Posted on September 19, 2019

How do you define a win or success for your child? For many, the goal is set too far in front of them. They work toward that goal with the evaluation given at the end, telling them either they achieved or failed. Try again another time. That’s how most of us learned how to goal set.

However, you can help your child create a winning mindset by changing how they think about and how they achieve a goal.

Developing a Winning Mindset

Our mind is wired to build on what we focus on, for this reason when you are helping your child develop a winning mindset, there are a few strategies that you can put in place to help them reinforce this learning. These strategies once learned, will support their decision making and give them tools to create a winning mindset throughout their lives.

Here are a few steps to help you get started:

• Decide what the end goal will be; it’s important that you do this with your child instead of doing it for them. When they help to create the win, they will be more attached to the outcome.
• Break the end goal into smaller steps to help them get started; I like to call these success markers. The success markers allow you to move the goal closer and make it more achievable for your child. If the goal is to read one book a month, the first success marker may be to read 10 pages.
• If you see that your child is falling short of the 10 pages, ask them what may be getting in their way, and help them brainstorm ways that they can keep themselves on track. You may find that the goal of 10 pages was not realistic and together you decided that 8 pages is more in-line with an achievable goal.
• Celebrate each win every step of the way. Even when the goal needs to be adjusted, have appreciation for the progress made and keep moving forward. Falling short of the goal when effort has been applied is not failure, it’s an opportunity to problem solve or identify the obstacle and then adjust the micro goal to one that may be more realistic.

Discovering a Win Code for Success

Learning to have a winning mindset is about understanding how to keep moving forward, make adjustments, and celebrate the wins along the way. It’s developing the specific “win code” for your child that will allow them to win, based on their personality and strengths. You will see confidence grow as they become better at setting their goals, brainstorming ideas on how to move and continue past obstacles, and finally how to celebrate each win along the way. Celebrating the small wins is important and will help to keep your child motivated to reach the large win further down the road.

A winning mindset, when developed early, is a life-long tool that will help your child be successful in the classroom and beyond. It will give them the skills and resilience to become problem solvers and achievers based on the success markers they set for themselves within their larger goals.

Jordan Mercedes is a certified professional coach (ACC) and creator of the Win Code. Learn more about Jordan’s coaching services at jordanmercedes.com.undefined