Youth's challenges have multiplied after the COVID-19 pandemic, causing more anxiety, confusion, and a sense of underachievement. "CHOICES: Encouraging Youth to Achieve Greatness" addresses these problems head-on by offering practical insights that align with a global context. It provides useful tips and expert strategies to guide mentors and educators on how they can connect well with youth.
Seasoned mentor and author Robin Cox shares over forty years of experience as an educator and mentor. The proven framework he has developed mentoring over 1000 young people through the pages of "CHOICES: Encouraging Youth to Achieve Greatness." Parents, teachers, coaches, mentors, and youth workers will feel inspired to empower youngsters to reach their fullest potential. He took five years to complete this valuable manuscript, a testament to his thoughtfulness.
Those already aware of this influential author will know that Cox is a proud cancer survivor. He gained various insights from his journey battling this deadly disease as a teenager with the support of wonderful teachers and mentors. He has discussed how his early life trials made him oblige to helping others in this book. Author and former school principal Paul Browning comments:
“𝑹𝒐𝒃𝒊𝒏 𝑪𝒐𝒙 𝒉𝒂𝒔 𝒃𝒆𝒆𝒏 𝒂 𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒅𝒆𝒓 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒅𝒆𝒄𝒂𝒅𝒆𝒔. 𝑯𝒆 𝒉𝒂𝒔 𝒊𝒏𝒇𝒍𝒖𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒆𝒅 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒕𝒍𝒆𝒔𝒔 𝒑𝒆𝒐𝒑𝒍𝒆, 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒑𝒂𝒔𝒔𝒊𝒐𝒏, 𝒃𝒆𝒄𝒂𝒖𝒔𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒔𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒚 𝒐𝒇 𝒈𝒓𝒐𝒘𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒖𝒑, 𝒊𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒅𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒉𝒊𝒑 𝒐𝒇 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒕𝒉. 𝑻𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒃𝒐𝒐𝒌 𝒃𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒔 𝒕𝒐𝒈𝒆𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒇𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒅𝒆𝒄𝒂𝒅𝒆𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝒆𝒙𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒊𝒏 𝒊𝒏𝒇𝒍𝒖𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒈 𝒑𝒆𝒐𝒑𝒍𝒆’𝒔 𝒍𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒉𝒆𝒍𝒑𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒔𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒔 𝒕𝒐 ‘𝒂𝒄𝒉𝒊𝒆𝒗𝒆 𝒈𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒏𝒆𝒔𝒔.’”
What sets "CHOICES: Encouraging Youth to Achieve Greatness" apart is its simple and accessible approach. Cox has formatted his decades of research, mentoring, and teaching into a user-friendly framework that anyone who works with youth can easily apply. This practical, advice-packed publication is a must-read, helping mentors understand how the adolescent brain works and their unique needs. Retired educator and former school principal Paul Fleischack writes:
“𝑪𝑯𝑶𝑰𝑪𝑬𝑺: 𝑬𝒏𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒂𝒈𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒀𝒐𝒖𝒕𝒉 𝒕𝒐 𝑨𝒄𝒉𝒊𝒆𝒗𝒆 𝑮𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒏𝒆𝒔𝒔" 𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒔 𝒔𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒅 𝒘𝒊𝒔𝒅𝒐𝒎, 𝒊𝒏𝒔𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕𝒔, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒈𝒊𝒆𝒔 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒈𝒖𝒊𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒈 𝒑𝒆𝒐𝒑𝒍𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉 𝒍𝒊𝒇𝒆 𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒆𝒏𝒈𝒆𝒔.” 𝑪𝒐𝒙 𝒃𝒆𝒍𝒊𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒉𝒂𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒐𝒕𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒂𝒍 𝒕𝒐 𝒃𝒆𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒂 𝒄𝒐𝒂𝒄𝒉, 𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒐𝒓, 𝒐𝒓 𝒑𝒐𝒔𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒗𝒆 𝒊𝒏𝒇𝒍𝒖𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒆𝒓 𝒐𝒇 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒈 𝒊𝒏𝒅𝒊𝒗𝒊𝒅𝒖𝒂𝒍𝒔. 𝑯𝒊𝒔 𝒊𝒏𝒔𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕𝒇𝒖𝒍 𝒃𝒐𝒐𝒌 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒕𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒔 𝒂 𝒎𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒂𝒈𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒉𝒐𝒑𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒆𝒎𝒑𝒐𝒘𝒆𝒓𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕. 