goal setting for kids

Kids Mindset for Success: Planning and Goal Setting

Enterprise For KidsTeam Mindset, Confidence & Leadership, Raising Entrepreneurial Kids , , , , , , , , ,
Young kids in suits showing a determined kids mindset for success

Kids mindset for success begins with helping children turn their dreams, ideas and intentions into a clear plan they can actually follow.

During my career-path conversation with my son Jai, he was able to visualise himself, his surroundings and the companions he wanted in his adult future. The final step was to solidify the pathway that would take him to his version of a successful life: a plan, Natalie Cook’s fifth P.

Natalie Cook with Cathy showing a kids mindset for success
Natalie Cook stood on a chair for this photo!

Kids Mindset for Success Starts With a Plan

It is always a good idea to sit down and plot out short-term and long-term goals, especially for entrepreneurial kids who are cultivating a kids mindset for success.

On an adult level, well-made plans should be a natural component of what you perceive as your life’s purpose — your “Why” in life. Of course, children who are entrepreneurial may not have solidified their life purpose to this extent yet. But they can still begin learning how to set meaningful goals, create intentions and take practical steps forward.

A plan helps children move from vague wishing into purposeful action.

Helping Kids Set Clear Intentions

Sean Rasmussen, our internet marketing mentor, taught me a trick that can be successful with kids as well.

Write an intention on a small piece of paper, but do not use the future tense.

For instance, an adult might write:

“I have attracted a healthy, motivated business person to my business this month.”

That is much stronger than writing:

“I will attract…”

A child might write:

“I have kicked two goals at this Saturday’s soccer match.”

Place the written intention under your pillow, in your wallet, or somewhere you will view it regularly. The idea is to set a specific and realistic goal, then see it, believe it and feel it.

Plan for kids mindset for success

People who practise this mindset for success technique can go on to set bigger and grander intentions over time.

For children, this is not about pressure. It is about learning to direct their thoughts, language and energy toward something positive and achievable.

Having a Defined Goal Builds a Kids Mindset for Success

My friend Michael Clouse says that not having a clearly defined plan is like an archer who aims at a target with a blindfold on.

There is no chance of hitting the bullseye if you are unable to see it.

That image is a wonderful one for children. If they cannot see what they are aiming for, how can they know which direction to move? A clearly defined goal helps children understand what they are working toward and why their daily actions matter.

This is especially important for entrepreneurial kids, because business ideas can easily remain just ideas unless they are supported by a plan.

Vision Boards and a Kids Mindset for Success

Another technique is visualising goals using a vision board.

Select the experiences, goals and things that you would like to have in your life. Then make a poster board using images, words and graphics. Place the vision board somewhere you will see it daily.

The important part is not just making the board. The important part is seeing it often, visualising the items on the board, and imagining them as if they were real and already present in your life.

Child facing fears and building a mindset for success
Facing your fears! Walking on broken glass!

A vision board can help children begin to connect their imagination with action. It gives them a visual reminder of what they care about and where they are heading.

For some kids, this might include sport, travel, family, creativity, business ideas, friendships, learning goals or ways they want to contribute to the world.

Positive Affirmations Lead to a Success Mindset in Kids

Speaking positive affirmations aloud two or three times a day is another way of setting your intention and belief. Again, these should be in the present tense.

Natalie Cook likes to declare her intentions and plans before a public audience, making herself accountable to a lot of people for achieving her aims. Her Olympic journey is a strong example of discipline, planning and follow-through. You can read more about her work and speaking through Natalie Cook’s official website.

So be bold.

Change your way of thinking.

Get rid of the negatives.

Affirm the positives.

Make sure that your plans are well aligned with your life vision. Set grand goals and follow your plan. This is a kids mindset for success.

Natalie Cook’s Five Ps Series

This article is Part 4 in our series on Natalie Cook’s Five Ps for helping entrepreneurial kids and enterprising teens develop purpose, people, passion, perseverance, planning and a mindset for success.

Where to Next?

How do you help your children set goals and follow a plan? Leave a comment and share one strategy that has helped build a mindset for success in your family.

Teaching Perseverance to Kids: Natalie Cook’s Five Ps

Enterprise For KidsTeam Mindset, Confidence & Leadership, Raising Entrepreneurial Kids , , , , , , , , ,
Cathy Howitt with Natalie Cook in a lesson about teaching perseverance to kids

Teaching perseverance to kids is one of the most important parts of helping them develop a mindset for success, because every child will face setbacks, rejection and moments when things feel too hard.

