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How to Help Your College Student Gain Independence and Executive Function Skills image

How to Help Your College Student Gain Independence and Executive Function Skills

E107 · The Positively Healthy Mom
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In this episode of The Positively Healthy Mom, we sit down with Shannon Weisblatt, a College Executive Function Coach with over 20 years of experience in education and special education. Shannon specializes in helping students master the "hidden curriculum" of college—time management, organization, and self-advocacy.

This episode is essential for moms of high school juniors and seniors who want to prepare their kids for independence, as well as parents of current college students who are struggling to keep their heads above water academically.

Key Conversations in This Episode:

  • The Shift from Manager to Consultant: Why parents should begin "putting on the brakes" during junior year of high school to allow teens to practice autonomy before they leave home.
  • Overcoming the Procrastination Loop: Practical strategies for students who are "stuck," including brainstorming sessions to reduce overwhelm and the power of starting an assignment for just five minutes.
  • The Role of Natural Consequences: How to reframe a failed assignment or a poor grade as a "beautiful learning opportunity" rather than a catastrophe.
  • Outsourcing the Prefrontal Cortex: Understanding the balance between supporting a student’s developing brain and accidentally "hovering" too much.

Common Questions About Moms Of Young Adults and Executive Functioning

Question: When should parents start transitioning their role from "manager" to "consultant"?
Answer: Parents should ideally begin this transition during their child's junior year of high school to help them build independence before leaving for college.

Question: What are the best ways to help a college student who struggles with procrastination?
Answer: Effective strategies include breaking assignments into small steps (like a five-minute start rule), brainstorming paper ideas together to reduce overwhelm, and creating a visible plan for the week.

Question: How can parents help their teens learn from failure without being negative?
Answer: Instead of making critical statements, parents can ask open-ended questions such as "How does this make you feel?" or "What could you do differently next time?" to allow the teen to find their own solutions.

Meet Our Expert:
Shannon Weisblatt is a College Executive Function Coach and mom of two teenage boys. For the past eight years, she has worked one-on-one with college students to build the systems—like time management and planning—that allow them to move from academic probation to the dean’s list.

Guest Links: efcollegecoach.com
Find Shannon On Facebook
Find Shannon On LinkedIn

Resources From Laura Ollinger
Recommended
Transcript

Transitioning Teens to Independence

00:00:00
Speaker
My biggest advice would to start helping them transition to being more independent sooner. So if you have a junior, that may be your year to start kind of putting on the brakes to being a manager of your child and be more of a consultant. And like you said, asking them more questions like, let's look at your week. What's your plan for getting things done? When will you work on that? What might get in the way? or um just really helping them At the beginning of the week, maybe sitting down, talking to them about what's coming up, asking them questions about what to do, helping them plan it out, and then giving them the space to do that. You know, giving them the space, like you said, to maybe fail a little bit and then come up with a plan for how to change things.

Introduction to Podcast and Guest

00:00:48
Speaker
Hello and welcome to the Positively Healthy Mom podcast. I'm your host, Laura Olinger, teen and young adult wellbeing coach and founder of Positively Healthy Coaching. I'm very excited to introduce to you today, Shannon Weisblatt, who is a college executive function coach, which is amazing. So Shannon, I wanna hear all about how you help families and college students specifically ah with skills needed to be independent of their families.
00:01:16
Speaker
Oh, wow. Okay. Yeah, great. So I generally meet with parents initially and discuss what is going on with their student. Every student is different. They may have ah learning disabilities or ADHD or just be a little bit behind on executive function skills.
00:01:34
Speaker
and So usually meet with parents and talk that through. And then I meet with the student and an intake and we just talk about what they think they need help with, what their strengths are, what their weaknesses are, what they feel like they can do better, you know, maybe what's holding them back from being their best self in college.
00:01:52
Speaker
And then we meet weekly and i'm basically kind of just like a a support for them in college, somebody who can hold them accountable and help them build some systems to help them in college.
00:02:05
Speaker
I love it. I love

