How to Nurture Motivation and a Growth Mindset in your Kids - the 5 Point Plan

What if there were gentle, positive and practical ways you could use the summer months, away from the pressure of the school year, to inspire your children to have initiative, drive and resilience?

What if by noticing the things that they get right, using language that builds their self-confidence and supporting their interests while teaching them to be independent, we were able to nurture, build and ignite their natural internal motivation? Wouldn’t that be worth a try?

One of the first parenting lessons we learn (sometimes the hard way) is that we can’t ‘make’ our children do anything, whether it’s to cooperate, take an interest in something or stretch themselves and try new things. Motivation needs to come from within. There are, however, things we can do, language we can use and an approach we can take that influence our children’s behaviour and their motivations. The summer, while relaxing and having fun, is a great time to give our children these lifelong gifts.

What does motivation look like?

Motivation is multi-layered and can appear at different times and in different forms. We often find it easier to recognise the qualities and habits of a motivated and internally-driven child than we do to understand why our children don’t feel motivated. We might see resourcefulness, flexibility, an ability to think and act independently with the self-control to manage setbacks, curiosity and a willingness to give things a try and to problem-solve. Motivated children do things for the satisfaction, feeling of accomplishment and to reach a goal rather than for external recognition. Motivation helps each of our children be their best, unique selves – and the good news is that with proper thought, these qualities can be nurtured.