Youth Motivation

 A Blue Ribbon Can Be A Motivator In Sport     

One of our biggest tasks as parents is to teach our children right from wrong. What integrity and character are and help develop these areas in them . Another very big area of development is self motivation. The  ability to do tasks that need to be done in a timely manner with self initiation. Some kids have more of this naturally some have less, all need to have it. How we can help the process of self motivation is of utmost importance. Being active in sports requires a level of self motivation and  as time goes on  the level of competition progressively higher for some, the level of self motivation also has to .If your child one day has collegiate aspirations sooner than later is the rule for a productive athletic experience.

It would be so nice to come home and your child immediately starts the dishes or begins homework , the track shoes being tied up ready for practice before told to do it. We have to build the correct circumstances and situations to help them learn one of the most important behaviors they will ever need in sports and life. If you want them to be self-motivated, you are going to need to do many things the list  below is a start.

• Watch the messages you send them, be an example and be very consistent in all that.
• Never leave any room for interpretation in what you mean when you talk with your children. The message always have to be very clear; no ambiguity.
• Be consistent in being a role model. Remember that all of the above is what your kids watch all the time, from day one.
• Encourage your kids to question themselves and accept their responsibility in their actions.

You don’t want your kids to grow up falling into the victim mode where it’s always someone else’s fault, or bad luck.  They have to learn to think in terms of their responsibility. This is a lesson that must be taught daily.

When my daughter recently had a very good training session, I not only praised her for the good job, well done but also that her hard work that  has lead to a good performance. For every action there is a consequence good or bad. You always get a consequence.  Which one is up to them.

Ultimately, a self motivated child helps make life at home more pleasant and if your child is an active athlete she must learn to do things in order and on time because there is only so much time for all tasks in a day forgoing or forgetting one or two may cause them not to be able to participate in the sport they love, it’s a privilege to compete a bonus for doing their part in the life of the family and themselves.