The best thing that we can gift our children is to boost up their confidence and make them ready to face the world as they grow up. This is essential as it is the foundation of a child’s well-being and the key to success as an adult. The right time to instill a sense of confidence is right through one’s childhood. Building self-confidence and self-esteem are important for a child to grow up feeling happy and secure.
Children who are raised up with a lot of confidence and self-esteem are generally able to achieve whatever they set themselves to. Even when they face hardships, they feel that they can overcome the challenges only due to their sheer confidence in themselves. Therefore it is important to equip them with enough confidence to not just survive, but thrive and to grow.
A confident child needs to have a positive and realistic perception of his or her abilities. This can be done at an early stage where we could boost their confidence through encouragement and positive words and actions. Allow them to take part in various events and let them feel a sense of competence. Even if they fail, they must be taught that participating and enjoying a particular event is much more important than winning in itself.
That is why it is important to empower kids by creating environments where they can build their leadership skills and confidence that will last a lifetime! It is not an overnight job. It is a process. And these two qualities can be nurtured in the child irrespective of whether your child is naturally self-confident or timid.
7 tips to boost the confidence of your child:
1. Unconditional Love
Love your child unconditionally. This may seem obvious, but at times, this eludes us as we raise up our kids. The daily toil with the added responsibility can take a toll on us. Yet, it is probably the most important thing you can give your child. Give out unconditional love – let your child know that in spite of any mistake they may commit, they are valued and precious to you. The first step into confidence is the feeling of acceptance. This does not mean that you ‘spare the rod’. But rather, even in your anger toward their mistakes, they should know that they are valued. For instance, if you yell or punish your child, give them a hug and tell them that your anger was towards their mistakes and that you still love them enough to punish them. This kind of unconditional love will build a strong foundation for confidence.
2. Positive Feedback
Whenever your child does well in any activity or obeys you, do not forget to praise him or her. Often children who receive positive feedback from their parents tend to grow confidently, knowing which of their actions are right or wrong. Therefore give praise where praise is due. But also be realistic in your praise. Give them small gifts wherever required. You do not have to praise unnecessarily but you must praise if the child is doing well. Also if your child fails at something, do not use negative words. Rather encourage them that they tried and that they would do better next time.
3. Setting realistic goals and pursuing a passion
Guide your child to set reasonable goals according to their potential. Your child may not always excel in everything. But he or she may be excellent at something. Help your child to focus on that and accordingly make aims for success. You could also help them to set short-term plans to reach their goals so that they could climb their success ladder step by step.
Also, make sure that you encourage them in their passion. Their passions and dreams may not be something that you yourself would admire but it is important to let them know that you support them unconditionally.
4. Instill in them a positive mindset
It is a very important point to note. Continuously, point out how being positive is important. They must learn to love themselves. Remember, children, learn by example. So make sure that you yourself keep a positive mindset. Model this behavior by rewarding and praising yourself when you do well. Include your children in your own success stories. And in the same conversation, you could prompt them for achieving their own aims.
5. Teach resilience
Resilience is a very vital quality. Everyone at some point in time has experienced setbacks and failures, criticism and pain. Rather than dwelling upon your or your children’s failures, use them as learning experiences. Try and try till you succeed should be the constant mantra.
Also instead of merely brushing of their failures, you could try to teach them to not give up. The old adage, “Try, try, try again,” has merit, especially in teaching kids not to give up. Validate your child’s feelings so that they also learn to trust their feelings and feel comfortable sharing them. They must learn that failures are a part and parcel of life. Focus on helping them to stand up on their feet again.
6. Discipline
Rules and discipline should be part of your child’s life. Without that, they will not know what is right and what is wrong. Learning and following rules give children a sense of security and confidence. The rules you set for them will instill in them a responsible nature. Children feel more confident when they know who is in charge and what to expect. Every child now and then may complain of the rules. But be firm as they will eventually guide your child to handle any situation.
7. Doing things together
Make your child confident in his or her relationships. The most important initial relationship is the parent-child relationship. This will become the foundation for your child further on in evaluating further relations. Teach your child the compassion, kindness, self-assertiveness and, yes, the confidence to handle the ups and downs of relationships.
One of the best way to do this is to do things together. Encourage your child to be creative. And spend time with them making creative things such as cool science experiments, science mugs etc.
Conclusion:
Remember that you need to raise your child with a healthy self-worth. They must have a realistic understanding of their strengths and weaknesses and also must know how to work out their problems. Throughout life, even when they grow up, children will be exposed to positive influences (builders) and negative influences (breakers). But it is the foundation of a confident childhood that will help them to navigate through every area of life.
Author Bio
Ross is a blogger who loves to write especially in the Parenting vertical. he has written many captivating and informative articles on different vertices also such as Child Nutrition and Waste management . He has also written blogs in other verticals too. His hobby is travelling and reading novels.