𝑰𝒕 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒎𝒐𝒕𝒆𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒃𝒆𝒍𝒊𝒆𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒈𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒏𝒆𝒔𝒔—𝒐𝒓 𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒄𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒐𝒏𝒆’𝒔 𝒖𝒏𝒊𝒒𝒖𝒆 𝒑𝒐𝒕𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒂𝒍—𝒊𝒔 𝒂𝒕𝒕𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒂𝒃𝒍𝒆 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚𝒐𝒏𝒆. 𝑯𝒆 𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒂𝒈𝒆𝒔 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒅𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒉𝒊𝒑 𝒕𝒐 𝒓𝒆𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒌 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒊𝒓 𝒃𝒆𝒍𝒊𝒆𝒇𝒔 𝒓𝒆𝒈𝒂𝒓𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒔𝒖𝒄𝒄𝒆𝒔𝒔.”
Robin stresses the importance of the power of choice, and how it defines one’s attitudes and ultimately guides individuals towards achieving personal victory. Readers will notice his refreshing and authentic perspective as he shares his messages and tips about attaining one’s hopes and dreams.
𝐊𝐞𝐲 𝐓𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 "𝐂𝐇𝐎𝐈𝐂𝐄𝐒: 𝐄𝐧𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐚𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐨 𝐀𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐞𝐯𝐞 𝐆𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬" 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬:
While reading this valuable book, readers will take away these influential key points highlighted by Robin Cox:
Non-judgementally and empathetically walking in a young person’s shoes – sometimes feeling the pain—is a key to successful youth mentoring. Genuinely listen to their experiences and problems, and strive to communicate at their level.
Active listening is another important skill that mentors need to master to connect with and understand their mentees and build trust. Ask them open-ended, non-threatening questions and listen to the underlying messages beyond their words.
The power of sound planning and achieving personal goals is transformational. It would help mentors take the right practical steps to support youngsters toward their dreams.
These were three of the major takeaways that readers would discover while exploring the contents of this book. However, Robin’s work reminds readers of the importance of becoming authentic role models for young minds. He also advises mentors not to be hard on themselves as they journey with young people during one of the most confusing times in their lives. Building trust or meaningful relationships takes time.
𝑨 𝑴𝒆𝒂𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒇𝒖𝒍 𝑹𝒆𝒔𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒄𝒆 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑷𝒐𝒔𝒕-𝑷𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒎𝒊𝒄 𝑾𝒐𝒓𝒍𝒅
"CHOICES: Encouraging Youth to Achieve Greatness" is more than just any book; it is an invitation to reflect on youngsters' role that shapes their lives in a post-pandemic world. Cox's true stories of mentoring teenagers across various countries provide an inspiration to engage actively with teens. His in-depth and credible tips are universally applicable, helping those who genuinely believe in the potential of our youth.
Andrew Cook, another former school principal, writes:
“In Robin’s succinct and easily approachable "CHOICES: Encouraging Youth to Achieve Greatness", he provides a means for those of us who would like to be more effective as mentors to our youth, with a practical way of doing so, based upon latest brain research and a long life of mentoring experience. . . . He unpacks the theory behind the approach but bolsters this with eminently practical advice that one can follow. This book is a distillation, like a precious and rare perfume, of the hard-won lessons in love from a very good man. Read it!”
If you want to become a positive voice in youngster's lives, buy "CHOICES: Encouraging Youth to Achieve Greatness." This press release is your sign to get your hands on this essential resource, whether you're a parent, teacher, coach, mentor, or community member. It is your chance to step up and support our young people's journey to greatness, and to remember that every life matters!
Emily Martin
Book Publishers NZ
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