A baby learns to walk by falling over many times. An entrepreneur learns to succeed after stumbling along the way. In this third part of Natalie Cook’s Five Ps series, we look at her fourth P: Perseverance — perseverance on our children’s part, and perseverance on ours as parents too.

Kids working together on a computer while learning perseverance and problem solving
Perseverance grows when children work through challenges, solve problems together and keep going when learning gets difficult.

Teaching Perseverance to Kids Through Real-Life Setbacks

One of the best ways to teach children perseverance is to let them see adults handle setbacks in a healthy way.

For example, Cathy and I have learned that in the business of referring people to an opportunity, many people will simply not be interested. With enterprising teens watching, how do parents set an example to persevere when people say “No”?

The mindset for success is to celebrate the “No.”

After enough “No” responses, a “Yes” will inevitably follow. One of my mentors, David Wood, says to do the Happy Dance whenever you get a “No,” because the rejection has only moved you one step closer to the “Yes.”

Perseverance for Kids Means Learning to Handle Rejection

Your kids, whether entrepreneurial or not, are going to like seeing that Happy Dance.

It becomes a practical, memorable way to help seal the behavioural pattern of success in their mindsets. Being able to overcome rejection in business, rejection from friends and even rejection from family is paramount when teaching perseverance to kids.

The lesson is simple but powerful: rejection is not the end of the road. It is part of the road.

For entrepreneurial kids and enterprising teens, this matters. A child who can hear “No” and still keep going has a much stronger foundation than a child who believes every “No” means they have failed.

Changing the Language Children Use About Perseverance

Our vocabulary also plays a huge part in our ability to persevere.

In our family, “Can’t” is a swear word and is not allowed to be used at any time. “Can” is encouraged.

Many people, including kids, are quick to give up when the going gets tough. They say, “I can’t,” rather than “I can.” The little kids in my family actually believe “can’t” is a swear word, right up there with the other big four-letter words!

This might sound funny, but it is also a powerful family rule.

When children repeatedly say “I can’t,” they begin training themselves to stop. When they learn to say “I can try,” “I can learn,” or “I can have another go,” they begin building the internal language of perseverance.

Teaching Perseverance to Kids With “That Was Easy”

Another phrase to abandon is, “It’s too hard.”

Natalie Cook showed us a little trick she used to change her perception of what is hard. She bought a toy button that calls out, “That was easy!” when you press it. Natalie would strap this toy button to her volleyball net pole.

Whenever she did something very well that was also very difficult, she would run up to press the button:

“That was easy!”

Try it for yourself. Press the button below.

Being the best in the world at your sport certainly has its challenges, and my kids would love to try out one of those buttons.

But whether or not you have the button, the point is not to keep telling yourself, “That was hard.”

A child’s brain listens carefully to repeated language. If the phrase is always “too hard,” the child begins to expect defeat. If the phrase becomes “I can try,” “I can learn,” or even “that was easy,” the child begins to rehearse a different identity.

Natalie Cook’s Example of Perseverance

Natalie Cook’s Olympic journey is a strong example of perseverance in action. Her official Olympic profile describes her as a five-time Olympian and Olympic gold and bronze medallist in beach volleyball, which makes her a powerful role model when teaching children about commitment, setbacks and long-term success. Read more about Natalie Cook’s Olympic journey here.

Children often see the medal, the success or the final moment of victory.

What they do not always see are the early mornings, the missed shots, the injuries, the disappointments, the training sessions and the moments when an athlete has to choose whether to keep going.

That is why perseverance is such an important lesson for kids. It teaches them that success is not just about talent. It is also about what they do after things become difficult.

Why Perseverance Belongs in the Mindset for Success

These tactics — celebrating the “No,” changing our language, and reframing hard things as achievable — can all increase the level of perseverance in kids and help keep them on a successful track.

But perseverance becomes easier when children also have direction.

That is where the next P comes in: Plan.

A plan gives perseverance somewhere to go. It helps children understand the next step, not just the final dream. Without a plan, perseverance can feel like pushing in the dark. With a plan, children can see that each effort is moving them forward.

Make sure you have a look at the short video above that we made of Natalie Cook giving a special message to our kids. Can you spot the blooper?

Natalie Cook’s Five Ps Series

This article is Part 3 in our series on Natalie Cook’s Five Ps for helping entrepreneurial kids and enterprising teens develop purpose, people, passion, perseverance, planning and a mindset for success.

