A critical part of the maturing process for children is developing self-motivation to do things that aren’t fun. Everything from brushing and flossing teeth to taking out the garbage, to practicing on the weekend while other kids are playing video games. When a child has the self-motivation to do something important that’s not fun without […]
I have a simple warning for parents and coaches of athletes who struggle with mental toughness or confidence problems. Just like most problems, mental toughness and confidence problems don’t solve themselves. In fact, they get worse with time. If you see a young athlete in middle school having problems with mental toughness or confidence, it’s […]
Motivating children with short-term rewards is unquestionably the easiest way to get a child to do something immediately. However, motivating children this way has two big problems that make the immediate results not worth it. Psychology professor Dr. Edward Deci, the world’s leading researcher on goals and motivation, explains these two problems in his classic […]