Summer is one of my favorite times of year for coaching! With a lighter schedule and less stress, teens and college students can take a deeper dive into personal growth. Summer coaching almost always focuses on reflection and preparation. I take my clients through a process where they identify areas of growth and newfound wisdom. Then, we build upon that knowledge to prepare for the future. I help them envision the upcoming school year and identify what they want to accomplish. From there, we create goals and plans for how to achieve those goals.
Summer is a great time for teens and college students to gain more confidence and prepare for the upcoming school year.
Last summer, I worked with a teen, who was preparing for her senior year of high school. She had experienced a lot of anxiety throughout her junior year, due to Covid and the sudden shift to online school. Although she knew most of her senior year would take place via Zoom, she wanted it to be different. Her goals for summer coaching included learning skills to manage her school-related anxiety and feel more confident in herself. She also wanted to overcome her shyness and expand her social circle.
Over the course of six sessions, she identified her personal strengths and learned how to use her inner qualities as tools to reach her goals. For example, one of her top strengths is humor and she learned how to use humor in social situations to feel less shy and more engaging. She also learned how to reframe failure and shift her negative thinking. She used to consider anything less than a B failing, and a grade like that would trigger a flood of negative self-talk. Through coaching, she started to see that Bs and Cs revealed areas to focus her attention, and ultimately study more effectively. She learned how to self-advocate and seek the help she needed. Together, we outlined a new time management strategy that would minimize academic overwhelm and maximize productivity.
At the end of her summer sessions, she said she felt more confident, less likely to get overwhelmed, and more enthusiastic about going back to school, even if it was online. Her mom reported she was taking more initiative around the house and preparing for school; she even bought herself a planner! She was reaching out to friends and making plans.
Coaching is a powerful process.
I am always amazed at how quickly positive change can happen and propel teens forward. When they realize their personal power and equip themselves with strategies and tools to deal with the challenges they face, they are truly unstoppable, and they feel it! They begin to show up to life more energized, optimistic, and inclined toward positive change and personal growth.
Download my summer reflection page and share it with your teen.
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