When my friend’s daughter vulnerably shared with me, I took a step back.
Her 14 year old heart shared, “I am trying to love myself, but I don’t know how?” My 39 year old heart could completely relate. “I am still working on that”, I told her. Being a teenage girl, developing and growing in front of an audience feels like an incredible challenge. “Having your image rated and ranked against other girls your age does nothing for your self esteem”, she confessed.
Confidence
I could offer her the standard “how to build confidence” antidotes about pushing outside your comfort zone, finding your identity in the activities you enjoy, surrounding yourself with positive friends. At the end of the day, acknowledging the normalcy of where she was at and simply listening to her share, felt like the most giving option. Being mindful that all teenagers go through a period of self loathing is important. It is our job as adults to help teens navigate emotions by guiding them to better emotional literacy.
Emotional Literacy
Emotional literacy builds a foundation of understanding that normalizes the expression of all emotions. Emotions are not labeled good or bad, instead space is created to feel each one authentically with the knowledge that they are valid and always shifting. We identify that some emotions feel heavier than others and that sometimes more than one emotion is felt at the same time. The action of feeling an emotion, labeling and expressing it is practicing mindfulness. Mindfulness is key to normalizing emotions and making peace with them. Encourage your teen to practice this.
Mental Training
Mental training not only strengthens your athletes mind, it helps them navigate challenging beliefs they experience during their teenage years. A strong mindset that sets the stage for confidence, poise and the ability to trust their instincts, is priceless to their development.
You can find more information about the Mind-Body Performance Training program I offer when you visit my website www.rebekahdixon.ca
Use this worksheet to identify the KEY CHARACTERISTICS of your confident self so you can CHOOSE to use them going into your next competition.
Get the worksheet –> https://rebekah-dixon.mykajabi.com/pl/141210
Hi, I'm Rebekah. I help skaters improve their performance by strengthening their mindset. Please check out my blog, sign up to my mailing list, or follow me on social media for inspiration. 