Here’s How To Raise Confident Kids And Why It Matters

As parents, you want to teach your kids respect, proper manners and how to maintain good relationships with others. But you also don’t want to forget to encourage your children to feel good about themselves and to instill a sense of confidence in them so that they can navigate life comfortably and assuredly.

It’s easy to know how to teach them to say their “please and thank yous,” but it can be less obvious how to teach your child to be confident.

Confident kids are more likely to try new things and believe in their own abilities. A healthy self-esteem can lead to success in everything from school to relationships. A child who feels good about him or herself will make better choices than one struggling with low self-esteem.

If you’re not sure where to begin, consider these six tips for raising a kid who has both good self-esteem and compassion for others.

1. Encourage Them To Dream

It’s good to help kids look forward to accomplishing what they find fulfilling down the line without feeling like their expectations need to be lowered. You want your children to feel like their dreams are supported. Be sure to encourage their curiosity, let them express their dreams, and allow them to fantasize about the future.

2. Be A Positive Mirror

You want your child to have a positive self-image that comes from within, but sometimes—as with all of us—this can depend on how he or she thinks others see them. To help reflect that what others see is positive, mirror back to your child their positive qualities. Acknowledge kids with encouraging statements and facial expressions, especially when they accomplish something they’ve worked hard to achieve.

3. Trust Them

Since children can often internalize how you feel about them, you want to make it clear that you trust them, and they will begin to extend that trust to themselves. Give them small tasks they can do on their own, and include some responsibilities that they have to navigate individually. Research shows that kids who are expected to tackle age-appropriate chores, ends up correlating with professional success later in life.

4. Appreciate Effort

It’s important for kids to understand that even if they don’t succeed, the effort is always worth it. They should be taught to never feel embarrassed for trying, so praise the steps they take along the way and emphasize the importance of the journey.

5. Encourage Practice

When kids practice something regularly, they learn that engaging in something can lead to progress, which can make them confident in their learning abilities as well as individual skills. Don’t push them too hard, but encourage consistency and acknowledge their improvements.

6. Let Them Figure Things Out On Their Own

It’s tempting to give your kids short cuts or to come rescue them when they need help with something, but it’s essential for kids to learn to problem-solve on their own in order to instill confidence in their abilities. Let them figure out the skills on their own, even if it means initially experiencing a few failures to get there. The more we can help our kids get comfortable with failure, the better.