Coaching Teens in College

00:02:06
Speaker
it. And the reason why I'm so excited to have this conversation with you today is because I do just a very similar thing, but more emotion space. So helping ah college kids, you know, make friends, feel comfortable, get um get over the homesickness, kind of like all those skills, but more emotion based. So we certainly have some overlap because that's what I see so much of. And I'm sure you have so many stories as well, where Kids go off to college, everybody's excited, but they're a little nervous, and then they get there and they start having struggles and start having challenges. And honestly, i could have used you back when I was a freshman in college because i was not prepared. I mean, i was very prepared, I feel, emotionally, but um in in the kind of organization and like study skills.
00:02:51
Speaker
I never learned that. No one taught me that. I went, you know, through a great school system, but somehow that just was not on a curriculum ever at that point in time. Maybe it's part of some curriculum at this point. I do know that at our high school where our kids go, there are there is the... um kind of Cavs 101 and 201 that kind of offers some of that, some of those skills. yeah You get to college, get this full course load of classes. You have no idea how to manage your time, how much to prep in advance, how to calendar. So where would you start with, say, your typical client and kind of walk us through that process? So the typical client, I think initially in the beginning, we i kind I look at kind of what their systems are, what what they're using. I will ask them, you know, what
00:03:37
Speaker
What do you need help with? What's not working right now? And they may tell me and then I will say, oh, OK, so you're having trouble starting. So procrastination is an issue. You're also having trouble keeping track of due dates. having a calendar is important. um You're having trouble in the class itself, but you haven't communicated with your professor. So you might need to go to office hours. So.
00:04:00
Speaker
A typical student, we usually will kind of go over what their upcoming assignments are in a portal and make a calendar and a to-do list and come up with a plan for it. Or if they're having procrastination issues, just, you know, start for five minutes, work on it for five minutes. And typically once they get started,
00:04:18
Speaker
They're able to keep going and it's not as hard as they thought or looking at a prompt for a paper that they're worried about and we read it together and brainstorm ideas and then they think, oh, I can do that. It's not as hard as I thought it was. um So there are a lot of different things. It ah it all depends on the student and what they what they say they need help with.
00:04:38
Speaker
Hmm. Okay. So it's super customizable, which I love it because as we all know, get not everybody's the same. We all have different struggles and different things that kind of are roadblocks that hold us up.

