Suffering from Senioritis? We Can Help!

If you are a senior (as in high school), a parent of a senior, or a teacher of seniors,

then this week’s message is for you!

accomplishment-ceremony-college-267885

se·nior·i·tis noun \ˌsē-nyər-ˈī-təs\: an ebbing of motivation and effort by school seniors as evidenced by tardiness, absences, and lower grades.

Sound familiar? I know at this stage in my senior year I had the worst case of it! It’s likely most of us did. After all, we were on the homestretch, and most of us had made our college or career decisions by now. So, it was pretty easy to rationalize slacking off at school. But, decades later (and hopefully wiser), I can now look back with a different perspective… and challenge this year’s high school seniors to do better than I did!

Why? Because what seniors are currently experiencing is a preview of things to come, and it pays to develop smart habits beforehand. They’ll find themselves in many situations in college and career in which finishing strong after a long and arduous effort will make or break their success (For example: thesis papers in college, landing a big client at your new firm, building your own start-up, applying to grad school, etc.). As time goes on, the stakes only get higher, and none of us want our efforts to go to waste!

In What I Wish I Knew at 18: Life Lessons for the Road Ahead, I describe 109 life success secrets of honorable and successful leaders. One of my pointers, “Plan, Practice, and Persevere to Succeed,” is a true hallmark of admired people. The perfect illustration was the US Olympic Hockey team’s win over the USSR in what is considered the greatest upset in sporting history. (If you haven’t seen the movie Miracle, it’s a must!) US coach Herb Brooks was relentless to the very end, and his rookie team of collegiates delivered.

Yes, there’s a reason I brought up this long-forgotten-to-many hockey story (two reasons, actually). One, is this tremendous victory could only have occurred through careful planning, tons of practice, and dogged perseverance through adversity. Second, the victors knew how to finish strong and never let up. Can you see any parallels with a student’s high school career?

Successful people are committed planners. They set high, but achievable goals that are measurable. They accomplish great things because their goals instill motivation and focus. Encourage your seniors to compare their daily productivity with and without a “to do” list and they’ll soon see what I mean. Trust me, they’ll be setting lots of goals in college and career! It can only help.

However, goals can only be achieved through practice, discipline and effort. If college is your student’s next step, this involves developing great study habits. College academics are much more rigorous and the competition is tougher. My 3.8 high school GPA quickly became a 2.85 in my freshman year of college! Finally, I figured it out and would later become Valedictorian of my MBA program at the UW. Same brain, different study habits! I devote an entire chapter of my book to this study method so that readers can adjust easier than I did.

Finally, we all need to persevere through adversity (including the apathy that comes with senioritis!). This can involve physical, emotional, and mental challenges that affect our outlook and performance. Everyone experiences it, but the question is how we weather it—will we keep the faith, believe in ourselves, and grow from it through relentless determination? Or, will we slow down right before the finish line and allow someone to pass us from behind?

Your teen is about to enter the most amazing six months of change in his or her life. They will be saying, “Hello” to their future with more freedom and responsibility than they’ve ever experienced.

High school seniors: This is your time! With planning, practice, perseverance, and patience, you’ll knock it out of the park. It’s there for the taking. Our world needs exactly what you have to offer. And, we can’t wait to see you soar.

Best wishes and blessings!

Cultivating Productivity in Our Teens

Posted by lifesmartblog

career fair Last week we talked about senioritis, and how giving in to the temptation to slack off near the end of the school year can come back to bite us. That’s why it’s so important that we as parents and teachers do our best to cultivate productivity in our teens.

Over the years, I’ve noticed an interesting trend in my chance encounters with people. It goes something like this:
Me: “It’s great to see you! How’ve you been?”

Them: “Busy!” Or,

Them: “Crazy busy!” Or,

Them: “Out of control!” Or,

Them: “Overwhelmed!”

Is this good?

No, it’s not. We’re experiencing a crisis of over-commitment and information overload like never before. It’s not supposed to be this way. After all, technology is supposed to make us more efficient, isn’t it? Not more stressed! At the risk of sounding like Fred Flintstone, faster isn’t always better—especially if it reduces our quality of life and productivity.

These days, everyone is consumed with “busyness.” You see it everywhere. Our attention spans are shorter, our responsiveness has markedly deteriorated, our cell phones have become appendages (where almost nonstop beeps and vibrations are creating a false sense of urgency), we’re having a harder time focusing, and relational depth is increasingly being replaced by superficial breadth. Our children are bombarded with information and opportunities like never before and it’s showing up in anxiety levels.

It is crucial that we arm them with a strong productivity foundation to handle this brave new world.

Let’s start with time management. Whether they go on to college or the workplace, they will be in charge of how they spend their time. Successful people are extremely disciplined with their time, viewing it as a priceless asset they cannot get back. That’s the attitude we want to cultivate in our teens. They will need to develop prioritized daily “to-do lists” arranged by importance and urgency, and plan their time accordingly. Top priorities come first and before the fun.

Another key productivity driver is their ability to set goals and plan for their achievement. Encourage your children to set goals regarding their career, family, education, personal growth, finances, service, experiences, recreation/leisure, and daily responsibilities. The more specific, realistic, and measurable they are, the better. Consider setting some time aside with your student and making a list together of their measurable goals— immediate, short term, and long term. Then, train them to develop strategies and plans to achieve them. Without a planning mindset, success is, at best, a random proposition.