Where to Next?

How do you help your children persevere when things get tough? Leave us a comment and share one strategy that has worked in your family.

Entrepreneurship Activities for Students: Amber’s Green SuperCamp Reflection

Enterprise For KidsTeam Amber's Stories, Family Adventure & Real-World Learning, Mindset, Confidence & Leadership , , , , , , , , ,
entrepreneurship activities for students Amber leading run at Green SuperCamp

Entrepreneurship activities for students do not always look like business plans and market stalls. Sometimes they look like leadership camps, team challenges, goal setting, confidence building and learning how to step out of your comfort zone.

Amber’s Green SuperCamp reflection shows how real-world learning experiences can help children grow in confidence, courage, communication and initiative.

entrepreneurship activities for students Amber at Green SuperCamp with new friends
Amber and new friends.

Entrepreneurship Activities for Students at Green SuperCamp

For our readers who were expecting Part 3 to our “Teaching Your Kids To Achieve Success” series of articles, I’d like to let you know that will be up very soon and it will be well worth the read.

Flynn and Amber Howitt have just returned from a Young Leaders Camp in Bali. As it is so fresh and exciting, I thought we would interrupt our five-part series and share some snippets of Amber’s experience whilst on camp.

Before I hand you over to Amber, I would like to give our readers a little background about Green SuperCamp, which was held at Green School Bali.

In 2012, three of our children — Kaitlin, Jai and Flynn — attended the camp and returned full of experience and wisdom. The camp is designed to create young leaders who care for our future world.

It does this by building their confidence, encouraging them to think big, and giving them the skills to learn, interact and step out of their comfort zones. In this way, it becomes one of those powerful entrepreneurship activities for students that teaches far more than a normal classroom lesson.

Leadership and learning activities:

student leadership activity Amber participating in a team performance
Amber participating in a team performance.
entrepreneurship activities for students Flynn learning trust through teamwork
Flynn learning to trust.

This year Amber was old enough to go along too. She was very excited because she had heard all the awesome stories and learning from her siblings’ camp experiences the year before.

Also, a bunch of friends from Western Australia were coming along as well — Maddi Barrett, Macy Hobson, Georgia Dewar and Lachlan McRoberts.

To learn more about the philosophy of Green School Bali, you can read our earlier article.

Amber Howitt’s Green SuperCamp Reflection

So enough from me… here is Amber Howitt’s Green SuperCamp reflection.

Green SuperCamp, for me, was an amazing experience! Everyone there is treated evenly and kindly. No one is excluded or mistreated, so everyone is happy.

Your phones and valuables are given in, but you can reunite with your valuables almost every night to contact your parents.

Learning through real activities:

student learning activity grinding grain at Green SuperCamp
Grinding grain.
entrepreneurship activities for students teamwork at Green SuperCamp
Flynn and his SuperCamp team.

The Green SuperCamp itself is built mainly out of bamboo. It is nurtured and cared for by the people within it.

They use water from their lake and purify it. People from the world outside Green School can come and collect the water for free and use it in their homes.

Green School is meant so people around the community can be involved with the school. They make their own power using solar energy and grow their own food in food gardens.

Goal Setting as Entrepreneurship Activities for Students

The camp has inspired me to do more with my life, rather than just sit around and be… normal.

It has inspired me to take challenges, adventures and think of the things I could be doing. Writing books and travelling around the world are two of my crazy ideas. Those things might be a little hard for someone at the age of eleven though, but I can try to work up to that goal.

The steps for goal making are:

  • Design it
  • Outline it
  • In your face — tackle barriers
  • Take action!

Because of this, goal setting is one of the most practical entrepreneurship activities for students. It helps children imagine a future, break it into steps and take responsibility for moving forward.

Facing challenges and building trust:

entrepreneurship activities for students high ropes course facing fears
High ropes course. Facing fears!
team trust activity for students Flynn floating on hands
Flynn floating on hands.

Learning Strategies and Student Confidence

We were taught Quantum Reading and Writing. I improved my reading speed with the same comprehension by over 100%.

I concentrated by using the Alpha State. Alpha State is a technique to relax and concentrate better.

The steps to Alpha State are:

  • Sit up
  • Breathe in and out
  • Close eyes
  • Think of a peaceful place
  • Roll eyes up and down
  • Open eyes
  • Concentrate

These strategies are useful because they help students understand how they learn. For entrepreneurial kids, focus, confidence and self-awareness are just as important as having a business idea.

