Propel and Excel: How to Support the Next Generation to Success
How can parents help their children transition from teenagers to young adults while contributing to their growth and development? Licensed psychologist and professional coach Marc Celentana owns Propel and Excel, a New Jersey practice that helps adolescents and young adults navigate modern career development. Marc joined Get a G.R.I.P. with Coach Elix to discuss how parents can propel their children and give them the freedom to excel on their own.
Letting Your Children Try and Fail Leads to Spiritual Growth
According to Marc, one of the major reasons that adolescents and parents struggle to maintain a healthy relationship consists of natural maturation. As children grow older, they may have difficulties settling into the expected roles their families set for them. Marc says, "Those individuals are struggling to navigate because a trusted member of their family's asking them to do something that they may or may not be equipped to do."
Improving the parental relationship can mean telling a child to "hold yourself accountable" by stepping back and letting them deal with problems on their own. Marc's experience in life coaching has shown that children need the space to fail and grow through that failure. "My theory is that that sadness or that difficulty is something that is a challenge that, once the individual is able to work through it, there's a learning that's associated with it, and it creates greater strength later in life."
Guide Young Adults in the Discovery and Choice of Their Own Career Path
As adolescents turn into young adults, parents should help them propel and excel by letting them explore their passions without limiting beliefs in their abilities. Marc challenges parents with the question, "Are they (adolescents or young adults) living out their parent's dream, or are they living out their dream?" He states that many parents believe they know their children well enough to point them toward a successful career, even if it's not something their child has a passion for.
Marc suggests that parents trying to push their child into a career they don't want should consider their child's abilities. "The conflict with parents…that is really about level-setting. What's the realistic expectations of the parents, and what is that skillset of the child?" To answer this thought-provoking question, Marc uses assessments, discussions, and other coaching techniques to help parents and children meet in the middle.
Encourage Your Child to Find a Mentor
You can achieve your goals and help your child find success by allowing them to find a trusted confidant. Marc points out that people of all ages should "Identify a mentor or coach that they can bounce ideas off of in a safe and non-judgmental way." While not all parents have innate coaching skills, any action plan to propel and excel a young adult involves finding a safe person for them to confide in.
Connecting with Marc Celentana
The G.R.I.P. Method
G.R.I.P. stands for "Greatness Requires Intention & Purpose," and many who have followed this method can attest to that. This strategy helps people find their goals, inspirations, and visions and execute them with clear intentions through planning, purpose, and integrity. It works with science and psychology to make dreams a reality.
It is a roadmap that guides you through struggles and hardships, with the final destination being the life you want to lead or the changes you wish to make. The G.R.I.P. Method offers a plan to go from fear to freedom and helps you break away from where past attempts did not work.
