How to Teach Youth to Be Proactive

Goal-oriented children tend to be very proactive.

Being proactive means approaching tasks or problems with foresight, independence and confidence. Proactive individuals do not wait for directions; they look for what needs to be done and determine how to do it. Proactive people usually have fewer problems to deal with because they anticipate and prevent them. Youth must be taught how to be proactive because of their natural tendency to react to situations based on their feelings at the time. You can teach young people to be proactive by introducing them to helpful activities and concepts.

Instructions

1. Direct the youth to focus on specific personal goals. Obstacles become overwhelming to children when they spend too much time focused on them. This saps their energy and creates a feeling of hopelessness. Teach kids to focus instead on the positive results they will gain from accomplishing their goals. Have them write down a goal on paper or an index card, and then list the steps needed to achieve the goal. Have them cross off each step or milestone as it is accomplished.

2. Show students how to create a plan of action for a task. Have them outline necessary steps and set a deadline. This will give them confidence that they can identify the right actions and follow through to completion. In the classroom, you can allow students to create their own assignments. Give them parameters to work within and let them create the exact assignment.

3. Give students the opportunity to advance ahead of schedule. In a traditional school setting, classes last for months and units can last for several weeks. Students tend to lose focus of the end goals involved with each task. Empower students by giving them the opportunity to finish their projects and take tests as soon as they are ready, instead of waiting until the rest of the class catches up. This supports a proactive mindset because students are working on manageable tasks with definitive ends. The worst thing that could happen is the student will need to find additional work to do so that he continues to be challenged.

4. Praise students' accomplishments. Give them positive feedback whenever they complete tasks ahead of schedule or when they do extra work that was not explicitly assigned to them.

5. Demonstrate a problem-solving mindset. Define a particular problem you would like to address and establish a plan for fixing it. Then get working on the problem right away. If young people see a respectable adult solving problems without complaining or worrying, they will want to imitate this productive mindset.

References

• Smart Pros: How to be Proactive, Not Reactive
• Quick MBA: Summary of Stephen R. Covey's The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People
• "5 Ways to Teach Your Kids to Be Proactive"; Cindy Jett; Counselling Resource

Resources

• Read this Article in Spanish