As we enter a new year, we may be hearing lots of conversations and reflections on motivation - how many times have you heard ‘new year, new me’ already?!

 

But what motivates young people?
 

It may not be what you expect… 👀

 

The teenage years are such a wild ride of emotions and new experiences that maintaining motivation for the things that ‘matter’ can be an occasional (OK… frequent!) challenge for some. And what matters will be different for different people, of course.

 

As parents, carers and teachers we may find it helpful to move from thinking How do I get them to do what I want them to do? to How do I support them to do the things they need to do?

 

We want to be alongside them emotionally, and effective in our support, whilst avoiding as many eyerolls and meltdowns (theirs and ours!) as possible.

 

My new blog explores motivation and young people. I hope you find this helpful, and it may reduce some of the ‘I’m not an idiot!’ and eye rolling, allowing us all to avoid (some of!) those scenes in future…

 

My newly updated talk called Motivating and Supporting Young People Under Pressure explores this topic in more detail, covering:

🧑 Recognising the teen years as a wild ride of emotions and new experiences

🔎 The science behind teen motivation

⁉️ Differentiating between lack of motivation and overwhelm

😌 Stress management, especially around key decision-making times

😧 Spotting the signs of stress/overwhelm in young people

✊ Building independence
 

Parents and school teams alike will find this insightful, helpful and, dare I say, entertaining, whilst allowing them to look at new ways of encouraging the young people around them.

Do you work with (or live with) primary school age children?

 

I now offer a brand new talk for Years 5 and 6 about worrying - why it's normal, when to worry about worrying, and how to help yourself. I also cover the transition up to senior school!

 

In December, I gave this talk to 80 children, and their engagement and excitement about participating in the discussion was off the scale. They were amazing.

 

Do get in touch with me if you might like me to deliver this at your primary school!

Motivation is one of many subjects I also cover in my webinar series. I've created six jam-packed, informative webinars aimed at parents, teachers and anyone interested in young people's mental health.

 

Each webinar contains around an hour's worth of practical guidance and tips, with input from a wide range of amazing experts, on lots of topics affecting young people.

 

If you need more resources for supporting young people with ADHD, autism, eating and body issues, self harm, and school anxiety, these webinars are for you!

With 18% of students reporting mental health difficulties, a figure which has tripled in just seven years, universities are navigating a crisis. I found this article to be an interesting read and hope you do too, though I find it pretty concerning as the tech is built to be sycophantic, and not a healthy replacement for human support sadly: Higher education needs a plan in place for student “pastoral” use of AI

This article from Unite shares that two-thirds of parents admit to tracking their child’s location while at university. That's quite a startling statistic! As I share in the article, ‘As parents, we have raised our children to be independent, to fly the nest and achieve their goals – they therefore deserve our trust and have earned the right to privacy and independence’. 

 

To help parents navigate the transition to an empty nest, I teamed up with Unite Students to create the Guide to Empty Nesting.

The Positive Student Planner
Organisation meets self-care in the ultimate student companion!

Being a student can feel overwhelming at times. The Positive Student Planner, published by Penguin Random House, is here to help you organise your life and your mind. This 12-week guided planner combines practical organisation with proven wellbeing strategies to support students every step of the way.

More than just a diary, it’s filled with daily journaling prompts, mindful activities, grounding tools, and creative exercises, alongside essential planning features like timetables, budgeting tips, meal brainstorming, and study organisation. Find it here (and check out the fun Instagram account for the planner here!)