Strategies For Raising Your Child's Feelings of Self-Worth and Self-Esteem

How we view ourselves directly impacts how we feel and behave. As parents you have the opportunity to affect your child's self talk with a couple of very powerful tools. Self-talk is the ongoing conversation we have with ourselves. Unfortunately if left alone, self talk can turn negative very quickly. We must consciously decide to keep it positive and I encourage parents to go one step further and to equip their children with the necessary tools to stay positive. One tool you will want to help your children add to their tool belt is affirmations. Positive affirmations when repeated daily can recondition your brain and change how you feel and think about any situation. We make daily affirmations available for our students and parents. If you would like to receive an affirmation each morning to get your day on the right track please email me and I gladly add you to our list. Visualization is another great tool that allows the mind to stay positive. Encourage your child to make vision boards and to display them where they can see them each day and focus on what is important to them. The magic that follows is spectacular! What you envision you can bring into your life, just teach them to be very clear and specific about what they want. Another very effective concept is to teach your children to do something to help others. This will allow them to feel happier and more satisfied. It was also do wonders for their self respect. Teach your children to not allow the opinions of others to make them feel less than worthy. Also, remind them that when they slip into negative self talk to realize it for what it is and shut it down. After you have played with this concept for awhile, test it, I did. One day I was walking by my daughters as they were working on their homework at the kitchen table. As I passed them I said, "You girls are working really hard", they immediately put down their pencils, turned to me and said "Thanks Mom!" So, let's analyze what happened; the girls heard my comment, ran it through their 'filter' and decided they were working hard and that was good. Their self- talk 'praised' them, not my words. That is exactly what you want to instill in your children; the opportunity to be independent and to self determine what they have done well.