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. Written By Murray G. Hughes http://www.gymnasticssecretsrevealed.com/gymnastics-articles/motivation-article.htm
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