Teaching our children to believe in themselves is one of the greatest gifts we can impart.
As adults, we can all reflect on a time when self-doubt prevented us from grabbing an opportunity or led us to make a decision that didn’t work out in our favour.
From this vantage point, we now know that getting out of our own way and giving things a crack despite the result is where the magic happens.
So, how do we teach our kids to believe in themselves, clear the path of self-doubt, push past their comfort zone, embrace the fear of failure and throw themselves into life with courageous abandon?
Taking a reflective step backwards, we can pack up our learnings and share a few valuable messages with our children that, hopefully, will resonate with them for the rest of their lives.
Failing is a gift
When we try something and fail we discover what we don’t know and what we need to do to become better or stronger at something.
We also learn to appreciate that if we truly want to succeed at something, sometimes, we need to work hard (sometimes, really hard) and that this could involve failing over and over again before we achieve our goal.
Encouraging our children to consider their sport or cultural hero’s journey to the top is an excellent way for them to appreciate what it takes to get there. In almost every case, the backstory is one of countless failures and disappointments.
“We learn from failure, not from success!”
Mistakes are lessons
Much like a failure, making mistakes is critical to our growth and self-discovery.
Encourage your child to view mistakes as life’s feedback. Helps them to frame mistakes in a positive light, so they may see them as an opportunity to learn rather than a reason to punish themselves or feel embarrassed.
“Making mistakes is part of life and a really big part of growing up. It’s how you learn who you want to be.”
Fear the fear and do it anyway
We definitely want our children to learn to listen when the safety alarm goes off inside their heads. However, when it comes to trying new things and engaging in new and exciting experiences it is important that they learn to overcome any fear and understand that there is magic on the other side of it.
Teach your kids that when they step out of their comfort zone incredible learning and growth occur.
“Stop being afraid of what could go wrong and start being excited about what could go right.”
8 tips for life that will help your child to believe in themselves
- Set goals
- Use positive affirmations
- Face your fears
- Be the boss of the voice inside your head
- Try your best, always
- Support and encourage others
- Surround yourself with good people
- Take care of yourself – eat well, exercise, sleep well
Keep conversations flowing. Much like installing manners on your child’s switchboard, repetition is key!
Share stories from your life and past experiences, this will make the lessons more relatable and help your child to see how it can be the same for them.
And remember…..
”Behind every young child who believes in themself is a parent who believed first.” Mathew L Jacobson