Camp life and friendships:

student life skills activity preparing home grown food at camp
Maddi preparing the home grown food.
students building friendships at Green SuperCamp
Macy and Georgia

Communication as Entrepreneurship Activities for Students

The friendships you can make at Green SuperCamp are really special. I made friends with both team leaders and kids from all over the world.

It is really easy to do so because everyone wants to make friends. Sometimes your relationships can last forever.

Green SuperCamp teaches you how to have the courage to become friends. No one is alone at Green School or Green SuperCamp.

I also learnt techniques to help me learn. These help me improve my relationship with my teachers. We call this “SLANT”.

Here are the “Tips for Learning” or “SLANT”:

  • Sit up
  • Lean forward
  • Ask questions
  • Nod your head
  • Talk to your teacher

Communication skills are an important part of entrepreneurship activities for students. Students need to ask questions, listen well, speak clearly and build trust with people around them.

Thanking and Apologising

students saying goodbye to leaders after Green SuperCamp
Flynn saying goodbye to new friends!

We also learnt the importance of thanking people and apologising. We were taught how to do this properly.

We call the steps to thanking “OTFD” or “Open The Front Door”.

Observation, Think, Feel, Desire

We call the steps to apologise “AAMR”, pronounced “A Mr!”

Acknowledge, Apologise, Make it Right, Recommit

Eight Keys of Success

Lastly, we were taught the “Eight Keys of Success”. These are the keys that keep you on course for success.

For each of these keys, we learn a different hand movement. This helps us remember them.

Here they are:

  1. Integrity
  2. Failure Leads to Success
  3. Speak With Good Purpose
  4. This Is It
  5. Commitment
  6. Ownership
  7. Flexibility
  8. Balance

Altogether, these keys are another example of entrepreneurship activities for students because they build the habits children need for leadership, responsibility and future enterprise.

Why These Experiences Matter

If you read this and think, “Nah… my child wouldn’t want to go to that camp!” think again.

Any child, from any place, no matter what, will want to go to GreenSuperCamp.

Thank you to my parents and camp sponsors for making it possible for me to attend Green SuperCamp. Thank you to my friends and new friends that supported me on camp.

Also, thank you to all the team leaders and facilitators who taught me all the tools I need for life. Lastly, thank you my team. GO TEAM H!

Thanks Amber for your reflection.

Jai, Kaitlin and Lachlan are currently on the Senior Green SuperCamp. You can also read Jai’s Green SuperCamp experience and Flynn’s Green SuperCamp reflection.

Kaitlin also shared why she wanted to attend the Green SuperCamp in Why Our Kids Wanted to Attend the Green SuperCamp.

Our “Teaching Your Kids To Achieve Success” series will continue with Part 3. You can also read Part 1 and Part 2.

Key takeaway: Entrepreneurship activities for students can include leadership camps, goal setting, teamwork, confidence building, communication skills and real-world challenges. Amber’s Green SuperCamp reflection shows how these experiences help children grow.

Where to Next?

If you enjoyed Amber’s Green SuperCamp reflection, you may also like:

Amber would love to hear your comments. Be sure to ask her some questions below.

Entrepreneurial Kids: How to Teach Purpose and Success

Enterprise For KidsTeam Mindset, Confidence & Leadership, Raising Entrepreneurial Kids , , , , , , , , ,
Natalie Cook diving for the ball at the Sydney Olympics beach volleyball final

Entrepreneurial kids need more than a good idea or a burst of enthusiasm — they need a strong sense of purpose that helps them keep going when the path becomes difficult.

This lesson became very clear to me after hearing Olympic gold medallist Natalie Cook speak in Perth. Natalie is a five-time Olympian and one of Australia’s most inspiring beach volleyball champions. Her message about success, purpose and the mindset of high achievers was powerful not only for athletes, but also for parents raising entrepreneurial kids.

Natalie Cook gold medallist sharing lessons for entrepreneurial kids
Natalie Cook, Olympic gold medallist, shared powerful lessons about purpose and success.

Why Entrepreneurial Kids Need a Strong Purpose

Natalie Cook is a wonderful example of the connection between sport, business and personal success. She won Olympic gold with Kerri Pottharst at the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games and went on to become a respected speaker, leader and businesswoman. You can read more about her Olympic journey on the Australian Olympic Committee’s Natalie Cook profile.

When Natalie spoke in Perth, she explained that professional athletes and successful business owners have many things in common. Both need discipline, courage, focus and the ability to keep moving towards a goal, even when the obstacles are real.

