The New Year marks a great time to start anew. The year 2010 can be a great time to resolve to be a positive role model for the young girl or boy in your life. One of the most important things is to impress a strong sense of self-esteem into tweens and teens as they grow into confident young adults. Try passing along these six tips to help your niece or nephew blossom in the New Year.

Keep lots of people into your life: Camp counselors, teachers, relatives, classmates and neighbors are all important parts of your support system. Don’t forget friends who move to another town – pen pals are a terrific hobby. Keep the members of this group, your network updated on exciting things what’s happening in your life. Their support, love, and guidance always comes in handy on those cloudy days.

Be helpful to others: Whether it’s carrying an elderly person’s groceries across the street or showing a new student around the school, helping someone out makes you feel great. Making a difference in someone else’s life will surely make a difference in your own.

Try lots of new experiences: Are you a jock? Then give drama class a try. At first it might be intimidating to experiment with a new activity, but soon enough you’ll find that you’ve developed a host of new talents, skills, and friends.

Don’t try to be perfect: Everyone makes mistakes. It’s normal to worry about making them, but they are really lessons in disguise. When you’re learning how to ride a bike, every time you fall off you are teaching your body how to balance. If you keep getting back on the bike, eventually you will ride like the wind…or at least to your friend’s house!

Believe in yourself: Have faith that you can accomplish the goals you set for yourself. Make a plan for what you want to achieve and stick to it. You might not always end up where you thought you would, but you’ll be better for the journey.

Ask for help: There’s nothing wrong with asking for help when you need it. You are stuck on a math problem, ask your friend the math whiz to explain it to you. You can learn from everybody in your life, not just your teachers. Your friends and family are a great source, so use them.

For more tips like these pick up YOUR copy of My Life NOW to read more great tips from Marlene!

You can always Just Ask Marlene your questions in the Comments section below, or email Savvy Auntie at Editor@SavvyAuntie.com to pass the message along to me.