Everybody strives to become a more confident person, and despite everyone’s definition of confidence being fairly different, there’s no denying that improved self-esteem and reducing the number of times you stutter when speaking is helpful in more ways than one. For example, confidence gives you the courage to volunteer for a leadership role in your current job, fuels you with the grit to start conversations, and ignites your passion for hobbies and other relevant activities.
However, one broad, common misconception surrounding the development of self-confidence among children is that it’s mostly related to school activities, group projects, and other similar opportunities outside of the house for self-discovery alone. But, in reality, building self-confidence and developing one’s self-esteem starts at a much younger age, wherein your toddler is just running around with zero care for the world.
#1 Show Them How You Work Your Magic
For starters, an excellent way to teach your kids the benefits of confidence and, most especially, how this trait shapes their lives in the future is by showing them how you work your magic and the role it plays in the grand scheme of things. At such a young age, children will most certainly respond to leading by example the best strategy of retaining new information, and nothing reinforces confidence better than knowing the ins and outs of something you hold dear.
- Accepting Failure But Being Resilient: Firstly, we should always clarify that confidence isn’t about reaching perfection, but instead having the heart and mind to own your mistakes and improve upon them. Many kids leave their homes nowadays and meet new people, only ever being exposed to things going their way all the time, which will prove disastrous for building their character. So, don’t shy away from admitting your own shortcomings and teach your child the powers of being resilient, just like how this mom teaches inclusiveness through a toy elf.
- Walking Them Through Your Skills: On the flip side of admitting your mistakes and learning things together, walking your child through some of the skills you’re confident in also carries many benefits as well. You see, confidence arises from having a firm trust or belief in something, and nothing comes close to the appreciation of one’s own abilities and acknowledging the effort they put in to learn them. And even if your kid only picks up one or two things from your lectures inside the workshop, knowledge will accumulate and help build their self-esteem.
#2 Be Their Guide But Don’t Hand-Hold All The Time
While stepping in and showing them the ropes can work in many scenarios, it’s always much better to take a backseat role when influencing your child’s growing confidence because you want to leave the wonders of mystery, discovery, and passion for them to fall in love with. When everything’s served on a silver platter, they will have zero incentive to go beyond what’s right in front of them, which takes away the fun of learning new things.
- Encourage Effort And Praise Progress: As for how you want to go about being their guide, we recommend encouraging effort whenever possible and praising them for the progress they’ve made regardless of how small or significant the incremental changes are. Of course, you don’t want to overdo it and simply just cheer when they’ve yet to get any work done for the day, but keeping things proportional will allow them to stay motivated. And, soon enough, they might just ask for you to get a dance space rental to practice their new moves.
- Highlight Their Strengths And Talents: When providing feedback and evaluating how far they’ve come, you want to highlight their strengths and talents first before contrasting them against their associated weak points. In doing so, your words will come from a place of constructive criticism and the belief that they can do so much better. As a result, your child’s confidence levels will go through the roof, and it positively affirms all of their hard work.
#3 Let Them Know Everything Takes Time
Last but not least, when it comes to building one’s self-esteem and influencing the development of your child’s confidence, don’t forget to let them know that everything takes time to accomplish so nobody’s stopping them from going at their pace. Plus, it also teaches us, parents, to practice apt and moderate expectations as opposed to the most extravagant milestones you only ever see in prodigies portrayed by films and media.
- A Source Of Reassurance, Not Pressure: Nobody likes too much pressure, and it’s one of the leading causes behind job resignations, and the same reasoning applies when teaching your child. A parent must act as a source of reassurance to keep going and trying, not some rival who is out to get them and will do everything in their power to take them down. And by creating that safe space and environment for them to express themselves and try new things without fear of being judged, the same skill will carry over as they grow older.
Being A Cool Parent Means Being Supportive
In conclusion, no matter what circumstances you’re currently going through as a parent, never forget to put in the time and effort to be cool and supportive. At the end of the day, your kids will always look up to you, and if you’re able to influence the confidence-building side of things, this will surely help them in the future.
