How do I help students make decisions they won鈥檛 later regret?
Try to help them make a stronger connection with their future self. Here鈥檚 something I wrote about the topic for as a :
During my first year of college, the headliner at the annual 鈥淪pring Fling鈥� concert was LL Cool J. I knew enough of his hits鈥攁nd enough of my friends were going鈥攖hat I didn鈥檛 want to miss out on a weekend of fun.
The only issue? I had an Intro Spanish final exam on Monday morning and I was woefully unprepared. As you might have guessed, I didn鈥檛 hunker down and study. I enjoyed the show alongside my classmates and ended up with a barely passing grade and a poor grasp of basic Spanish.
Who hasn鈥檛 experienced a similar dilemma?
Part of the problem is that we often lack a strong emotional connection to our future selves: They can even seem like strangers to us. That鈥檚 why we have a hard time choosing to do something to benefit the future self鈥攕ay, studying for an exam鈥攚hen there鈥檚 a more fun option right in front of us. And the consequences for this disconnect are real: finds that young adults who lack a sense of closeness with their future selves perform worse in their classes in subsequent semesters.
So how can you help young people make better decisions now that they won鈥檛 regret later? Telling kids that their actions today will have consequences tomorrow may not be effective if they don鈥檛 have a between their current and future selves. Instead, ask them to imagine stepping into the shoes of their future self to see the world through those eyes. Thinking about tomorrow more vividly may lead them to choose more wisely today.
顿辞苍鈥檛 assume that kids think beyond the present.
Do ask young people how they think they鈥檒l feel about a decision in the future. Talk to them, without judgment, about both their current and future feelings. A concert might provide rich memories for their future selves, but if they always prioritize fun over sacrifice, they鈥檒l surely be worse off in the long run.
