Welcome back to school Gals! Sometimes when we learn new things we get frustrated, unmotivated, and want to quit when things feel hard.   It is NORMAL!   Just remember  -   YOU CAN DO HARD THINGS. Here are some useful tips: 1. TELL YOURSELF YOU CAN DO IT      Look back on all the new things you’ve learned already and remind yourself you are capable of learning new things. 2. GIVE YOURSELF SOME SPACE             T ake a break and then come back to it when you’ve given your brain a rest. 3. ASK FOR HELP  It's a 'super skill' to practice!  We never know everything and we all need help. You are actually showing yourself how smart you are because you know how to figure out what to do to learn what you don't know to move on. 4. BE PATIENT WITH YOURSELF                 Your brain needs time to learn new things.  Beating yourself up saying thing...

When you are struggling with a challenge it can feel overwhelming and you can feel stuck. You can think I don't know how to deal with this and may never get through it.  Things can look dark. When you feel stuck it is hard to think of solutions or make choices that will support you. When you are not sure what to do you can get uncomfortable trying something new, making a new choice, or asking for help. That keeps you stuck. You can have thoughts like - I 'should' be able to do this,  I 'can't' figure this out,  'it's too hard'.and those thoughts about yourself can make you feel bad and bring down your self-esteem.  So what can you do? 1. Acknowledge that you are struggling.  It's normal - we all have challenges in life!   Say to yourself I am really struggling right now and it's ok.  Simply telling yourself it is ok can be really helpful - you aren't bad or incapable - you are simply dealing with a challenge. You might be feeling it in y...

I appreciate you asking this question -  I know you are not alone and it is really normal to be feeling this way sometimes.  It has been a hard time and we can easily get discouraged, anxious, and lose our motivation. The good news is when life gets back to normal  - which it will! - we will really appreciate the things we miss.    Here are some coping skills that can really help.   1.  THINK OF THE THINGS THAT ARE GOOD RIGHT NOW instead of focusing on what you are missing and wishing things were different.  Write a list.   Put it somewhere you see every day .  For example, one student shared that being at home lets her wear whatever she wants, she can sleep in longer, and by staying home she feels good that she is helping the covid situation by not risking getting sick herself and that helps others.  Read those things every day to remind yourself there are some things you can feel good about right now, Soon enough you'll be ...

One of the most important things to help yourself is your mindset!    Your mind is like a supercomputer - it is very powerful and you can actually rewire your brain with your thoughts and actions. What you believe about yourself and the world  can make a huge difference in how happy and successful you can be! Positive Thoughts = Positive Mindset To ask a question go to  https://bit.ly/askmisskim  and I'll answer it in a future post.

QUESTION:  When I am trying to do my math homework and I get frustrated when I don't understand, I have negative thoughts like I can't do this or this is too hard and it makes me give up, and then I don't finish my homework.   I want to get good grades so what can I do? ANSWER:    We all have that annoying voice in our head sometimes that tells us things to stop us from succeeding especially when things feel hard.  That is negative self-talk and if we don't believe we can do something we can choose to listen to that voice. When you listen to these negative thoughts it will demotivate you and stop you from having the patience to slow down and keep trying to understand and it makes you frustrated and anxious and lets you give up.  So what can we do?    We have to practice positive self-talk .  It sounds like -"this is hard but I can do this", "I am smart and I can figure this out" or "I know if I take my time and don't get frustrated ...