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A Brief Lesson In Child Motivation
For Gymnastics Parents
Murray G. Hughes
Today I'm going to give you a few quick and easy tips for
child motivation - I didn't make these up, they are based
on psychological theory.
When we think of motivation we think of an audience of adults
chanting "I can do it" at a Tony Robbins seminar, but motivation
is just as important for children.
As a gymnastics parent, you probably already realize how important
motivation for children is.
Teaching your children about motivation and goals at an early
age will help them to become fulfilled and successful adults.
But how? Let's discuss a few ideas right now.
To start with, introduce your kids to the concept of setting
goals by having a discussion about them.
I don't mean lecture your kids, but have a back-and-forth
discussion about what they would like to achieve - don't be
too serious, they get plenty of that at school.
Keep it simple, fun and light, and remember to let your kids
have their say, listen to their ideas about achieving goals
and help to develop them.
Next thing you can do is set up a goal system --> using the
goals you created during your discussion, make up a chart
of attainable but challenging goals and place it somewhere
every one can see it.
Ideas for goals can be learning a new gymnastics skill within
a certain time-frame, ranking in the top 10 gymnasts at the
next meet or achieve a certain grade level in the next school
report card.
It's also a good idea to set rewards for each goal - include
that on the goal sheet too.
When a goal is achieved, give your child their reward and
put a big check-mark, smiley face or stamp on the goal chart
and gather every one in the household around to witness the
momentuos occassion and give encouragement.
When a goal isn't achieved, let your child know you can see
they're working hard but they need to try harder - also make
sure the goals aren't too tough!
Finally, set goals for yourself and follow them to completion.
You can't expect your child to achieve if you have no discipline
or self-control yourself.
A great way to achieve goals together is to take on a project
at home. It can be painting the garage, planting a new garden
or even a craft project.
The idea is to show your child that great things are achieved
from consistent work over a long period - too many kids nowadays
give up if something can't be achieved during the commercial
break!!
If you want to know more about motivation I suggest you check-out
my favorite book on the subject by Jason Michael Gracia: http://gymnasticssecretsrevealed.com/good/motivate.htm
Good luck.
Murray Hughes: If your child is a gymnast and you
enjoyed this article, you will definitely enjoy reading the
zero cost, 5-day course Gymnastics Tips Course written especially
for gymnastics parents by a gymnastics parent. http://gymnasticssecretsrevealed.com
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