Challenges in Teen Independence and Parental Roles

00:04:50
Speaker
So I know you have a background in teaching. So tell us how that comes into play with this.
00:04:56
Speaker
Yes. So I was a public school teacher, a special ed teacher for a long time. And so I have a lot of experience with different types of learning styles, learning differences, ADHD, autism. So i I feel like I really kind of got this great mix of experience with different kids and what works for them and what doesn't. So it's really nice to fall back on the teaching experiences with each student because I feel like I have these special tools that I know what works for certain things. So somebody with ADHD just knowing
00:05:32
Speaker
you know You might need to put your phone in the kitchen and close the door and take breaks every 30 minutes when you're working. So that's part of it. And I think just loving working with kids. ah I love the rapport that we get to build one-on-one. love meeting with them each week. ah It's really my passion to meet with kids and and build a rapport with them and and see them succeed. I mean, it's just so amazing to see somebody who is struggling and then you take them to where they're like, wow, I can do this. I have A's now. I have B's. I'm not a bad student. I just needed help with the system to get myself to where I want to be.
00:06:12
Speaker
Absolutely. So I'm dying to know, since you have two high schoolers and your mom, like, Does your job and your mom job overlap? Like, are you helping your kids with these or do you kind of take a different role and take a step back and let them figure it out? Like, how is it at home?
00:06:30
Speaker
That's so funny, Laura, that you ask that because parents will talk to me all the time and they'll say, you know, i i asked my kids to do this. I tell them what they need to do and they just won't listen to me. But for some reason they listen to you and how do you do it? And sometimes I say, I think it's just not being the parent. yes what oh So for me, I try. People think my kids are going to be great at all these things because this is what I do for a living. But my kids are the same as most others. They won't listen to me. They don't want to hear it from me.
00:06:59
Speaker
Right, right. Yes. I'm so glad you said that. That's such a great answer because it's so true. And that's why I have a job, too, because oftentimes I might be saying the same, you know, you i I might be saying the exact same thing that a mom is saying. But because it's coming from me, I always say, hey, I'm a neutral third party. I'm I'm just here to support you. Right. Like I. yeah And so.
00:07:19
Speaker
have just It comes off differently. like They feel it differently. and so yeah that's That's so funny. that you know you have to you know put I always say, I'm taking off my coaching hat and just putting on my mom hat today because now i'm now I just have to be mom. Once you know I'm done with clients, I just have to um kind of shift gears. and There are just so many times, and I'm sure you're the same, where I just, you know, observe. And it's not that I'm biting my tongue so much because it's not like I'm dying to say something, but like I think, oh, this could help them or maybe I should suggest this. But I'm like, no, they didn't ask, right? I'm like huge on and helping parents not give unsolicited advice. So therefore I have to, you know, walk the walk and um kind of ah do the same. So are there ever times when you are dying to say something, but you do have to kind of step back or bite your tongue?
00:08:09
Speaker
Absolutely. And unfortunately, I'm usually dying to say something and I'll say it and I know I shouldn't. But yes, there's absolutely times then where I do need to not say something because, as you said, sometimes they just need to figure it out themselves.
00:08:23
Speaker
And that's the big thing, too, is letting, like, as you probably know, as a coach and for me telling parents, this is the most important thing you have to do for your kids is let them figure things out on their own, sometimes natural consequences. Yeah.
00:08:36
Speaker
Right, right. It's so true because, yeah, if it's like if you do everything for them um or remind them of everything, then they don't they're not creating those neural connections in their brain. And then they go off and then they really need somebody like you. Right. If because they've never had to even try to think for themselves. And so then they really I always say it's kind of like outsourcing your prefrontal cortex where, um you know, we know their brains are not fully developed.