Her message was captivating, humorous and very useful for cultivating a mindset for success in entrepreneurial kids — and, just as importantly, in their adult counterparts.

Natalie Cook’s Five Ps for Success

Natalie built her talk around what she called the Five Ps. These were principles that could apply to children, athletes, families and business owners alike.

Over a series of posts, I wanted to share these Five Ps and connect them to the way we raise enterprising, confident and purpose-driven children. I will also be adding one extra “P” of my own at the end. After hearing Natalie’s five, I wonder if you can guess what mine might be.

For this first part, we begin with one of the most important foundations of all.

Entrepreneurial Kids and the Power of Purpose

A person who truly reaches for success has a mindset that carries with it a very strong “Why,” or purpose.

Your “Why” must be stronger than your “Why not?”

If it is not, you may not have enough purpose to muster up the will to make your goals happen when barriers appear. A strong purpose gives children something deeper to hold onto. It turns a vague wish into a reason to keep trying.

Your “Why” has to be specific and close to the heart. It does not need to be complicated.

A friend of mine is driven to succeed because she desperately wants her mum to be happy and not have to work anymore. Another wants to buy a villa in Tuscany so that she can reconnect with her Italian family roots and create a sense of belonging.

These “Whys” are very different from saying, “Why not?” They are clear purposes, not poor explanations.

Teaching Purpose to Kids Through Real Conversations

Your “Why” will often come from one of two emotions: pain or pleasure. Usually, pain is the stronger of the two.

Think about the rags-to-riches stories we often hear about well-known success mentors and creators such as JK Rowling, Colonel Sanders, Sylvester Stallone, Walt Disney, Steve Jobs, Susan Boyle and Richard Branson. Their difficult experiences helped shape a strong “Why,” and that purpose became part of what carried them forward.

For entrepreneurial kids, this does not mean they need to experience hardship before they can succeed. It means they need to understand what matters to them. They need to begin asking deeper questions about contribution, growth, family, freedom, creativity and the kind of life they want to build.

Cathy and Trevor with Natalie Cook after a talk about purpose and success
Amy, Cathy, Natalie, Tracey, Kym and Trevor after Natalie Cook’s inspiring talk.

I recently carried out a “Why” exercise with my son, Jai.

We had just returned from a career pathway meeting for his upcoming senior class. Every pathway the school presented seemed to end in landing a j-o-b — just-over-broke. Whether the route was through university, technical school or straight into the average 40-year career, the end result sounded much the same.

There was nothing for an enterprising teen to really grab hold of.

Worse still, because the students were nearing the end of high school, the pressure was on to make a choice. It felt like a limited choice, based on hastily presented ideas rather than a deeply considered purpose.

The result was confusion. Jai seemed torn between going to university with his mates because it sounded like fun, or leaving school with his cousin and going to make money in the mines.

This inconsistency told me that Jai’s “Whys” for both of these career paths were too vague.

Purpose quote for entrepreneurial kids learning their why

Questions That Help Entrepreneurial Kids Find Their Why

So, we got to work.

We discussed why these two ideas sounded interesting to him. We talked about the difference between a strong “Why” and a casual “Why not?” We also explored why “Why not?” is unlikely to carry a person through the hard parts of either choice.

Then I asked Jai to ponder three questions:

  1. How do you want to contribute to this world?
  2. How do you want to grow as a person?
  3. How do you want to be remembered when you pass?

These are big questions for a teenager. In fact, they are big questions for adults too.

But they matter.

If we want to raise entrepreneurial kids who can think for themselves, create opportunities and build meaningful lives, we need to help them move beyond surface-level choices. We need to help them understand what drives them.

Purpose Comes Before the Plan

Many children are asked what job they want before they are asked what kind of life they want.

They are asked what subjects they will choose before they are asked what they care about.

They are asked which pathway they will follow before they have had time to discover the purpose behind the pathway.

This is why purpose matters so much. A plan without purpose can become a list of tasks. Purpose gives the plan energy, direction and meaning.

For entrepreneurial kids, purpose is not just about making money. It is about knowing why they want to create, serve, solve, build, lead or contribute in the first place.

Next, we continue the journey in Part 2: People and Passion, where we explore how the right people and passions can help shape entrepreneurial kids and enterprising teens.

Natalie Cook’s Five Ps Series

This article is Part 1 in our series on Natalie Cook’s Five Ps for helping entrepreneurial kids and enterprising teens develop purpose, people, passion, perseverance, planning and a mindset for success.

