Motivate Your Son Before It is Too Late

I’m in the early stages of writing a follow up to my first book Motivate Your Son.  My recent discussions on the subject with parents of young adult men in their twenties almost always includes the following:

What had been considered “normal-expected” in terms of young male progression is now a victory. 

When I wrote Motivate Your Son, I had been struck by a finding in my research the growing number of young men who were not financially independent.  Now, my initial research PRE-PANDEMIC includes the following: 76% of 22 year old men are still financially dependent.   I’ll have to dig through the data to sort through how many are still full time students.

But I can say with full confidence that the number of young men who are not graduating college in 4 years and getting a job that enables financial independence has plummeted.  Most are not graduating in 4 years.  Most are not developing careers.  And, for any parents with financial pressures, most are not financially independent.

While the statistics in my new book will change, my thesis will not:

Those that are struggling are almost always those that were not motivated in high school.  Twentysomething young men who are struggling almost always have a path that included struggles through college (or not graduating), limited college choices, and struggles in high school.  Or to put it another way, those that do well in high school, had good college choices, and did well in college are far less likely to struggle for financial independence in their twenties.

The pandemic is ending… it is… really :)! Its damage was (is) multi-faceted and included (includes) lowering the motivation for students, particularly teen boys.

Our Student Mastery Program is designed to help as will be our specific Motivate Your Son Program which will loosely be structured as follows:

The High School to College (or not) to Career Program

We have formalized our process that has led to the success of thousands of teen boys through the years of running The Learning Consultants.  

We have done so because we are now working as much with students across the country – and even the world – remotely.  

Do you have a teen son who could use a shift in motivation? 

If so, find out if the Motivate Your Son Program is right for you.

The Pre-Meeting Career Assessment:

This assessment is designed for the primary goal of providing academic and career direction.  

A series of psychological, career, and personality profiling tests are administered.

A few open ended narrative questions are asked which give the student and parent a chance to add comments 

Pre-meeting, the data will be reviewed in order to turn into actionable advice.

Meeting 1: The Vision Meeting 

Prior to meeting, we will have reviewed all pre-meeting data.

The student creates his vision for success/happiness in his career.   

While some will have distinct goals (i.e. “I want to become a X”), most will have a more thematic vision (I want a certain level of income/freedom/security/status/enjoyment).   

Strategies will be discussed, as will tactics, but the primary directive is to ensure the big picture vision is in place.

Theoretical Explanation:

Boys need something to work towards.   Will we literally figure out what your son will ideally do with his career?  There will be some cases where such magic happens.  But in most every case, the act of planning – thinking about the future – is what shifts the boy.   

So, for example, after a directionless 16 year old works through our assessment and vision creation, he has one possible vision: work at high tech start-ups that makes fun mobile apps.   

Through our interaction, he sees that most of the workers at such start-ups attended what he believes to be “good colleges”.  He realizes that it will a lot easier to enter this field if, he too, attends one of those good colleges.  He understands that getting better grades is important and starts working harder in school. 

As he goes through college, he might shift his views on what he wants to do, although we probably will have engaged in valuable self-discovery that will invariably help him along his career path.  Regardless, his motivation and long term goal orientation has shifted.  

Meeting 2: The Strategy Meeting

Here, the student has a vision generally in place, although we are sure to discuss in greater depth.  The focus of the meeting will be “how to get there.”

For most, this will involve strategies for linking the present to the future. Most will learn that getting good grades will link to gaining the education and credentials desired for the envisioned career path. 

Everyone – even those whose academic paths will not be vital for their career goals – will learn how work character is linked to success.

Meeting 3:  The Tactics Meeting

This meeting is designed to link the student’s day to day with the strategy and the vision. 

Here, we primarily discuss what can be called “study skills.”   We also will address where skill/subject area development will be important and dive right into skill development/tutoring.

Further Meetings:

Ongoing (as needed)

For many students, college counseling, test prep and tutoring will be helpful.  

Contact us to learn more.