Sample Mini-Lesson Plans

Sometimes when I mentor teens and young adults, I teach them short mini-lessons. I tailor these to each client and make sure that what I teach them is what they need. Here are a few examples of what I might teach in a lesson. I have slides, video clips, memes, etc. in them to make them more interesting to all types of learners. Email me if you would like to see one of my slide decks.

Creating Goals

In this mini-lesson we talk about:

  • Why goals are important

  • One goal they would like to set this year

  • Why vision is important

  • The Three Why Method (asking why three times to get at the real reason we are setting a goal)

  • The SMART method

  • Choosing a floor, middle ground, and ceiling for your goal (what is the least you will do a day, the most you will do, etc)

  • How much money you would get if you got a penny that doubled every day vs. a million dollars (I have them choose which one then we discuss)

  • The WOOP Process (Wish, Outcome, Obstacles, Plan)

I check in on them often after they have set a goal or two!

Improving Our Habits

In this lesson I teach them some of the basics from the book Atomic Habits, and we look at a few habits they might like to change. We discuss:

  • The definition of identity as “repeated beingness” and how we create parts of our identities through habits

  • Creating our environments so they support our habits

  • The Point-and-Call system

  • How to create good/bad habits

  • Creating routines and bundling habits

Motivation and Procrastination

I have several different mini-lessons on this because it’s something all of my clients struggle with on some level, especially my clients with ADHD (a lot of my clients have it, and since I have it too, I can relate well to them). A few things I might teach a client are:

  • How to climb the Wall of Awful

  • How to take action and what to watch out for (not having the skills, resources, knowledge, support, reminders, etc. that we need to get going)

  • Creating planks for the Bridge of Motivation (we draw out this one, which is fun)

  • How to use the dopamine cycle to help, not hinder, us

  • Understanding our unique motivational code

Harnessing Our Emotions

I also have several lessons on emotions because they are so challenging to manage as a teenager, thanks to the way the brain develops. I have read a lot about this topic and have condensed the most important things into a few lessons. In the first two we discuss:

  • What emotions are (chemicals in our bodies)

  • Where they come from

  • How to resolve them using the ABCD method

  • The purpose of different emotions

  • Healthy/unhealthy ways of resolving emotions

  • Buffering

We also make lists of some different actions they can take when they are experiencing different emotions.

I also have a separate lesson on stress and anxiety for those who need it!