The Power of Focus for Helping Children Fulfill Their Potential

A woman and a child nuzzle their foreheads together, both smiling.

The Power of Focus for Helping Children Fulfill Their Potential

With anything and everything available at our disposal these days, we can easily be influenced or pulled in a million directions that we didn’t anticipate. Picking up our phones to find the next bit of gloom and doom breaking news reports pop up on our browser to the next advertisement (on a video you would love to see interrupted) that is trying to grab your attention and lure you into buying the latest gadget or gimmick on the market.

Role Model Positive Focus

Kids watch our reactions to when an incoming text message comes our way while we are eating a family dinner or we hear a news report about something political appear on the television screen. We want our children to grow up happy. However, are we setting up an environment for their experiences to be centered on all things positive? What we put into their world – hence what they focus on regularly – has a strong influence on how they feel. It’s very important that we don’t unintentionally pollute a young person’s mind by expressing our own despair about something.

So what exactly should a child focus on regularly? I am not saying that kids should grow up naïve to the world around them and ignore the current events of our society. But, if there is a certain problem, we should help teach them how to focus on a solution. In order for children to grow into happy, well-adjusted individuals, their focus should be around studying “success.”

Study Success

Research conducted by Dr. Gail Matthews at Dominican University of California shows that people who wrote down their goals, shared this information with a friend, and sent weekly updates to that friend were on average 33% more successful in accomplishing their stated goals than those who merely formulated goals.

“Your life is controlled by what you focus on.” ~Tony Robbins (American author, entrepreneur, philanthropist and life coach)

Achieving your goals is only possible by setting them. And setting your goals is only possible by focusing on what you want to achieve versus coming up with reasons (a.k.a. excuses) why you can’t accomplish your goals (a.k.a. would otherwise “fail”).

It is impossible to monitor all interactions that your child has with his or her peers. I see it at school every day: Some children love getting into drama and can poison other children’s minds with problems, complaining, and negative thoughts. While others concentrate their attention on what is possible, being kind and caring, and having a positive outlook on life.

When it comes down to it, thoughts are things and can take on a life of their own. One exercise to help your child discover the power of their mindset is by having them write down things they focus on throughout the day and then having them describe how each of those thoughts benefits and/or hurts them in some way. This will get them thinking about their own thinking and discover the power of focus.

Douglas Haddad, is an award-winning educator and best-selling author. You can go online or to a local bookstore and order his best-selling-book The Ultimate Guide to Raising Teens and Tweens: Strategies for Unlocking Your Child’s Full Potential, you will find specific strategies to help guide your child with time management, setting goals, and motivation to achieve greatness in their life. www.douglashaddad.com

https://www.parentingspecialneeds.org/article/how-to-set-clear-goals-and-plan-naturally/

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This post originally appeared on our November/December 2018 Magazine

The Power of Focus for Helping Children Fulfill Their Potential

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