Where to Next?

We are always looking for feedback on our entrepreneurial kids articles. What is your “Why”? Leave a comment and share the purpose that keeps you moving forward.

Vision Board Ideas for Students: What The Secret Left Out

Enterprise For KidsTeam Family Adventure & Real-World Learning, Mindset, Confidence & Leadership , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Family motorhome trip through the USA manifested from a 2005 vision board

Vision board ideas for students are not just about cutting out pictures and hoping dreams come true. A vision board can help children see what they want, but the real power comes when that dream is connected to focus, intention and action.

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This story begins with one of Trevor’s childhood dreams — a farm on a grassy hill — and leads into what we learnt about vision boards, subconscious limits, family goals and what The Secret may have left out.

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Vision board ideas for students shown through a family farm dream that became real through focus and intention
Our farm became a real-life reminder that the pictures children hold in their minds can shape their dreams.

Vision Board Ideas for Students: What The Secret Left Out

As a kid, I always wanted to be a farmer.

When I was growing up, I had a framed picture of a farm on my bedroom wall. I would look at it and think about it every day for years.

The picture showed a big wooden barn sitting on a grassy hill with duck ponds, sheep, a dog, a tractor and children running around.

The funny thing was that twenty years later, Cathy and I found and bought a little farm that was just about identical to the picture from my bedroom wall.

The little farmhouse sat on a green grassy hill, which is rare in Western Australia with its semi-arid countryside. It had a big wooden barn, sheep, ducks, a dog and a tractor. To top it off, we raised most of our children there during their early years.

I had no idea until later that the very farm we owned was so close to what I used to dream about as a child.

Why Vision Board Ideas for Students Work Best With Focus

When the movie The Secret came out, I was fascinated by the stories of people visualising in their minds what they wanted and then, over time, seeing those same things arrive in their physical world.

I guess that is exactly what happened to me, although it did take about twenty years.

Over the years, this idea seemed to show up many times in our lives. That is one reason we believe vision board ideas for students can be so powerful when they are used properly.

Vision board ideas for students connected to Kit camping on the Cocos Islands as a family dream come true
Kit camping on the Cocos Islands — a dream come true.
Howitt family on the Cocos Islands after using visualisation focus and vision board ideas for students
Our Cocos experience.

Our experience living on the Cocos Islands was a visual thought many years before it became a reality.

Travelling through Canada and the USA in a motorhome with our family was another example of a visualisation becoming real. You can see more of that adventure on our family travel blog, Driving Us Crazy.

These experiences made us think deeply about vision, focus and how the pictures we hold in our minds can shape the direction of our lives.

Family Vision Board Ideas for Students and Kids

Making a vision board is one way to build a visual picture of what you want.

Cath and I have created dream boards and stowed them away, only to pull them out years later and see that several of the dream pictures could be ticked off as having been achieved.

Kite surfing, a large aquarium, more children, a fishing boat and family adventure were just a few examples.

Kite surfing goal achieved after appearing on a family vision board
Kite surfing.
Trevor's 2005 vision board showing vision board ideas for students and dream images that later became real
Trevor’s 2005 vision board. Almost all of these images became reality over time.

We believe vision boards help with visualising what you want. Because of that, we encourage our kids to make and display dream boards too.

They think it is all great fun, but there is also a powerful lesson underneath it.

When used well, vision board ideas for students can help children begin asking important questions:

  • What do I really want?
  • What kind of life do I imagine?
  • What experiences matter to me?
  • What goals feel exciting enough to work towards?
  • What small step could I take first?

The Problem with The Secret

The Secret shared a message that many people found inspiring: see it, believe it and allow it to come into your life.

There is certainly something powerful about visualising what you want and building emotional connection to your dreams.

However, when we read discussions about the law of attraction and visualisation, we also see many people feeling frustrated. They meditate, focus, make vision boards and think about what they want, yet they do not always see those things appear in their lives.

That raises an important question for parents, teachers and students.

If vision boards are powerful, why do some dreams still stay stuck on the board?

Vision Board Ideas for Students Need Focus and Intention

Vision board ideas for students need focus intention and action to move goals forward
Visualisation is powerful, but focus and intention help move the dream forward.

Our Money Mastery mentor explained that there was an important ingredient that The Secret did not emphasise enough.

He explained that while you need to visualise what you want and feel it emotionally, you also need persistent focus, clear intention and aligned action.

