Teen Catalyst

Today we talk through 7 questions to help reveal your life purpose.

• If you only had a year to live, how would you spend it?
• How do you want others to remember you?
• What did you love to do as a child that you no longer do?
• What type of discomfort can I handle?
• What topics and activities make you lose track of time?
• What do you dream of doing but are to afraid to do it?
• How could you best serve the world?

Sit down with a pen and paper and write down the answer to each of these questions. Go 7 layers deep asking yourself the why for each answer you come up with.

I promise you'll learn some things about yourself you never knew before.

Want to share your discoveries with me? Send an email to [email protected], or join the group on MeWe.

This is the first in a series of five episodes on the what, when, where, why, and how of discovering your purpose in life.

• You'll enjoy more focus and clarity
• Life is more fun and enjoyable
• It enhances your passion for life
• You become part of something bigger than yourself

Do you know your life purpose? Was it an intentional discovery, or did you just happen into it?

Tell me about it by sending an email to [email protected] or by connecting in our social group on MeWe or FB.

It's easy to get caught up in just living life, and letting things happen how they happen. While that’s the easy thing to do in the moment, it doesn’t do anything to intentionally create a life we LOVE living. You can fumble your way through a life and career you don’t enjoy, saving up for retirement along the way to try and enjoy the last few years of your life.

But wouldn’t you rather live your WHOLE life as a happy healthy thriving human, rather than wait till you reach the moving target of retirement age to live on bare minimum income while servicing medical bills at the same time?

Rather than thinking about what kind of career you want to get into, ask yourself what you see yourself doing in 15 years, if you could do anything you want.

What does that look like for you? Are you doing a lot of traveling? Do you live on a beach somewhere? Maybe you’re a CEO for a multinational corporation.

Whatever that thing is for you, you can make it happen. It just takes focus, planning, and intentional action. 

So answer this question for yourself:

"If I could do anything I wanted, what would I be doing in 15 years"?

Actually take some time, sit down with a pen and paper, or computer if that's your thing. But go through the exercise. Think of 25 things you LOVE doing, 25 things you absolutely do NOT want to do, then come up with 5 ways to do more of what you love, 5 ways to eliminate some things you don’t like. Going through this process will change your mindset towards what’s possible in your life. Shift your mindset, shift your reality. 

If you’re having trouble knowing where to get started answering that question for yourself, reach out to me and I’ll walk you through it. Just send an email to [email protected], or reach out on FB or MeWe.

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Disrespect in teenagers can manifest in many different ways. But the truth that what we often perceive as disrespect, usually comes from a much deeper underlying issue. Often the source is the teen's search for identity and struggle for independence.

Here's 5 things you can start doing today to combat this:

Trust is important for any relationship. If you want your teenager to listen to you, or consider what you say, you should earn their trust. You need to say what you mean, and mean what you say. Don’t be afraid to be vulnerable by sharing difficult things with them. And always be honest and truthful.

Remember, you were a teenager once. No matter how unreasonable your teen’s behavior may seem, try to imagine how they are feeling. Focus your attention on their welfare, interests, and needs. Let go of your judgements and critiques. Acknowledge their feelings, ask questions, and don’t try to run ahead in the conversation.

Do you want your teen to respect you? Teach them about it by respecting them. You earn respect by leading by example, rather than by fear and intimidation. Acknowledge their unique personality, ideas, opinions, and emotions. Don’t belittle them, EVER!! This one is HUGELY important, don’t criticize or trivialize their ideas or opinions as that can make them insecure as adults. When you treat your teens with respect, they will tend to develop respect towards you.

Most teenagers can take care of themselves and may not need your help. But, it is also mportant they know that you are willing and available to help them if they need it. Some teens may feel the need to do everything on their own and consider seeking help as a sign of inadequacy. Teach your kids that not everyone can do everything, and it is okay to ask for help sometimes, that’s part of learning new ideas and skill. You could also ask for their help in your own projects to make them feel involved. When they see you asking for help, they will learn that it's OK too for them to need help.

Your teenager may hate you or at least, say so. That’s probably not true. Also, they may see your discipline and strictness as hatred towards them and feel like you only want to make their life difficult.. You can mitigate their negative feelings towards you by showing that you care. Not only should tell them how much you love them, but also do little things in THEIR love language to make them happy. Show interest in what they are interested in (even if you have to fake it a little). This will help keep communication channels open for when they really need to talk to you.

Just remember that our purpose is raising confident, independent, and IMPACTFUL adults, and the process will be much less painful.

Here's a few ideas to get you started building an empire while you're still in your teens.

1. Content production
2. written
3. video
4. audio
5. Handmade items
6. your own items
7. resell items others make
8. Tech support
9. helping older people integrate technology in every day life
10. helping business integrate tech for better outreach and sales
11. helping people learn cryptocurrency for the new economy
12. Custom photography 
13. Basic services
14. baby-sitting
15. lawn maintenance
16. pool cleaning
17. gutter cleaning
18. maid service
19. concierge
20. Flipping collectibles
21. antiques 
22. sports cards
23. digital
24. NFTs
25. crypto tokens

How have you gone about generating income in the past?

What ideas from this episode are you looking forward to trying?

1. Be yourself. 
2. Model good communication
3. Don't be afraid to compromise
4. Focus on the positive
5. Talk less, listen more
6. Problem-solve together
7. Don’t judge

Empathize with your teen

Affective empathy (based on feelings, emotion)

Cognitive empathy (based on facts, objective)

Listen actively. Don’t be reactive, correcting, and offering your own insights until they ask. Find out the “why” behind what they're feeling.

Remain objective.

Understand pressure can backfire

Pressure is a motivator, and if your pressure is the primary motivator it can prevent your teens from developing critical life skills

Learn what's important to THEM

Most teens aren't unmotivated and lazy, they just aren't motivated in areas that YOU find valuable.

This topic was brought to me by a parent who was at his wit's end about what to do to help his son quit talking down about himself.

There are a number of different things that could be factors in causing a teen to talk negatively about themselves. From bullying by peers, to failing at something, or even a friendship turned sour.

Often times though it comes down to the language we as parents, teachers, and leader use in our conversations with teens. With a subtle shift in the wording we use, we can go from disempowering them, to giving them the confidence they need to grow into well rounded adults.

Today we discuss how to develop within teens an attitude and mindset towards innovation and development.

5 Innovator mindsets:

1. Learn to see patterns and connections
2. Be open to new ideas
3. Own your mistakes
4. Embrace diversity (ideas, approach, personality, etc)
5. Integrate the "digital world" into life when beneficial

Send questions, comments, and feedback to [email protected]

In today's episode we talk teen learning and development, and how to actively engage them in their pursuit of it.

Things to Know:

• # 1: A young adolescent brain can hold seven items of information, plus or minus two items, in working memory.
• # 2: The addition of emotion can help teens remember.
• # 3: The brain is social & requires interaction in order to develop properly
• # 4: Practice/rehearsal is critical to learning for the long term
• # 5: We take in more information visually than through any other sense. 

Helpful questions in engaging teens:

• What are some skills you would like to learn?
• What learning opportunities would you like to undertake?

Maintain an attitude of curiosity with your teens, and always remember, you goal is to help identify methods that will build upon your teen's strengths and lift their performance in critical areas.

Do good work.