Habits to help carry youngsters towards a happy future

In part two of his series, leading mental health expert DR ALEX GEORGE shares key behaviours for families to adopt that can help shape well-balanced children

- DR ALEX GEORGE

WELCOME to part two of my young person’s mental health plan, designed to encourage contentment in children.

In part one I talked about the life-changing power of habits, which are the little things we do every day, and how by picking ones that encourage joy, like getting outside, being grateful, and removing screens, they can build better mental resilience.

Today I'll share more, to add to your family happiness toolkit and reveal how the easy trick of habit stacking makes all the difference...

Habit stacking

This is when you add another habit to an existing one and is a great way of getting children to remember to do things. For example, once they have conquered brushing their teeth, they could name three things they like about themselves to build confidence, or three things they're grateful for.

The brain will form a neurological loop over time. Children will think: “Oh I’m brushing my teeth so I need to do that too.”

Another example is every day having an apple in their bag they can eat on the way home from school. School run = healthy snack.

Embrace boredom

An exciting moment is only exciting when it spikes from a baseline of boredom or nothingness. We need to build more space for that. This is where screens are an issue. The times when we'd have natural boredom and down time are now being filled with our phone - videos, texting, social media, games.

Children need to get more comfortable with doing nothing. To have their own thoughts and space, and not always have activity. It’s in that downtime that their brain is able to recover and rest.