FIVE TIPS TO INCREASE CONFIDENCE: HOW TO RAISE A CONFIDENT CHILD

Self-confidence comes from achievements, whether they are monumental or miniscule. Parents can help develop their children’s confidence by imparting encouraging words especially if they showed excellence in their abilities.

Each person experiences challenges starting a young age, from kindergarten to their entire adult life. Self-confidence can ensure a successful well-being and stable mental health. Surely, all children will face hard knocks along the way so it is imperative to equip them with enough confidence to face anything that may come their way. Try these tips to help you raise a confident child.

1. Expose them to different environments. In life, there are no rules and no guidebooks to help your children every step of the way. By teaching them to be resilient and letting them encounter various situations, they will learn to tolerate and deal with it. They will experience failures, criticisms, and pain. Remind them that them that no one is perfect and that no one succeeds at everything. They can use setbacks as a learning experience and just because they failed once does not mean they fail at everything they do. The famous line, “Try, try, try again,” will teach your children not to give up on their dreams and aspirations.
2. Robert Brooks, PhD reminds every parent to not rescue their child. They need learn to succeed on their own and not because you removed the obstacles for them. Of course, it is natural that you want to spare your child from all the hurt, heartaches, and mistakes. Let them learn on their own because the moment you intervene, you are not helping them gain more confidence.
3. Let them make their own decisions. When your child makes a sound decision, he/she will gain confidence and feel good about it. As a parent, you can start small and let your child choose from two or three options. For example, you can ask your kid if he wants to eat pasta or pizza. Let him know that the final decision is up to him and honor whatever he chooses.
4. Teach them positive thinking. When your child feels defeated and sad, help him/her to be more optimistic. Assure your child that everything will be alright and to just look on the bright side of things instead of dwelling on the disappointments. If your child is behind her classmates in math, spend some time doing practice drills with her and explain that everyone learns at their own pace. If she did not get the lead role in their school play, help her do better next time by coming up with a plan to increase her chances of getting chosen.
5. Nurture their natural talents. If your child is not musically inclined, don’t push it. Know what she wants and nurture her innate talents. If she doesn’t know what she wants, try to expose her to different activities. Kids who love what they are doing will feel proud of their abilities. Whether they love cooking or drawing, help them nourish that talent. Don’t push them to be musical prodigy just because everyone in the family is.

In order to succeed, you must remind your kids to believe in their talents and capabilities. Do not compare your children because you will just shatter their confidence. Ultimately, do not allow them to compare themselves to other people because they will end up feeling inferior and inadequate.

JAMS teaches allows children to be confident and have high self-esteem.

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