset, from the way you were raised to past experiences or the particular environment you find yourself in. However, at the end of the day, it’s up to you to stay on top of your mental state and find the best way for you to remain strong and committed to a positive, powerful mindset.

We’ve all been stressed out. Whether you’re a teenager with a big project due, a big game tonight or a big college application or an adult worrying over work, bills and other stressors, stress is a natural human emotion and an unavoidable part of life.

However, that doesn’t mean you can allow it to dictate its own terms and control your life.

On this episode of FranklinCovey Education’s Realiteen Talks, host and High School Practice Leader Gary McGuey was joined by a pair of teenagers intimately familiar with stress – particularly in a year that’s been more difficult than just about any that’s come before it.

McGuey and the two panelists explored how they recognize stress, keep it at bay, and use it to fuel a more productive approach to the challenges and opportunities in their lives.

“I feel like there’s also a good side to stress, where we feel motivated by it,” one panelist said. “Things like, perhaps, classes – when we want to do well in a class and we know that, if we do well, it will be good for our futures. …

“There’s definitely a point where we have to figure out, ‘OK, where is this tipping point?’”

To keep stress from becoming a “dark cloud,” it’s important to work to understand your own unique signals of being overly stressed and to pay close attention to when stress in one particular area bleeds into other, unrelated aspects of your life.