In This Issue

• Whoa – My Brain Can Do That?
• A Successful Entrepreneur Tells His SuperCamp Story
• Failure Leads To Success – the Second Key
• OTFD – Open The Front Door to Better Relationships

Whoa – My Brain Can Do That?

Many young people worry that their memories aren't up to the task when it comes to schoolwork. In actual fact, it's only a matter of training. Even though there is an endless number of ways to improve memory, schools don't do much to help students learn how to train their memories. Fear of inadequate memory... Read more here

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A Successful Entrepreneur Tells His SuperCamp Story

Craig Perrine attended SuperCamp way back in 1985 as a self-described typical, unfocused 15-year old. Fast forward 23 years and Craig is a successful entrepreneur, speaker, and author. We caught up with Craig recently at a conference and he was good enough to share his memories of SuperCamp and how it changed his life. Take a look and listen.

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Failure Leads To Success – the Second Key

An adolescent’s life has its ups and downs and its inevitable share of failures. That’s why we help campers understand that failure is a necessary step on the path to success. Consider these epic failures and successes of three famous Americans:

• Babe Ruth struck out 1,330 and hit 714 home runs

• R.H. Macy failed seven times in the retail business before founding Macy’s department store, which became one of the most successful retail chains in history

• Thomas Edison failed over 900 times before perfecting the light bulb

Failure presents two roadblocks to eventual success. The first roadblock is to stop trying after failing at something. The second obstacle associated with failure is the fear of failure, which can prevent a person from even trying something for fear of the consequences of being unsuccessful.

We teach campers at SuperCamp that the best way to overcome the fear of failure is to change one’s perceptions. Instead of thinking of failure as something horrible, learn to think of it as information. Henry Ford said, “Failure is the opportunity to begin again more intelligently.”

Remind your children that if we’re not making mistakes, we’re not learning. If we’re not learning, we’re not growing. And if we’re not growing, we’re not reaching our goals. Therefore, mistakes are good!

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OTFD – Open The Front Door to Better Relationships

An important communication technique we teach at SuperCamp is OTFD – Open The Front Door, which stands for Observe, Think, Feeling, Desire. This technique can help kids in their relationships with friends and it also is something families can practice at home. Here’s how it works.

Observe
“O” is something you observed with your senses that anyone else can observe. For example: I saw that you threw your chair across the room. (Not: I saw you got angry.)

Think
“T” is a thought or opinion about what you observed. For example: I thought you didn’t care.

Feeling
“F” is a feeling you had about what you observed. For example: I felt sad (hurt, angry).

Desire
“D” is what you want (you desire). For example: What I want is for us to be friends.

Try this communication tool yourself. Before long, it will become second nature and your relationships will be better for it.

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