One of the best things you can do as a parent is to create empowered and confident children. Because if you can manage to create children that are confident, they are much more likely to navigate life challenges successfully, and thrive in a wide variety of environments.
Yet, fostering this sense of confidence in your children isn’t always necessarily simple. For many of us who lacked that same confidence in our lives as children, finding ways to instill empowerment in our offspring may not always come naturally. In fact, it may seem entirely foreign.
To help you, here are some of the best tips for raising confident children who will ultimately pursue their passions fearlessly.
Give Them Roots
One of the most common denominators in confident children is that they have a strong sense of belonging. Their sense of family runs deep, and they are very connected to their history. The more you can give your children a sense of knowing where they came from, the more they’ll picture where they’re going.
Make an effort to spend as much time with family as possible. From attending family gatherings to visiting older loved ones in assisted living facilities—allow your child to appreciate and absorb their family history. Talk to them about your childhood, your parents’ childhood, and their parents’ childhood. This will give them a sense of meaning and connection to history.
Teach Them Positive Self Talk
Parents have probably heard about the importance of encouraging young children with positive words. And while this is undoubtedly a valuable gift you can give your children, perhaps even more valuable is teaching them how to be kind to themselves. Their parents will not always be there to encourage them when times are tough, so if you can teach them to be their own positive narrator, you’ll be giving them one of the greatest tools for living a life of resilience.
Remind them that the goal is not perfection but rather progress. Teach them mantras like “I am enough” and “I can do this.” Because the truth is we can tell them as much as we want how wonderful they are, but if they don’t believe it, they’re nothing more than words. Teach them to guide themselves and believe in themselves.
Celebrate Milestones
Children, just like anyone, need to be recognized for their hard work. Any time they achieve something or make progress, it’s important that it’s celebrated. By doing this, you’ll teach your children to value effort and progress and motivate them to continue working just as hard.
Remember, mistakes are okay and a natural part of the learning process. The idea is to make improvements each time and live a life that values continuous improvement rather than instant perfection.