Build Your Child's Confidence And Self-esteem - 3 Tips For Parents

There are 2 major qualities that practically define a person and how far they will go in life. These traits are confidence and self-esteem. Someone who lacks these two qualities will often fail to succeed in life, and become what is called a "loser". No one wants to be a loser, but they do exist in society today, just as they have existed for hundreds of years. People with low confidence and self-esteem often have problems holding down a job, have little ambition or drive, and are generally a drain upon society. Building a persons confidence and self-esteem starts when they are very young, with their parents and home life.

Helping Your Child Succeed - Confidence and Self-Esteem Building

Everyone has challenges. How a person deals with those challenges stems from how they learned to deal with problems when they were young. And learning to meet these challenges head-on, and build confidence and self-esteem, starts when a person is young. Here are some tips for parents to help build their child's confidence and self-esteem.

1. Acknowledge the Good

There is nothing worse for a child's confidence and self-esteem than coming home from school with their shiny "A" or completed school project, and having a parent display no enthusiasm or give no praise. If your child accomplishes something good, let them know! Frame that report card, or medal, or whatever. Show that it means something, both to you and your child, when they do something well. Not only will this build the child's confidence and self-esteem, but looking at last semester's report card and remembering the praise, or the dinner out, or however you rewarded your child, can give them the drive to do it again next semester.

2. Reinforce the Positive

A positive take on life on the parents part directly translates to their childrens' outlooks. A parent who is pessimistic and acts beaten by life will instill those values as easily as a parent with sunny outlooks, even in the face of life challenges, instill that in their children. The way a child meets challenges has a direct impact on both their confidence and self-esteem.

A parent shouldn't call out the negatives they see in everyone around them. They should be thankful that their child and life is sound and healthy, without giving the child the impression that they are "better" than a less fortunate child or family. A false sense of intrinsic worth based on the misfortune of others can lead to low confidence and self-esteem later in life.

If the parents have given their child a task to do, and they complete it well, praise them! A parent must be consistent, however, and be sure that you really mean it. Few things can hurt a child's confidence and self-esteem like hearing their parent talking about how bad they performed a task to another person, after the same parent gave the child praise for a task well done. If a parent's child is not performing as well as they should be, don't criticize and be nasty about the child's shortcomings. Rather, the parent try to explain how they could be doing better in specific areas, while still pointing out the things the child is doing well. All this leads to greater confidence, and thus, self-esteem.

3. Take an Active Role

A parent should always do their best to participate in their child's life. Parents, go to after-school activities! Watch their performances! Cheer them on! A child who sees his parents don't care about something will wonder both why he or she should care, and why his or her parents don't care about them like the other kids parents do. This can be a major blow to a child's confidence, self-esteem, and drive.

It all Comes Back to the Parents

If a parent gives their child the kind of attention and love discussed above, then their child will be successful. High confidence and self-esteem are absolutely vital in preparing a child for the future. Don't condemn them to a life of mediocrity and therapy sessions, get involved, show support and love, and the rest will follow naturally.