00:09:02
Speaker
And so it's kind of a mom's job to help with that. at the same time, we don't want to completely take over. It's kind of like finding that balance. And it's it's tricky to find that balance. So you agree? Yeah, it is. I agree. it's ah it's ah It is a balance and you have to find it. But I do see so many students who go out to college. And I think the big problem is the parents have done everything for them along the way.
00:09:24
Speaker
And there's a transition period where, like you said, you're a mom and you have to help them. But at some point, we also have to say, OK, I'm going to help you at the beginning of the week, tell you all the stuff, and then you're on your own for the week.
00:09:35
Speaker
Right, right. And I think it's so important the way we frame it, because I was working with a family recently where and the daughter was in college. And the exact scenario that we're describing her, all of you know her whole life, the mom had been always reminding her everything. She went off to college. The mom was still reminding her of everything. And it was driving the daughter crazy. Yeah. And so that's when I said, okay, would you be okay if we had your mom hop on the call today? And a lot of times I do like a joint session.
00:10:06
Speaker
And so the mom said, okay, I totally get it. You know, I need to step back. I need to not do this. And so, and she said, So if she forgets something, she's just, and I can't remember how she said it, but was kind of like a slurry of but bad words, kind of like she screwed or something, but it was much worse than that.
00:10:23
Speaker
And I said, well, it's important that we don't frame it that way, right? If she does forget something, if it does fall through the cracks, what a beautiful learning opportunity for her. yeah What a wonderful moment that she can then find feel herself, yeah, she's not going to feel good about it, but we don't need to label it as something negative because that's just like putting ah lemon juice in the in the cut, right? Like it's just making it so much worse. So what are some ways that you can help parents kind of reframe the idea that they do need to have those natural consequences and that it's okay?
00:10:57
Speaker
Oh, that's such a good question. and to To help a parent understand that students should have natural consequences? Yeah. Mm-hmm. Well, I would maybe say something like, well, let' let's let's see, we've reminded so-and-so that their homework is due on Friday.
00:11:15
Speaker
Let's step back and say they don't turn it in on Friday. And then they end up getting a D in the class. say Then maybe you can ask them, you know, how how do you how does this make you feel? Or what could you do better next time? Or how can I support you and help you, but also allow you to do this on your own?
00:11:34
Speaker
Yeah, yeah, just like asking the questions. I think that's the most important part. Instead of making the statements that, you know, as moms, we have such an impulse to make a statement, be like, you should have done this, or why didn't you do that? Or you didn't listen. yeah I heard this coach for you, and you're not listening to the coach either, right? Like, because there's the frustration. So it's like, we want to acknowledge the frustration for the mom's part, but at this, or the parents, you know, it could be dad too. But at the same time, it's like,
00:12:00
Speaker
how can you support them is like asking them those questions, exactly the ones you just said. I think that's perfect because then it allows the teen or young adult's brain to fire. It needs to, like the switch needs to go on. And it's like you're robbing of the opportunity to not think for themselves. And so we want to allow them to turn on their own light switch and let them make make the connection. Right. Yeah. And that's absolutely what you said. I think it's asking questions instead of, you know, barking orders at them or,
00:12:27
Speaker
Getting angry with them and frustrated, I think it's really, you know, what could you do differently next time? Or how can this not happen? Things where they might find a solution on their own without a telling it to them.
00:12:39
Speaker
Yeah, yeah. Well, I'd love to hear a success story. Obviously, you know, I respect client confidentiality, so I'm sure it is, you know, confidential. But to the ability that you're able to share, can you share some and success stories that you've had with families?