Without that focus, it is much harder for a dream to become reality.

He said, “The problem is that people have their focus elsewhere.”

That made sense to us.

In our situation, we were often busy all week at work. When we were home, our attention was taken up with sorting the kids, doing household chores and keeping up with our social life.

Our focus was being drawn away from the things we wanted to achieve, even though we were visualising them.

Often, when people hit a rock-bottom point in life, their focus becomes very sharp. This may happen through a near-death experience, serious illness, a breakup, financial stress or another major life change.

In those moments, the conscious and subconscious mind can suddenly align around a deep inner drive for change.

But we do not need to wait for rock bottom to teach children about focus.

That is where vision board ideas for students can become practical. A vision board should not simply be a collage of wishes. It should become a reminder of what deserves attention, planning and action.

Subconscious Limits, Comfort Zones and Student Goals

The other concept Paul, our Money Mastery mentor, explained was the idea of a “belt” or comfort zone.

Our subconscious mind seems to have an upper and lower limit for many areas of life, including wealth, happiness, relationships, health and success.

Using money as an example, let us say someone’s subconscious is only comfortable earning a certain amount each year. If they suddenly exceed that amount, they may unconsciously self-sabotage and bring themselves back to what feels familiar.

That self-sabotage could show up as overspending, poor decisions, risky behaviour, giving money away too quickly or simply failing to follow through.

Consciously, a person may say they want a much bigger goal. But if their subconscious is not comfortable with that goal, they may keep pulling themselves back into the old familiar zone.

The same principle can apply to relationships, health, weight loss, confidence, happiness, money and many other areas of life.

This is why small steps matter.

One way to work with these limits is to gradually build towards bigger dreams by visualising and intending smaller dreams that lead towards the larger one.

In other words, take smaller steps and celebrate them once they become real. Over time, your subconscious mind can begin to raise its upper limit to meet what your conscious mind is asking for.

Practical Vision Board Ideas for Students

So how can we make this useful for children and students?

A vision board should help students dream, but it should also help them focus. It can become a bridge between imagination and action.

Here are some practical vision board ideas for students:

  • Adventure goals: places they would love to visit or experiences they want to have.
  • Learning goals: skills they want to build, such as art, coding, sport, writing, music or public speaking.
  • Enterprise goals: business ideas, products, markets or money goals they would like to explore.
  • Character goals: qualities they want to develop, such as courage, kindness, persistence, confidence or generosity.
  • Family goals: shared experiences, trips, projects or adventures the family can work towards together.
  • Contribution goals: ways they would like to help others, give, serve or make a difference.

These vision board ideas for students work best when children also identify one action they can take. The image gives the goal a shape, but the action gives the goal movement.

Vision Board Ideas for Students at Home

Amber's vision board showing vision board ideas for students and goal setting for kids
Amber’s vision board.

It took up to twenty years for some of my dreams to come about, so do not allow another moment to pass you or your children by.

Encourage your kids to make vision boards. Teach them how to visualise and feel what they want. Help them establish a simple plan and then, most importantly, help them make it their focus.

A student vision board works best when it includes:

  • a clear picture of the goal,
  • a reason why the goal matters,
  • one small action they can take now,
  • a reminder to keep going,
  • and a way to celebrate progress.

The dream matters. The picture matters. The feeling matters.

But the focus and action matter too.

Key Takeaway: Vision Board Ideas for Students Need Action

Key takeaway: vision board ideas for students are most powerful when they move beyond dreaming. A vision board can help children see what they want, but students also need focus, intention, small steps and action to bring their goals closer to reality.

Where to Next?

What would your child put on a vision board today, and what is one small action they could take towards it this week?

Pocket Money Ideas: Kit Starts His Dog Walking Business

Enterprise For KidsTeam Family Enterprise Stories, Kids Business Ideas, Kit's Stories , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Kit’s dog walking business showing pocket money ideas for kids

Pocket money ideas can become much more than a way for children to earn a few dollars. When a child has to plan, speak to a customer, negotiate a price and deliver a service, they are learning real enterprise skills.

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In this post, we revisit Kit and his enterprising dog walking business. This is part of our Dog Whisperer series, where Kit moved from having an idea to actually getting started.

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Kit with Pam's dog Elly starting his pocket money idea
Kit with Pam’s dog, Elly, before his first paid dog walking job.

Pocket Money Ideas: Kit Starts His Dog Walking Business

Our kids are becoming enterprising children!

