3 Secrets To Raising Confident Children
I know you’re busy, because you’re a parent. So I will keep this post brief and outline the 3 secrets to raising confident children.
I’m extremely proud of my son. At 5 years old he’s crossing over kids in basketball while saying “oo-oo”, he’s received perfect marks in school including a multi-recipient as Student of the Week, Wall of Fame, Excellence Honor Roll, does flips in the pool when no one has ever taught him how to flip, and taking 1st grade work assignments while he is in Kindergarten.
Checkout the crossover at 00:51.
I say all of this not to brag (maybe a little), but more of a testament to the things I consciously do for the benefit of my son on a daily basis. I’m going to share those things with you today.
These confidence-building techniques are not new and are not a secret, but a confirmation that if you continuously do these 3 things, your child will be on his or her way to achieving any purpose set confidently.
Without further ado, my formula for raising a confident child.
1. Put in the time
From what we perceive, kids are brand new to this world. They have no point of reference and no experiences to draw upon. So the more time they get to spend with you seeing you do the things that you actually do, allows them to learn at a much faster rate.
There have been countless times where I would be editing a video, creating music to help him learn faster, running a meeting, or performing in front of a crowd and my son wanted to be in my lap or right beside me. I let him. Yes it took a lot longer to edit a video, but I still met my deadlines.
On top of that, I make sure to block out specific times just for my son. I turn off my phone and take time out to teach, play, or both. Parenting can be tough when you have a 9 to 5, but prioritizing set blocks of time makes it so much easier.
Remember, time Is everything and your child actually gets to witness in real time, just what life is all about.
2. Communicate
I spend more time explaining things to my son than I have ever with anyone else in my life about anything. And I do it in a helpful tone no matter how many times I get asked WHY.
Kids are very inquisitive so they ask tons of questions. I secretly made a game out of it and prided myself on trying to answer every single question as many times as it took until I knew that my son was experienced enough to know certain things for himself.
Typically during this phase parents get frustrated and utter phrases like, “I don’t know, watch TV”, “Ask your father/mother”, “Can’t you see I’m busy!” Although every fiber of my being wanted to say those things at times, I knew it wouldn’t do my son any good.
Every time my son asked why, why, why, I would answer until I didn’t have an answer. And if I truly didn’t have an answer, I just tell him that I need to research that to find out.
We often hear that communication is key in relationships. This is also true for parent-child relationships. Communication is key to raising a confident child.
3. Celebrate the successes / Celebrate trying hard
Children learn quickly the demands the world places on people to be successful all the time. It can be overwhelming and a confidence breaker especially since we know you must fail before you can succeed.
No one walks his first time attempting to walk and no one talks perfectly his first time attempting to talk. There are still some words I cannot pronounce right and I have been speaking for years.
My point is, only celebrating the successes could cause for too few celebrations. So I explained to my son early on that success is trying his hardest no matter what. Now every time I see my son really trying his hardest and not giving up, I make a super big deal about it.
I know deep down that as long as he tries his hardest, I’m instilling great habits into him. And when he is truly successful based on the standards of the world, it’ll be like Christmas. Sweet Christmas.
Finally, I take TIME to COMMUNICATE to him the reason why I just celebrated his efforts or success. See how I did that with time and communication?
Raising A Confident Child
Those are my secrets. I told you those aren’t really secrets. They are more so guidelines that I set for myself in advance so that through repetition my son and my parenting skills will get better and better every day in every way.
Will you put these 3 things into action?
Confident child on three. 1..2..3… CONFIDENT CHILD!!!!!