It is proving to be quite a summer.

The heat, the long sunny days and, sadly, wildfires across parts of the UK. We have also seen change on a much bigger stage, with a new Prime Minister and a country continuing to navigate its own challenges.

And for many young people, change feels very close to home.

A-level & GCSE results bring excitement, relief, disappointment — and sometimes all three at once. There may be a mixture of excitement and nerves about what comes next.

University. College. Apprenticeships. Work. A gap year. Or perhaps a completely different direction.

There can be a lot of pressure to know what you are doing next.

But what if you don't need to have everything figured out yet?

A Solution-Focused way of looking at change is to become curious about what you would like to happen next, rather than getting stuck in everything that might go wrong.

Instead of asking:

“What if I don't get the result I hoped for?”

we might ask:

“If things work out well from here, what would you hope to see happening next?”

That small shift can open up possibilities.

Perhaps you already have an idea of what you would like. Perhaps you have someone who believes in you. Perhaps you have overcome something difficult before. Perhaps you are more capable and resilient than you give yourself credit for.

These are the things worth noticing.

And if you don't know what comes next, that's okay too.

Sometimes the first step is simply asking:

“What would make the next few weeks feel a little better?”

Then look for the smallest step towards that.

For parents, this can be difficult too. We naturally want to make things better for our young people. But sometimes we don't need to have the answers for them.

We can listen.

We can ask what they hope for.

We can notice their strengths.

And we can remind them that there is rarely only one possible path.

Results are important, but they don't tell the whole story of who someone is or what they are capable of becoming.

As August unfolds, there may be uncertainty, excitement and plenty of questions.

But there are also possibilities.

And sometimes, when we don't know exactly where the road is going, we only need to find the next small step.

That is where change can begin.

A small reflection

If the next few months went really well, what would you hope to be different?

And perhaps even more importantly:

What is one small thing you could do now to move towards it?