Building Self Confidence in your Child

Children who truly believe
that they can do anything they set their minds to are the children who grow
up to succeed at all levels of life. It’s that belief in one’s self
that lets them take appropriate risks, deal with challenges and learn to navigate
the ins and outs of life. And there is no person in the world who can build
that self confidence (or destroy it) like you can. If you want to have a child
who does well in life (and what parent doesn’t right?), then you need
to watch your own behavior and interaction with your child, making sure to maximize
his or her self-confidence in every way that you can.

Here are some things that
you should think about regarding self confidence and your kids:

1. Don’t
   do things for your child that he or she can do alone. Children
   need to learn to take care of themselves and they learn this through hands-on
   experience. By knowing appropriate developmental stages as well as where your
   child is at, you can identify which tasks he or she can safely do without
   your help. Your preschooler may not like picking up after himself, but if
   he can do it, he should. In the end, this will help build self-confidence.
2. Give
   your child choices. Being able to make decisions is something that
   your child will have to do all throughout life. Starting young with learning
   decision making skills will give your child confidence in her ability to make
   her own choices as she gets older. When peer pressure starts coming into the
   picture, you’ll be glad that you worked on this part.
3. Be proud
   of your kids and show that pride. Sometimes it’s easy to compare
   your children to others, to yourself or even to some ideal child that you
   have in mind. Don’t. Be proud of who your child is and where he is at
   developmentally and express that pride. Knowing that you’re proud will
   be the springboard that lets your child dive into deeper waters over time.
4. Be quick
   with praise, slow with criticism. Your child needs to know when he’s
   done a good job at something. Don’t ever take anything for granted in
   terms of noticing your child’s skills and positive behaviors. On the
   other hand, be slow to criticize. While constructive criticism is good, constant
   criticism is not. Only criticize your child about things which are truly important
   and do so in a way that corrects the act without attacking your child.
5. Apologize
   when you are wrong. Learning that it’s okay to be wrong and
   seeing that it’s okay to apologize for bad behavior are important steps
   towards developing self confidence. Your child learns that she doesn’t
   have to be ashamed of making mistakes and that she can own up to them and
   move on, hallmarks of a successful human being.

Self confidence is something
that we all need and sometimes which most of us struggle with at times. It’s
hard to know that you’re right, to be secure in all of your choices, to
feel that you are capable of taking risks and making them work out in your favor.
But the people who are able to overcome their insecurities and to use their
inner self confidence to get to where they want to be in life are the people
who are both happy and successful. That is surely the life that you want for
your child, so praise her and be proud of her and help her to develop that inner
voice that tells her that she is worth something in this world.

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