Unwarranted criticism. Constructive criticism. Professional criticism. Mean girl behavior. Being bullied. Being judged. Being singled out. Girls lump them all together because they all feel terrible to them. So, the simplest way to escape criticism, even though it can help you grow, is to not put yourself out there in the first place. But identifying which type of criticism is being pointed at you, it’s a lot easier to handle and more likely that you’ll get back out there.

“Between childhood and womanhood, girls encounter a phenomenon known as "losing voice," according to studies published by Harvard University."

"74% of 12-year-olds surveyed by Girl Scouts of America list "improving the world around me" as one of their favorite activities, but a lack of confidence holds them back from taking leadership in the areas of change they care most about. Only 1/3 of middle-school girls today believe they can be a leader.” - Girls Driving For a Difference -

Getting girls to bridge the gap from doubting they can be a leader to leading social change they care about, is what these 5 steps aim to do.

Strong leadership in girls isn’t just about closing the STEM Gap, or the Negotiation Gap, or the C-Suite Gap, or even the Congress Gap. It’s foremost about closing the Leading-Yourself Gap. That gives you power.

If you can’t lead yourself, you can’t lead others. If you can’t lead yourself, someone else may try to take advantage of you.

Adam Grant says that leveraged well, procrastination can have powerful benefits like enhanced creativity and huge leaps in critical thinking.  This approach is especially good for unsolved tasks.

However, how should I explain this to my kids so that they don't feel they can continue allowing their rooms to look like bottoms of bird cages in the name of creativity?  How to ensure they don't start to believe forgetting or putting off projects and assignments is their ticket to intellectual brilliance?

The problem is that this isn't the kind of procrastination that's beneficial.  Procrastination only helps divergent thinking and incubation as long as you don't wait too long which, ironically, often happens when you are disorganized.

Goldilocks procrastination. That is the goal.