Success Stories and When to Seek Coaching

00:12:54
Speaker
Oh, my gosh, yes. And I have so many good, so many success stories. One of my favorites was a student of mine had actually gone away to college and had been an a state far away from home, and he ended up failing out freshman year.
00:13:09
Speaker
So he went home and he worked and then he ultimately decided to go back to school. And his parents hired me because they were worried and they thought he needed to start with some support.
00:13:19
Speaker
And when I started with him, he just had really low self-esteem, very nervous about going back, feeling like he couldn't do it. So when we would meet each week, we would come up with a plan. We would break down his assignments. We would put his due dates in his calendar. And then, you know, my job is usually to say,
00:13:39
Speaker
you have the knowledge now to do this. You can go off on your own. And he did. And he finally, after a year, he was on the Dean's list. He was getting straight A's. And he said,
00:13:51
Speaker
I can do this. I feel like I can be successful. And then he wrote me on his graduation and sent me a picture when he finally ended up graduating on the Dean's List. And it was just, it was, it's just so amazing. I mean, to see a kid come in with such low self-esteem and then find out that he can be a straight A student and graduate and go on to grad school.
00:14:09
Speaker
Yes. Oh, that like is bringing tears to my eyes. That's so beautiful. I love that. Hi everyone, just a quick pause before we get back to the episode. I'm so glad you're here.
00:14:21
Speaker
a lot of you know me as someone who helps teens feel more confident and less overwhelmed. But I also support parents who are trying to navigate all this with more calm, clarity and connection.
00:14:33
Speaker
My work includes teen and young adult coaching, parent coaching, and support for the parent-teen relationship. So whether your teen is dealing with anxiety, self-doubt, or pressure, or you're trying to communicate better at home, I'm here for that.
00:14:48
Speaker
You can connect with me at PositivelyHealthyCoaching.com slash booking so we can talk more about your confidence, resilience, stress, and healthy family dynamics.
00:14:59
Speaker
My goal is simple, to help families feel more connected and more equipped to handle what life throws at them. I hope you'll join me. Now back to the show.
00:15:12
Speaker
Yes. I mean, it's amazing. And sometimes when they've had some struggles, they start to beat themselves up, right? And they see the worst of themselves and then they fear the judgment and people back home, you know, find out they had to drop out or come back home to community college or live at home, whatever it might be, because there's this, you know, of course, a stigma that like, oh, they couldn't, you know, hack it and whatever. But sometimes it's just like,
00:15:35
Speaker
Maybe they weren't in the right place. Maybe they weren't ready. Maybe, um you know, a whole maybe they haven't been diagnosed with something. Maybe they haven't been getting the support that they need. And there's all these things. And so it's like instead of, you know, having any judgment, we should just kind of as a community, as a like a whole society, just be like, how can we better support these kids who do need extra support? um Because it's not easy, right? Even the most prepared, think about it, like the most organized, the most prepared, right? Like college is ah is a big jump for anyone who's even like has every skill, every advantage, everything, because it's like everything is different, right? The whole world flips on its head where you're now taking care of yourself, you know, living separately from your family. You don't have the emotional support. You have all new environment, all new classes, all new expectations. And so it can be a lot really for anyone. What would be some advice for the moms that are listening today as far as how to know when to step in to hire a professional like yourself?
00:16:35
Speaker
So it's interesting. there are There are different reasons people hire me. So some parents will hire me before their student has even been to college saying that, you know, ah she has ADHD or he has ADHD and I feel like they really need a coach.
00:16:50
Speaker
But most often I find that I get students who have gone off to school like you like you just said, who have a really tough first semester. Maybe they're on probation now or they failed multiple classes or they came home after Christmas break and they said, it's been terrible. I just haven't told you.
00:17:07
Speaker
and then the parents are thinking, oh, my gosh, how did this happen? And how do we dig ourselves out of this hole? And so a lot of times I'll get students either at midterm time, mid semester or after a semester who have found that they really need some help and even maybe just some accountability along the way. Because like you said, there's just, I mean, there's so many distractions at school. You have, you don't have a schedule where you're there eight hours a day. It's kind of like you have just a couple hours and then you have to manage your whole day and all that time. And how do you do it? And then you're building these new social relationships and you're joining clubs and you're playing sports or you may be going through rush and you're pledging and you just have all these things going on. And I find so many kids just go off and they get so overwhelmed. And so it's, I get a lot of people after first semester.
00:17:59
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. So it's like, you know, how accountants have tax season and you have kind of like that second semester kind of rush, I'm sure. I i have a similar cyclical cycle in my business too, where it's kind of like the back to school freak out um It's exactly the same, like the Christmas time, like, okay, let's start semester two with a fresh start. Or I always am shocked when I get my big summer rush because I think, oh, everybody's just chilling in once. But no, because it's a great time um for me to help kids develop the skills when they're
00:18:31
Speaker
Sometimes when they're in it, it's so hard and and I love working with them while they're in it. But sometimes it's just so intense. They need like the break and they need to kind of like start building ah from the ground up, like when they're not in that intense environment. So, yeah, I guess it depends on every family is different and like the different cycles that I see. But I see you nodding. So um it sounds looked like you had something to share with that.
00:18:54
Speaker
I really like what you're saying about the summer. You're right. It's just it's a more relaxed time and there isn't so much going on. So it really is a good time to connect with it with what you're doing. It sounds like that'd be a great time to connect with teenagers.
00:19:07
Speaker
Yes, yes. Well, I'm like kind of concocting a whole thing with you and me to work together because I just feel like we complement each other so well where um if anybody's listening and you do have a college student who's really struggling, like we've got the executive function coach here. I'm the well-being coach. We could like literally, and I feel like, turn somebody's life around who's in college.
00:19:28
Speaker
Yeah. The thing, it's like, they've you've made this like financial investment and in choosing the college, moving them there, like you're saying, like they might've pledged into a Greek life. And so they're they're so invested, right? Emotionally invested with a place that people have chosen. And so it's like, if it's between staying and start you know leaving and starting over, it's like,
00:19:49
Speaker
I would love the idea of somebody hiring you to be able to like be able to stick it out. And like you said, that beautiful success story about then making the Dean's List for that one student. And you have probably tons of other examples where they really

