A Simple Way to Help Your Kids Handle Hard Times

Recently I had a conversation with my son who is serving a mission for our church.  During our call he started sharing some of the things he had been thinking and feeling.

He was being really hard on himself.

He was judging himself and comparing himself to others. I think most of us do this to some extent. It’s easy to look around and feel like everyone else is doing better, working harder, or having more success.

As I listened, I realized I had an opportunity to help him see something important how the way he was thinking was affecting his whole experience.

Before I shared anything, I asked him if he'd be open to a little coaching?

This is such an important step. Instead of jumping in with advice, it gives the other person a choice. When people feel invited instead of corrected, they are much more open to listening.

He said yes.

So I shared a simple model I learned when I became certified as a life coach through The Life Coach School. This framework helps us understand how our thoughts influence our feelings, actions, and the results we create in our lives.

The model looks like this:

Circumstance
Thought
Feeling
Behavior
Result

A circumstance is something that happens outside of us. It’s a fact. Something neutral that everyone could agree on.

Then comes our thought about that circumstance the sentence we say in our mind about what happened.

That thought creates a feeling.

That feeling drives our behavior, what we do or don’t do.

And those behaviors create the results we see in our lives.

When we understand this pattern, it can be incredibly empowering.  Instead of believing our circumstances control our lives, we start to see that the way we think about them plays a huge role in the outcomes we experience.

And the beautiful part is this: when we learn this skill ourselves, we can also teach it to our children.

If you want to learn how to apply this model in your own life and how to teach your children to manage their thoughts and emotions, I would love to help.  I will elaborate on this and help you see how it's playing out in your life you can click here for a FREE 30 min. discovery call.  Where I will help you apply this is in your own life. Once applied EVERYTHING gets better.  You start to see the world differently and you feel more calm and happy.  It helps with less fighting and contention in your home.

When we understand how our minds work, it changes the way we parent, the way we respond to challenges, and the way we show up in the world.

And it’s a gift we can pass on to our kids for the rest of their lives.

xoxo,
Megan

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