Broadcasts.com - "From Anxiety to Adventure: Kevin Majeres on Reframing Challenges" (HeightsCast: Forming Men Fully Alive)

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From Anxiety to Adventure: Kevin Majeres on Reframing Challenges

Published: July 14, 2022, 9:03 p.m.

Adorning our school\u2019s main hallway is a sort of charter for the Heights graduate which designates him as a man who is \u201coptimistic toward life\u2019s challenges,\u201d as one who \u201csees freedom as an opportunity to choose the good.\u201d Fostering these ideals in each student is a central aspect of the school\u2019s mission. But, in a world that is increasingly filled with children suffering from anxiety, how\u2014in very practical terms\u2014can we help our students develop such an outlook on life?

Last month, we heard from Mr. Alex Berth\xe9 on how parents can find peace in an anxiety ridden world. This week on HeightsCast, we begin a series of discussions with Dr. Kevin Majeres, lecturer at Harvard Medical School and Founder of OptimalWork.\xa0\xa0

In this three-part series, we take a deep dive into three sets of challenges which are becoming increasingly prevalent in today\u2019s youth, and three mindsets or skills that can help us as parents and teachers to help our boys help themselves:

Anxiety\xa0
Attention
Addiction\xa0

Our first discussion with Dr. Majeres focuses on anxiety. Combining years of experience as a psychiatrist and drawing on research in cognitive behavioral therapy, Dr. Majeres teaches us both what anxiety is and what we can do about it.\xa0\xa0

In the episode, we learn:\xa0

The Foundation of Growth\xa0
1. The importance of having a growth mindset\u2014seeing yourself as capable of real improvement.\xa0
2. Learning to reframe out of a fixed mindset.\xa0
Anxiety\xa0
1. Anxiety is adrenaline with a negative frame.\xa0
2. Adrenaline is a performance-enhancing hormone, which is meant to improve one\u2019s capacities, whether physical or cognitive.\xa0
3. All anxiety disorders come from seeing anxiety as a disorder; they are the fruit of seeing the effects of adrenaline as a problem.\xa0
4. Children\u2019s preferences are often manifestations of anxiety coupled with avoidance; it is crucial to help people from a young age to stay with a challenge and not flee from anxiety.\xa0
Reframing\xa0
1. Reframing is deliberately finding the opportunity for growth in a challenge that one had previously viewed negatively.\xa0
2. The way the body utilizes hormones depends on how we frame them; reframing is not mere wishful thinking.\xa0
3. Start small; don\u2019t tackle the biggest challenge first.\xa0
Cheerfulness\xa0
1. Cheerfulness is often synonymous with courage.\xa0
2. The family is where we first learn to see challenges as opportunities.
3. If parents foster a smiling approach to challenges, then even a quick thought of them can become a reframe for their children.\xa0

An essential component of The Heights School\u2019s mission is to help students discover the adventure hidden in every challenge they face. Having spoken with Dr. Majeres, we might phrase this skill as the ability to turn the adrenaline of anxiety into the adventure of everyday life.

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