FreeFlight Launchpad for Life

Last year we held a workshop where middle school minds delved into peer pressure & bullying, discovering a surprising twist: the greatest pressure often stems from well-meaning parents, comparing achievements and effort.

While parental support is cherished, we're uniting to strike a balance between ambition & joy, embracing errors on our unique journeys.

Let's celebrate individuality, lifting each other up without undue expectations.

Join the conversation – share your thoughts!

According to social psychologist Emily Balcetis, a key to achieving success is to visualize all the possible failures along the way and to come up with a plan to address them.

Have you had this experience? Tell us about it!

Last week, we talked about the signs of burnout: feeling exhausted all the time, having trouble making decisions, and feeling like you never have enough time or energy to do anything. And while those are definitely some serious symptoms, they're also things that can be worked on.

So today we want to give you some actionable ways to recover from burnout and prevent it in the first place. It starts with the small steps!

When you're working hard to get ahead, it can be tempting to push through and ignore the signs of burnout. Burnout is a state of physical and mental exhaustion caused by excessive and prolonged stress. It's very common in today's fast-paced world, where we're expected to do more with less time—and often while juggling multiple responsibilities. Burnout can lead to chronic fatigue, depression, and anxiety, along with other health problems.

Burnout happens when we don't take care of ourselves mentally or physically, or when we don't set boundaries for ourselves. If you feel like something is wrong but can't put your finger on it, try looking for these signs of burnout!

You know what’s nice about having a pet? It’s like having a mindfulness master.

One of our core values at FreeFlight is mindfulness, and it's a beautiful thing to slow down and spend some time with our fluffy friends. They make it easier to relax, think more clearly and focus on the things that are important.

Here's a 5 minute read about the benefits of pet companionship here: https://bit.ly/2BYTzIY

Teens and parents, It's time to pick up a book and explore something new.

If you enjoy the classics, Virginia Woolf's Mrs. Dalloway is the way to go.

"How do you solve a problem like Clarissa Dalloway? You read Mrs. Dalloway." - FreeFlight Staff Member.

Happy from Freeflight!

Families that participate in daily activities together build strong bonds.

If you need a quick, fun, and intuitive family bonding activity to try at home, have a go at Wordle and/or the New York Times mini crosswords (by the way, you can play each game once a day for free).

Collaborate your brains to solve these puzzles together, or see how fast each of you can complete them individually! 🧩

https://www.nytimes.com/games/wordle/index.html

https://www.nytimes.com/crosswords/game/mini?utm_source=wordle&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=wordle_nav

Overthinking is a mental health issue that can be hard to deal with. It can make you feel like your brain is spinning in circles, and there's no way out.

But it's not! There are so many ways to calm your thoughts and take control of the situation. We've compiled a short list of our favorite strategies for dealing with overthinking and anxiety below.

Flighters and Propellers, great job on getting through another day! While school and work are important, setting aside time for yourself and your health is just as valuable.

Gardening: Perhaps one of the most underrated hobbies anyone ever mentions. Here's 5 reasons gardening can be a rewarding activity for teens, and even adults!

Sources:
https://parentingscience.com/green-spaces-benefit-mental-health/
https://www.apa.org/monitor/2020/04/nurtured-nature
https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg24933270-800-green-spaces-arent-just-for-nature-they-boost-our-mental-health-too/
https://www.rtor.org/2020/09/11/the-benefits-of-gardening-for-your-mental-health/

Did you know that the order of the food you eat can affect how long you can feel full and aid your blood sugar levels?

Here's a breakdown of what to eat first, last, and in between:

Source(s): https://bit.ly/3UF6wMj

According to the book "Welcome to your Child's brain by Sandra Aamodt and Sam Wang - taking a break with video games between studying improves top down attention. NIH defines Top Down Attention as an internal guidance of attention based on prior knowledge, willful plans, and current goals. Bottom-up attention, refers to attentional guidance purely by externally driven factors to stimuli.

“I like to remind myself to go over and just look out the window often. The solutions don’t have to be intimidating. Keep it simple. Try to move more, however you can, whenever you can and in ways that you enjoy.” - Dr. Vahid Farrahi.

How sitting all day can cause health problems — even if you exercise Working out for 30 minutes every day “might not be enough” to counter the health issues created by prolonged sitting, said the study author.

What are your core values? And is it easy to stick to it?

Core Values My Dad would never hire anyone without taking them out for a meal. The candidate thought it was a free lunch not knowing that Pa was evaluating manners, and ...

Mindfulness and Communication Skills
How to talk to difficult people!

Communication Skills - Week 5
Responding versus Reacting with "I” versus "You” Statements. During conflicts what happens when we start a statement with “you”?

The other person gets defensive, feels attacked, feels blamed and does not help further communication. This feels good for a short time and does not resolve the problem for both sides. Instead try using "I".

Example with "You"
You never listen to me. How many times have I asked you to put the phone away? You are so disrespectful and you never keep you word!!!

Example with "I"
When (state the problem ) I see you constantly on the phone I feel (state emotions) disrespected and hurt because (state consequences) we have discussed rules around phone usage and it is not being followed. Would you please (State what you would like instead) be respectful and follow what we discussed and agreed to?

Of course this may not solve the problem immediately but it does not escalate further and reach a blow-up.
Rinse and Repeat with Patience :)

Happy Holi from Freeflight!

Mindfulness and Communication Skills - Week 4
Assumptions and Attitudes that prevent us from communicating well.
Assumptions can affect attitudes by shaping our beliefs and expectations about others, influencing the way we perceive and interpret situations, and ultimately influencing our behaviors and interactions with others.
What was your assumption about the boy at the beginning of the video and at the end? How would you have communicated with the boy in the beginning versus the end?

Positive Attitude Animation

What is your parenting style? Would you consider improving it?

5 Parenting Styles and Their Effects on Life There are four widely researched styles of parenting: authoritative, permissive, authoritarian, and neglectful. The styles range from controlling to undemand...

Self-employed people in the U.S. are more likely than other workers to be highly satisfied with their jobs. It is not just income level that drives happiness but other factors such as fulfillment and joy from the work they do. How are we encouraging this attitude amongst our kids? Share your ideas!

About four-in-ten workers who are not self-employed (39%) say their job or career is extremely or very important to their overall identity; 34% say it’s somewhat important and 27% say it’s not too or not at all important.

Careers and income levels are very important but when it becomes our identity what are we losing? Should we maintain a balance?

Untwist your Thinking

Mindfulness requires us to pay attention to facts to support our conclusion. We often rely on mind-reading and fortune telling leading us to "Jump to conclusions". Think about the last time you did this?!

Photo from hiking.org

Happy New Year from FreeFlight!