Finally, our kids need to become great decision makers. In What I Wish I Knew at 18, I describe an effective six-step decision-making process. The steps are: 1) determine your key decision criteria, 2) get the facts, 3) identify all the alternatives, 4) conduct an objective pro/con analysis for each option, 5) engage wise counsel, and 6) listen to your “gut instinct” or intuition. By working the process, their best option will usually reveal itself. It’s a GREAT discipline for selecting among several college alternatives!

Here are some questions to consider as you prepare for launch time and “train for productivity:”:

Are they effective goal setters, planners, time managers, and decision-makers?
Do they control technology, rather than allow technology to control them?
In their daily planning, do they focus first on what matters most?
Do they consider their time as a precious asset?

Let’s do our best to cultivate a foundation of productivity in our teens, as it will the foundation of success for the rest of their lives. Also, don’t forget to lead by example. Ask the above questions about your own life, too. There’s room to improve for all of us!

How to Help Your Senior Finish Strong

Posted by lifesmartblog

se·nior·i·tis noun se-nyer-‘i-tis: an ebbing of motivation and effort by school seniors evidenced by tardiness, absences, and lower grades.

Sound familiar? I know I certainly suffered from senioritis during both high school and college (and my daughter is living it as I write this)! At this point in the year I was so burnt out on tests and looking ahead to college or my new career,that it was easy to rationalize slacking off at school. But, now that I am older (and hopefully wiser), I look back with a different perspective.

If you have (or are) a high school senior, you know just what I’m talking about. So here are some thoughts about why it’s a good idea to stay the course and finish STRONG. I promise you, you’ll never regret pulling yourself out of your senioritis slump and finishing well. Here’s why:

After graduation and throughout college and career, you will find yourself in situations where long, arduous efforts will make or break your success. A deadline for a huge presentation at work, grad school applications, or a team project for a history class are all examples of situations that require effort and adherence to deadlines. As life goes on, the stakes will only get higher, so it’s important to develop and nurture the discipline of finishing strong NOW.
Success in all areas (career, academics, relationships, sports, etc.) requires planning, practice, and perseverance. Here at LifeSmart, we like to refer to these as “the Three P’s of Success.” In order to apply these P’s to your life, I encourage you to create daily to-do lists and implement daily goal-setting sessions. I guarantee you will see your productivity soar. (And remember, procrastination is a ‘P’ you want to avoid like the plague.)
Good study habits are important throughout your life, not just during high school. Trust me when I say college academics are far more challenging than high school (my 3.8 GPA in high school became a 2.85 in my freshman year of college!). And of course, once you start moving ahead in your career, that doesn’t mean you’ll never study again! Most careers require some continuing education, and you’ll have to study and prepare for presentations, conferences, and portfolio building, and more.
Most college admissions are contingent on the student finishing well! So, too, are academic awards and scholarships!

We’ve all seen painful examples of when people or teams squandered great starts by not finishing strong and incredible finishes from slow starters that eventually won the game. No matter who you were pulling for, the 2017 Super Bowl was the perfect illustration of what can happen when you ease up. Unfortunately, that big lead for the Falcons didn’t matter in the end. Better luck next year!
Current high school seniors are about to enter the most amazing six months of change in their lives. They’ll be saying “hello” to their future with more freedom and responsibility than ever before. Their worlds will become bigger and more exciting, but their plate will also become more full. Encourage them that this is their time to finish strong and launch their future well. With planning, practice, perseverance, and patience, they’ll knock it out of the park. Their success is there for the taking.
Do you have – or know someone with – a classic case of senioritis? It’s that time of year! What are some of your ideas for overcoming it and finishing strong?

Suffering from Senioritis?

Posted by lifesmartblog

se·nior·i·tis noun se-nyer-‘i-tis: an ebbing of motivation and effort by school seniors as evidenced by tardiness, absences, and lower grades.

Sound familiar? I know at this stage in my senior year I had a bad case of it! We all did. After all, we were on the homestretch, and most of us had made our college or career decisions by now. So, it was pretty easy to rationalize slacking off at school. But, decades later (and hopefully wiser), I can now look back with a different perspective.

If you have (or are) a high school senior, you know just what I’m talking about. So here’s a thought about why it’s a good idea to stay the course and finish STRONG.

After graduation, students will find themselves in many situations, especially involving college and career, where finishing strong after a long, arduous effort will make or break their success. As life goes on, the stakes will only get higher!

Success requires planning, practice, and perseverance. Compare your daily productivity with and without a “to do” list and you’ll see what I mean. Trust me, there is a lot of goal setting in college and career!

However, goals can only be achieved through discipline and effort. That’s why if college is the next step, this involves developing great study habits. College academics are much more rigorous and the competition is tougher. My 3.8 high school GPA quickly became a 2.85 in my freshman year of college! It was demoralizing, but eventually I figured it out and would later become Valedictorian of my MBA program. Same brain, different study habits! (ref: chapter 7 in What I Wish I Knew at 18).

Seniors are about to enter the most amazing six months of change in their lives. They’ll be saying “Hello” to their future with more freedom and responsibility than ever before. Encourage them that this is their time to finish strong and launch their future well. With planning, practice, perseverance, and patience, they’ll knock it out of the park. It’s there for the taking.

Do you have – or know someone with – a classic case of senioritis? It’s that time of year! What are some of your ideas for overcoming it and finishing strong? Share them with our online community; we’d love to hear from you!