Life is about choices.
As an ‘idealistic dreamer’, I have a BIG idea — which has taken me over 40 years of life experiences to develop — to share with the world’s teenagers. I am confident that it can
- transform their lives;
- give them hope and a sense of purpose;
- encourage them to use their unique gifts and talents;
- help them be co-creators of a happier, more united global community.
My gift is encouraging others. I receive great satisfaction when I choose to reach out to someone in need of encouragement and offer to walk alongside them for a season of their lives. I know this is my gift, and is one of the reasons I chose to become a teacher.
As I move now into my retirement years, I find myself wondering how I can share all my vast resources of experience, knowledge, and ideas with others to encourage the next generation to fulfill their potential, other than writing my books on these topics.
Sometimes we stumble and fall; other times we surpass our expectations; other times we have to pause, knowing that the timing is not right, and patience is called for — patience is NOT one of my virtues.
The BIG Idea
It has taken me about twenty years to turn my BIG idea into something that makes sense. The idea has been endorsed by some teenagers, some leading child psychologists in Australia, and several educators and others working with teenagers in different parts of the world.
The idea is simple, yet potentially incredibly powerful.
There are many things I have learned about young people over the years. One is that many young people are reluctant to share their deeper thoughts for a variety of reasons — they are shy; they were shouted down when they tried to share thoughts; they feel silly for sharing something (even though most of their peers are likely to be thinking the same way); they feel poorly about themselves, or lack self-confidence for any number of reasons; they have no idea how to start a self-empowering journey!
I gathered my research from about 45 years of teaching, sports coaching, and developing youth mentoring programs, mixed with my personal experiences mentoring more than 1000 teenagers, added a dose of the latest adolescent brain research, and created 365 Daily messages to inspire and motivate teenagers.
What is The BIG Idea?
The BIG Idea is simple. Every day, at a time decided by the teenager, they will receive one of these messages — probably through a free app, if my dream is realized.
The message will enter the teenager’s subconsciousness, and become part of a stored bank of positive, encouraging, and challenging daily messages.
Teenagers will have the opportunity, for example, to
- learn how to follow their chosen goal-setting pathways;
- develop resilience as they identify their strengths;
- create positive and meaningful relationships in their lives;
- learn the importance of finding a trusted adult mentor (preferably three);
- appreciate the importance of developing effective communication techniques;
- discover the importance of looking at conflict positively;
- be better prepared to enter the twenty-first-century real world of work.
Repetition is deliberate, and the brain develops as these messages are received and stored; on many days, dopamine will be released as the teenager reads the message — a feel-good, positive experience (so important in positive brain development) that could turn a day around in five seconds.
These messages have been crafted in such a way that they cover several areas over a two-week cycle, thus helping teenagers to take ownership of two critically important sentences for their self-empowering journey: “I am lovable.” “I am capable.”
Why The BIG Idea?
From the consultations I have undertaken in recent times and the trial with a teenage student during the final year of schooling, I know how powerful these messages are.
I am confident that they will reduce bullying, improve a teenager’s understanding of the responsible use of social media, result in teenagers living healthier and more balanced lifestyles, develop resiliency, and, hopefully, see these teenagers tap into the life experiences of many amazing adults who have volunteered their time to invest in these young lives.
Isn’t this how we build community?
I shared a few messages (three months of messages, actually) with a friend who was working alongside a teenager who had been suicidal. My friend was in an informal mentoring role and this young man trusted her and regarded her as his non-judgmental cheerleader.
While there are many reasons for a young person to question the value of life, my friend took to sending him one of these messages each day at a time agreed between the two of them.
Within a few weeks, she messaged me that the daily messages were having a positive impact on this young man, possibly even more powerful than I had imagined.
The BIG Idea for you?
These messages can be received by teachers, parents, and mentors and can become topics of communication as we build meaningful relationships with teenagers.
Who knows what can come out of a discussion between one of these adults and a student, or between one of these adults and a group of teenagers?
Schools and local communities, as well as families, can be transformed.
Examples of The BIG Idea
Imagine you are a teenager and receiving a message — which still needs further editing — like this every day of the year:
- I am responsible for my choices and actions.
- I know we all need boundaries or rules if we wish to live happily and unselfishly.
- Your life journey is about becoming who you want to be with the support of people you trust and respect.
- I can choose to make goal-setting a FUN adventure!
- I can choose to place my mobile phone in another room at night, as I know how important it is to have nine hours of sleep EVERY night while my brain is developing.
- Your future is at stake, so you never hesitate to seek advice, support, and encouragement from those you trust.
- Your brain is still developing until your mid-20s. It is moldable and can be changed by experiences, so work hard at discovering who you are, explore new interests, and ask an adult you trust to walk alongside you and encourage you.
- I can choose to learn, while my brain is still developing, that the skills I am learning will open up more possibilities and serve me well as I get older.
- I hold the seeds of GREATNESS within and I must keep aiming to be the best I can be.
- I can choose to set REALISTIC goals, confident that I can achieve them in small, positive action steps.
- I can choose to be responsible for my thoughts, choices, and actions.
- I can genuinely value and respect the viewpoints and opinions of others without putting them down if I disagree.
- I can choose a mentor, a volunteer adult, or an older person I trust, to encourage me to become the best I can be.
- My brain is still developing and, therefore, can only focus on ONE thing at a time!
And then another BIG Idea for FREE
I decided to develop some FREE podcasts for anyone working alongside teenagers. Each Mentoring Minutes podcast is 1.5 minutes to 3 minutes in length, a deliberate strategy, so one can listen to one of the 260 podcasts each day, Monday to Friday for a year.
Most of my mentor training, teaching, and coaching ideas have been shared in these podcasts, which have been downloaded by about 18000 people to date. The messages support parenting, coaching, mentoring, teaching, indeed, ANYONE working with young people.
Many years ago, I purchased a small poster that has been displayed in a prominent place on my study wall throughout my career: You Never Fail Until You Stop Trying.
Who knows who may read it and open another door of hope to transform the lives of many, many teenagers and make 2025 a life-changing year?
Cover Photo by Nick Fewings on Unsplash
