Motivational speaker brings message to GVHS students, teachers, parents

GUNNISON—Motivational speaker Kent Julian spent Sept. 23 at Gunnison Valley High School sharing a message about personal responsibility and changing relationships between parents and children.

Julian, who is based in Swanee, Georgia, presented his “One Mission Parenting” program during three sessions throughout the day. He spoke first to GVHS students during a school assembly, then met with teachers and staff after school, before ending the day with a presentation for parents.

Julian focused much of the parent presentation on how attitudes and responses can influence circumstances.

“The way we view things is the way we do things,” he said.

Julian described parenting as progressing through three seasons as children grow. During infancy and childhood, he said, parents primarily serve as caregivers by meeting children’s needs and protecting them.

As children grow into their teenage years, Julian said parents move toward the role of coach. During that stage, parents teach children to care for themselves, make decisions and take greater responsibility for their choices.

Once children reach adulthood, he said, the relationship changes again, with parents becoming consultants who can continue offering guidance throughout their children’s lives.

Julian also presented what he calls the E+R=O concept. He explained that an event by itself can lead to an outcome, but a person’s response to that event can change the outcome.

He encouraged parents to teach their children to become “Response-ABLE,” emphasizing their ability to choose how they respond when facing problems or difficult circumstances.

Julian said people cannot control everything that happens to them, but they can control several aspects of their own response. He identified those areas as associations, attitude, articulation and actions.

The message emphasized helping young people recognize the role their own decisions and reactions can play when circumstances do not go as planned.

More information about Julian’s “One Mission Parenting” program and his work on the E+R=O concept is available at kentjulian.com.