Isn’t that the most exciting thing you can imagine? At this time of year most of us have had our summer break and, despite the final sunny days, we have to acknowledge that Autumn is on the way and with it the beginning of a new chapter for many young people starting out on their career path and for many not so young people who are making the changes that they always wanted.

For many young people, heading off to college and university, it is the start of a new chapter and an exciting adventure.  Others are heading back to school in the hope of achieving the grades they believe that they need to get on their chosen course.

Some are disappointed because they are convinced that this is not the option they dreamt of and that they didn’t achieve what they needed to take that first step into a bright and shiny future. They may be dreading going back to school or less than enthusiastic about starting a course which they hadn’t previously considered and which they believe is less good and less prestigious than their peers.

But, what at first can seem to be a missed opportunity and a crushing disappointment that things didn’t work out as expected, has the potential to lead to a future full of excitement and anticipation which will suit them better than they could ever have imagined.

The truth is that there are lots of choices open to people now and many of them aren’t immediately obvious.

Success doesn’t look the same to everyone and different options will be best for each individual. It’s so important to remember that we are all unique and original and choosing an alternative path into the future doesn’t make one person less or more than another. 

Not inferior
Not less intelligent
Not less ambitious
Just unique and ready for the new and exciting challenges which lie ahead.

Many of us feel that there is no choice but to commit to a career and stick to it, when in reality life is fluid and flexible and it would be wonderful if we could hold on to the idea that there are always choices that we can make.  It’s important to remember that we all create our own route to our own version of success whatever that looks like and that realisation is both empowering and smart.  

Most of us are on a changing and varied route through life and what we thought would represent success at fourteen, fifteen, sixteen, thirty or any age can look really different when we look back from further down the road. After all, how many people do you know who selected a career at seventeen or eighteen and say they are still totally happy with the choices they made?

Isn’t it great to realise that success isn’t a straight line stretching as far as the eye can see. Instead, it is a lot of ups and downs propelling us forward along our own path. Being flexible and having to revise our ideas and decisions helps us all to grow and develop as we change the route we take to reach our own, individual version of success. 

Supporting our young people to see that life is always full of opportunity is the greatest gift that we can give them. Find out if Hypnotherapy and Coaching with NLP could support you to navigate the choices ahead.


Don’t agonise… orrganise!

My Mother was fond of saying that school days are the best years of our lives. I wasn’t terribly convinced then, especially in the face of adolescent heartbreak and the kind of feelings of isolation that would be recognisable to anyone navigating teenage years.  But at least my generation graduated into a world where there were ample employment opportunities and getting on-to the property ladder was something I took for granted.

According to recent research, one in ten of our children and young people below the age of sixteen experience mental health issues. It’s not really that surprising when we consider the challenges people are facing. There are various stressors on teens in our society including bullying, hormonal pressures and educational demands. The quest to do better and better in exams and the increased difficulty in getting places on courses that have at least the potential of leading to a bright and shiny future, not to mention the difficulty today’s young experience when trying to get a house or even a tiny flat that they can afford. 

But, why would stress on this generation of young people have a bigger impact than that experienced by older people? After all, previous generations may have experienced enormous stress due to poor living conditions, food shortages and wars. As well as this, they did not have access to all the modern technologies that are all around us today which make modern day living so much easier. Without an advanced medical system, vaccinations or antibiotics many people died of minor conditions and life expectancy was far lower than it is today.

On the surface, it would appear that life in the twenty-first century is much better than those experienced by parents and grandparents. After all, labour saving devices are there to take the hard work out of day to day living and not many of us are doing our laundry by hand or beating rugs over the washing line.  

Technology and social media look like they add another, more interesting dimension to everyone’s life as people like and share endlessly on their devices and are often oblivious to the real people standing in front of them or sitting beside them on the bus.

On the flip side, social media and technology can appear to be enriching elements of modern life but the worry that some young people face from cyber bullying can’t be underestimated. Not to mention the fact that those shiny, posed photographs of this holiday or that bright new romance that our friends want us to know about can make even the most resilient young person feel that everyone else is at the party except for them. 

During the teenage years, from puberty through to young adulthood people go through more changes than at any other time in their lives. Anxiety is often associated with life changes and that is why it often develops in late teens and early adulthood. Limiting beliefs about ability and attractiveness, avoidance behaviours and low self esteem can all prevent the anxious teenager from exploring their potential and enjoying their lives. Because anxiety is often regarded as a weakness or a flaw, young people sometimes struggle to talk about what is going on for them. Anxiety saps confidence and can undermine relationships, education and career development.

Teenagers are typically exposed to disappointment, failure and rejection during their formative years and the impact these experiences have on emotional development and expectations of themselves can affect them for life. The resulting low self worth and lack of confidence create limiting beliefs about what they can achieve and can affect the big decisions which young adults have to make about their future.   

Hypnotherapy can help challenge the negative beliefs that prevent all of us from moving forward. It also nurtures confidence and self-esteem and supports young adults to take control of the symptoms of their beliefs which can lead to behavioural problems such as anger and difficulty in forming healthy friendships and relationships. 

Hypnotherapy is also really effective at nipping emerging issues in the bud and preventing patterns of behaviour from becoming more deep seated and more difficult to dislodge. Contact me to find out how hypnotherapy and coaching with NLP can support young people and help them transform into the best young adult they are capable of being and recognising their true worth.

Don’t agonise… orrganise!