Helping Kids Get Through The Hard With a Growth Mindset.

What I Taught This Week: Preparing for the Hard

I get to see 200–300 kids from all over the world every week, and it never fails: whatever I plan to teach them is somehow exactly what I need to hear. Every. Single. Time.

I teach a growth mindset class, and this week’s lesson was all about preparing for the hard — not acting surprised every time it shows up like we didn’t already know it was waiting around the corner.

We plan and prepare for so many things in life.

Soccer practice? Bag packed.

School? Backpack ready, water bottle filled.

Friend’s sleepover? The snack lineup is elite.

We are fantastic planners.

But the same way we know to grab a coat when it’s snowing, we also know exactly which things are hard for us. And pretending we don’t helps no one.

So of course, the week I’m teaching this lesson, I nearly threw my computer straight into the backyard while changing something on my website.

Full frustration.

Zero plan.

Immediate regret.

And that moment reminded me why this topic matters:

My lack of planning cost me.

It cost me time.

It cost me patience.

It cost me my entire mood.

So now, the next time I sit down to fix something tech-related, I’m coming in with a plan:

• When frustration hits → step away for 30 minutes.

• Drink water. Walk. Breathe.

• Whisper to myself: “I’ve got this. It’s new. It’s hard. And I’m doing it."

Go on with my bad self.

Kids need this same strategy.

If piano feels hard every week, okay — then what’s the plan for the moment it starts feeling hard and their emotions start flipping upside down? What will they do?

And honestly, this is where we miss it as adults.

So often our advice to kids is basically:

“Suck it up.”

“Push through.”

…with zero plan attached.

No strategy.

No tools.

Just vibes and willpower.

My students shared their plans with me, and honestly, they nailed it.

We finished class with a line I hope sticks with them forever:

“Oh… it’s just you, Hard.

I was expecting you.

I’m ready. Let’s go.”

Watching kids stare down their “hard” with that kind of confidence?

Peak teacher joy.

And if there’s anything I want them to take with them into the world, it’s that they are capable of handling hard things — with a plan, not panic.

Stay shining you awesome humans.

Karla