Building Social and Academic Systems

00:20:02
Speaker
turned it around. And for me, I've had so many kids where just like making those social connections and I'll literally I'll sit there on a session and help them join a club. So I'm like, OK, pull up the list, get it on, get it on your computer. I'll wait. I always say, I'll wait. You know, it's it's it's no rush for me. And and they say, ok well, I could join this club. i catch And I'm like, okay, tell me about them. We sometimes, and that's not all my clients are like that, but sometimes that's the microscopic level that we have to go to. Because like you're saying with the overwhelm, when you said, oh, sometimes they're just stuck on the essay question. They don't know where to start. Sometimes in a social context, it's just like,
00:20:37
Speaker
they're just stuck on how to make friends. Like they don't know how and who, like who are their people and how to find them and and they really get stuck. So I literally go down to that detailed level. Okay, try that club on Wednesday. Next week I'll see you and tell me how it went. Like, I want to hear about it. Who did you talk to? All the things like that. So what are some ways that you just like on that very microscopic level, I mean, I want to call it like kind of handholding. in and And I mean that in a kind living way, like like what are some ways you can do that?
00:21:07
Speaker
Me or as parents? um You to help with the student. So typically, so they all use these learning management systems. It will be Canvas. It will be Moodle. It will be D2L.
00:21:19
Speaker
So a lot of times we'll just go in and look and see, hey, you know, what's coming up this week? Do you have any missing assignments? Let's make a plan for the week right now and pull up a to-do list and let's enter a day when you are going to do this assignment or how long is it going to take you to do this paper? So let's break that down into three days. And so we will put everything on their list and then pick a day to do it because I think that really helps students to have a set plan instead of just say, oh, sometime, maybe this week I will start working on the paper. it's like, well, let's think how long is the paper going to take. It may take four or five days. You have to make an outline. You have to do your first couple paragraphs. have to revise it. Maybe you want to make an appointment at the writing center. So we really kind of go through all of that stuff. But then it's also things like you said, Laura, um some students, they may be feeling like they aren't making connections. So it's like looking at clubs. What can you join? Where can you make friends? Or even like,
00:22:14
Speaker
Maybe you're struggling with your math this week. Let's look at the tutoring center and see when they have hours that you can drop in and do that. Or let's make sure you're using your accommodations that you have. Like a lot of students have accommodations and they're not using them because they don't know how to use them.
00:22:31
Speaker
So just a lot of different things like that. I love that. I think that's awesome. And and i i I just know that I can tell by the way you work and the way I work, it which is so important to, we it's not like you and I get on a session and we just tell our client what to do,

