Dearbhla Kelly - Career tips guaranteed to put your teen on track to the perfect career

Internal Monitoring

Encourage your child to reflect and develop their own internal monitoring system. These days the world around us is moving at a fast pace and there is constant external noise around our teenagers. I-Pods, My Space, bebo, mobile phones and TV give very little silence or space for our teenagers to reflect

In addition, too many teenagers are influenced by what the media dictates and what there friends think.  So rarely do teenagers have the space or the know how to reflect on their emotions, opinions or feelings.  As a result “I don’t know” or “whatever” are typical responses to questions you might ask them.

Task 4

Suggest that your teenager ask themselves …
What do I really love?
Where do I feel most alive?
What activity / job doesn’t feel like work to me?
When I look at the world of work, media, people around me who do I admire and why?
What is it about them that appeals to me?

Write down the answers and open up a conversation based on the responses.

Task 5

As they go along in life encourage your teenager to tune into themselves.  May I suggest that you as parents teach your teenagers to continually ask themselves…
Does this feel right for who I am?  If the answer is “yes” then go forward.  If the answer is “no” then review and consider other options. 
If your teenager changes his/her mind or discovers something is not for them.  Help them turn the negative into a positive learning experience or blessing.