Confidence is a necessary trait to have both as an adult and as a child. Believing in yourself enables you to form healthy relationships with people and try new things. Like many other traits, confident children are moulded from a young age. Kids attach their self-worth to how parents communicate verbally and non-verbally. It’s therefore essential to know what to do to raise a kid with self-esteem.
Here are a few practical tips to help you raise confident children.
1. Give children responsibilities
Tasking your children with specific tasks makes them more confident. You could give them responsibilities like making their beds from an early age, helping with preparing food, cleaning up, feeding animals in the household, or watching a sibling. Performing tasks that matter in the family makes them feel valued thus increasing confidence in your children.
2. Praise the effort more than the result.
It’s only natural to compliment others once they achieve something. You’ll praise your child when they accomplish a milestone in life, but it’s also important to praise effort. Praising success only gives them the illusion that they will always succeed, which is not true. They’re likely to have lower self-esteem when they don’t succeed at a task which can prevent them from trying new things. Acknowledge the effort and perseverance even though they don’t excel at a job.
3. Model confidence to foster confidence in your children.
Children learn more by watching. It will be challenging to teach your kids confidence if you’re not confident. Let them see you tackling new chores or duties. Don’t hide the anxiety of trying new things from them- let them see it. However, focus on the positive, not the fear. That way, children know that it’s okay to be afraid of doing something, but you try to do it regardless of the fear.
4. Be encouraging
The way parents speak to children becomes their inner voice. You need to constantly encourage them to try out new things or try again if they fail. Sometimes children get comfortable with what they already know and avoid new things because they fear failure. Let them know that you believe in them. Confident children face challenges despite fear because they have a support system that consistently encourages them.
5. Confident children know that failure is part of life.
Typically, parents will not want to teach their kids that they should be comfortable with failure. However, it would be best to teach them that setbacks are part of life and how to deal with them. Please don’t dwell on their mistakes and shortcomings. Instead, teach them how to move forward after failing.
6. Learn your children’s strengths and interests
Many times people fail at tasks because they lack interest. While your kids have to learn things that they might not like, such as subjects in school, you should help them find their passions. Try to balance out what they’re required to learn with what they actually like. Excelling in one area boosts confidence and helps them tackle tasks in other areas.
7. Expect their input
Parents often make all the decisions for children because they assume they are too young. However, this can make children feel invaluable. A child needs to learn how to make decisions or have opinions about issues. Ask them what they would like to eat or wear. If you’re making changes in the home, ask them for their input. You could be choosing a colour for their room, ask them to choose.
8. Letting children figure out issues on their own creates confident children.
It’s very tempting to come in and help your kid every time they run into difficulty. They might look so frustrated, and you want to change that. However, children need room to find solutions on their own because it improves their problem-solving skills. You’ll not always be able to provide solutions for them, and they need to learn how to figure out stuff on their own. Learning to be self-reliant early gives them the confidence to find answers later in life or when they are away from you.
9. Don’t set unrealistic standards.
Parents often get frustrated with a child’s progress because they set unrealistic goals. Acknowledge your child’s age and let them act their age. Pushing them to accomplish tasks assigned for an advanced age only reduces confidence in their abilities.
10. Confident children know their parents love them.
Your kids need to know that they are loved despite their accomplishments. Let them know that your love is not linked to their abilities whether they win in competitions or get low grades. Confident children know they are worthy even when they are not performing well or feeling good about themselves.
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