Empowering Student Independence and Adaptability

00:22:47
Speaker
right? It's all about like asking them the questions, like what's important to you? Because again,
00:22:52
Speaker
we're trying to work ourselves out of a job. Like we're trying to be where they're like, I got, like you said, with your one student, I got it. I'm done. I don't need you anymore. I'm yeah'm successful. I'm on the Dean's list. Now I'm graduating. Right. It's like, that's kind of always my hope for them. And I feel so good. Like, I love it when they're like, i don't need you anymore. I'm good, right? Like that means I did a good job because it means I really helped them ah find their value, find their own solutions. You know, I was just kind of like, we always say like the guide, asking them the questions so they can come up with their own solutions. So
00:23:23
Speaker
With that being said, is there anything else that you can share with the moms today who are listening and kind of are in that boat where they're, you know, maybe have a high school or graduating right now, they're sending them off, but they're a little worried. Like, what would be some advice?
00:23:40
Speaker
My biggest advice would to start helping them transition to being more independent sooner. So if you have a junior, that may be your year to start kind of putting on the brakes to being a manager of your child and be more of a consultant. And like you said, asking them more questions, like, let's look at your week. What's your plan for getting things done? When will you work on that? What might get in the way? Or um just really helping them at the beginning of the week, maybe sitting down, talking to them about what's coming up asking them questions about what to do, helping them plan it out. And then
00:24:15
Speaker
giving them the space to do that, you know, giving them the space, like you said, to maybe fail a little bit and then come up with a plan for how to change things. But I think a lot of kids get to college and they aren't prepared to do that on their own. So I think as parents, we need to to let go a little bit sooner and give them a chance to learn how to be independent and fail and then come back from that too.
00:24:39
Speaker
Because that's what's going to happen in college. We will not be there to do everything. and will not be better to hold their hands. Exactly. And what I had to share with that family um that I had mentioned earlier was that the mom is not going to be with the daughter when she goes to get her first job. i At least I hope I hope not i have failed your job if that does happen. But no, and she kind of laughed, right? and Because it's like they are going to have to figure this stuff out eventually. And so as's I find it's not necessarily the sooner did the better because every kid is different and some do need that support a little bit longer. But it's all about kind of assessing where they're at, what they need, what support that they need, but then also putting the ball in their court and finding out like, well, what support do you think you need? What are you needing from me this week? And how can I support you? So
00:25:23
Speaker
Kind of last question, when you are with a student, when are the times that you know you need to push a little bit harder versus pull back a little bit? I think when I'm not seeing them change any of the behavior. So sometimes it's about, you know, it's hard with my job because it's asking them to change and maybe do things that they're uncomfortable with. And when I notice that they're not doing them, then i think it's it's kind of like, well, we need to get real here. what What do you want out of this? What do you want to do? How is this going to make you feel? So I think, you know, when I'm noticing that students are reluctant to try and accept new ways of doing things or open to ah new ideas and strategies, then I then i feel, and and what is not working is continuing to not work, then I think that's at the point where you really need to push and say like, look, this really isn't working. Let's let's try this. Let's just
00:26:21
Speaker
try this one thing this week, what's the one thing we can do? And hopefully see if they will try that and then slowly be able to keep being a little more open to that. But i love asking, you know, what's the one thing you can do differently to this week to change this? Or the one thing that you can do right now to help you in your math class or something like that. I love saying, what's the one thing?
00:26:43
Speaker
Yes, it just kind of simplifies it and it makes it seem less overwhelming. Like, okay, I only have to pick one. yeah I think that's a perfect question in a way to get that clarity from them. And it forces them to have the words come out of my mouth their mouths because then they start to hold themselves accountable, right? They're going to be like, oh, well, I told Shannon that the one thing I was going to do was this. And when I see her next week, I want to be able to say, guess what? I did the one thing, right? So it's It probably helps. That's absolutely true, Laura. That is how how I'll usually start the next session and say, hey, we talked about that one thing. How did that go this week? So it is. You're right.
00:27:17
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. That's awesome. OK, so how can people find you?

Conclusion and Call to Action

00:27:22
Speaker
So people can find me on my web website. It's efcollegecoach.com. Perfect. Well, I hope so many people will reach out because I think that what you're doing is amazing. I think it's a great service you're providing and probably helping just so many students feel better about themselves, make it through college in one piece and just feel a lot more successful and competent in the world so they can go off and do great things in the world. So thank you so much for sharing your knowledge today. Thank you. Thanks for having me. I appreciate it
00:27:51
Speaker
All right. Take care. You too.
00:27:55
Speaker
When you get a chance, please go to the show notes and click on the link ratethispodcast.com slash TPHmom to give my podcast a rating and review.
00:28:06
Speaker
And if this episode resonates with you be sure to share it with your mom friends who are going through the same things. Be sure to tune in for next week's conversation. Until then, keep up the good work.