President Obama in Kentucky. AP Photo/Charles Dharapak
President Obama's speech to school children will be given on September 8th but the full text of Obama's speech is available now online. The speech is full of helpful messages that come right out of a cognitive therapist's handbook. Cognitive therapy is a form of therapy that focuses on how people think. Some patterns of negative thinking can create failure and depression, whereas positive thinking can create the opposite.
Positive thinking is about helping people look at the role they play in their own problems, not so that they can blame themselves and feel guilty, but so that they can access their personal power. President Obama points out that the responsibility for the students' success rests squarely with the individual student.
Positive psychology teaches that all anyone has is this moment. People are not bound by the sorry choices they made yesterday. Today, right now, they can do something different. President Obama sympathizes with students who may be having a difficult time in their lives right now. But Obama points out that they mustn't wait for the perfect circumstances to do what they have to do today. They mustn't use their circumstances as an excuse. Right now they can make a choice.
Obama encourages students to set goals for themselves, and explains that failures are not dead ends, just road blocks that have to be gone around and learned from. He pointed out that Michael Jordan was cut from his high school basketball team. Success doesn't come overnight and road blocks are not reasons to quit, they are like valuable messengers that teach us how to go forward. This may be the most important part of Obama's message. Some very interesting studies have shown that those who are not afraid to confront their own failure are the ones who actually succeed. Other studies have shown that children who are praised for their effort try much harder than students who are praised for being smart.
Obama is telling students that the very future of our nation can be determined by their actions, by whether or not they develop their gifts and make a contribution. Psychologically speaking, people need to feel like they can make a difference, and indeed, they can. In the face of futility, apathy follows. Psychologist Martin Seligman coined this term for this phenomenon, "learned helplessness" back in the 1970's. He was able to explain why people sometimes give up and become despondent.
It is not surprising that someone as accomplished as our country's first African American President, who overcame plenty to get where he is, happens to have a positive mindset. If school children adopt these healthy thinking patterns as suggested in President Obama's speech, they may just achieve greatness too.
Click here for a message to teens about President Obama's speech to kids.
Comments
Unfortunately, Obama's speech writers were using Wikipedia as a fact checker - basketball legend Michael Jordan was NEVER cut from his high school basketball team - it's a well documented myth. Check with Jordan's hometown newspaper, the Wilmington (NC) Star-News.
According to the NBA Encyclopedia (NBA.com) Micheal Jordan was cut from his high school basketball team.
Also, according to the Star News online he Jordan was cut from the team as a Sophomore. Many other publications cite the fact that instead of seeing that as a dead end and quitting, Jordan kept envisioning that list with his name on it, and this made him practice every single day until he made the team. This is an excellent reference to use when trying to motivate children, (and adults too) to succeed.
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