28 tips may seem like a lot, however, considering more Americans fear public speaking than their own death, I believe more tips are better than less.

Public speaking is a skill, not a talent. It needs to be practiced at all ages. Avoiding public speaking only exacerbates the problem by reinforcing the fear. Besides, if you never present, you’ll never realize that you won’t actually die!

“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.

Research shows the most outstanding leaders take the time to reflect. “The more girls know who they are, the more they can believe in themselves, and trust in the power of their own intellect and intuition. This self-trust is the foundation of self-confidence, the foundation girls need to assert their voice and remain resilient, to rise up as leaders - and to keep rising." - Elizabeth Perlman, founder of the intuitive writing project.

What is the best research-backed method to reflect? Journaling. Although most introverts are naturally drawn to this exercise, everyone can benefit. Here are the best tips and strategies from the industry's experts.

Bill Burnett and Dave Evans, authors of the book, Designing Your Life: How to Build a Well-Lived, Joyful Life, say, “Many people operate under the dysfunctional belief that they just need to find out what they are passionate about. Once they know their passion, everything else will somehow magically fall into place.”

William Damon, director of the Stanford Center on Adolescence, says that the reality is only one in five young people between twelve and twenty-six have a clear vision of where they want to go, what they want to accomplish in life, and why.

I personally think this is a realistic, if not healthy, statistic. Apparently, I’m in the minority.

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.