In this post, we revisit Kit and his enterprising dog walking business. He was now ready to implement his carefully thought out dog walking enterprise plan.

It was the school holidays and we were all staying with Kit’s Gran and Grandad in Geraldton.

His first client was a family friend, Pam, who owned a small scruffy dog called Elly. Pam had been prepped with a phone call that Kit would be arriving with his Grandad to ask if she would be interested in hiring his services.

She was delighted to support Kit with his new enterprise and awaited their arrival.

Kit’s First Customer

Kit explained to Pam what his business entailed and the benefits that she and her dog would get if she hired his services.

Pam agreed that his service looked to be very good, and then she asked what his rate was.

Kit said five dollars.

Pam negotiated with him, and they agreed on four dollars for the half-hour walk.

Kit preparing to walk Elly as part of his pocket money idea
Kit preparing for his walk with Elly.
Kit walking Elly in Geraldton as part of his pocket money idea
A beautiful afternoon for a walk.

What Kit Learnt from Negotiating

This simple conversation with Pam became a very real business lesson.

Kit had to explain his service, talk about the benefits, name his price and then handle a small negotiation. For a young child, that is a big step.

This is why practical pocket money ideas are so useful. Children are not only earning money. They are learning how to communicate, listen, solve problems and build confidence.

Kit was pleased, but he was not completely sure how he was going to handle Pam’s little energetic dog.

Grandad was an excellent coach. He helped Kit attach the lead, offer Elly a treat and practise giving commands to the dog.

We also believe that children need adult support and supervision when working with animals. The RSPCA WA safety around dogs information is a useful reminder that children should be supervised around dogs and should learn how to behave calmly and safely.

A Pocket Money Idea That Became Real

Kit walking Elly and learning responsibility during a dog walking service
All dogs need a pit stop.
Kit finishing his dog walking job with Elly
Ending the walk.

The walk went very well with no dramas.

Kit returned Pam’s dog and then arrived back at his Gran and Grandad’s house very keen to tell his family all about his business.

That excitement matters.

It is one thing for a child to talk about a business idea. It is another thing entirely for that child to walk up to a real customer, offer a real service, do the job and come back with a story to tell.

Kit Gets Paid for a Job Well Done

Kit being paid for his dog walking pocket money idea
Kit being paid for a job well done.

Kit continued his dog walking enterprise for the next two days while we were on holidays in Geraldton.

He managed to make twelve dollars!

Kit was now on his way to attaining his goal.

As parents, we felt that more important than attaining his goal was the fact that Kit got started on his idea.

The Biggest Lesson: Getting Started

What holds many people back from achieving their dreams is the inability to actually start.

And of course, there will always be a myriad of reasons why not to start.

The time isn’t right.

There isn’t enough money.

There isn’t enough time.

My family won’t approve.

Not all conditions are right yet.

The list goes on.

These are the “buts” that stop people attaining their goals all the time, so it was refreshing to see one so young as Kit just do it.

That is why this story belongs in more than just a cute family memory. Kit’s dog walking job became one of those practical pocket money ideas that taught him about service, action, confidence, negotiation and follow-through.

Dog Whisperer Series: From Planning to Action

This article is part of Kit’s Dog Whisperer series.

  • Part 1: Kit Plans His Dog Walking Enterprise — Kit thinks through the idea, roadblocks, safety and value of his dog walking service.
  • Part 2: Kit Starts His Dog Walking Business — Kit gets his first client, negotiates a price, completes the job and earns his first money.

Small enterprises like this can teach children lessons that are difficult to learn from theory alone. Kit learnt by doing.

What Pocket Money Ideas Can Teach Children

When children are given the chance to explore safe and realistic pocket money ideas, they can learn much more than how to make a few dollars.

They can learn:

  • how to spot a need,
  • how to offer a service,
  • how to speak with a customer,
  • how to negotiate a price,
  • how to follow through,
  • how to handle responsibility,
  • and how good it feels to earn money from their own effort.

Our enterprising children are now all busy with their individual kid’s enterprises.

It will be time to check in with Jai and see whether his enterprise plan eventuated.

Until then……….

Key Takeaway: Pocket Money Ideas Build Confidence

Key takeaway: pocket money ideas can become powerful real-world learning experiences. Kit’s dog walking business taught him to speak to a customer, negotiate a price, work safely with support, complete the job and get started on his goal.

Where to Next?

What simple pocket money idea could help your child build confidence and get started?