The International Day of Happiness is celebrated throughout the world on 20 March. It was established by the United Nations General Assembly on 28 June 2012. The International Day of Happiness aims to make people around the world realize the importance of happiness within their lives.
My previous posts are detailed and full of bits of advice, recommendations, and tips on how to
stand out and be comfortable in your skin. While I cannot stress enough the importance of self-confidence, we cannot also deny the existence of low self-esteem. But hopefully, this article should help you on how to overcome low self-esteem.
Low self-esteem can creep up on you unannounced and make you doubt how you look, how you talk, make you question your hours of prepared speech and self-worth. Low self-esteem is a very tricky topic to discuss because it has a lot to do with your psychology and how you measure your worth in respect to what you might define as the normal standard which is directly or indirectly influenced by what society have set as a standard of conduct.
I am not a professional sociologist, but an individual like you working on her self-esteem, so if you feel extremely negative about yourself or your life, I recommend you see a professional in the field.
We all have that tiny voice that always screams out loud when we are trying something new, and when you are battling low self-esteem, that voice seems to scream louder than ever. This calls for daily positive affirmation. Make it a habit of telling yourself positive words every day. Before starting any new project, focus on your strength and achievements and keep picturing them in your mind while telling yourself you are a winner and you are going to excel in everything you put your mind to.
Never beat yourself hard for failing; if you have never failed in life, then you have not started your journey to success. Always accept that failure is a part of life and failing does not mean you are a loser and might never be better, you failing simply means you are human just like everyone else and on a path to achieving greater things.
“Only those who dare to fail greatly can ever achieve greatly.” – Robert F. Kennedy
You cannot overcome low self-esteem if you do not have an honest talk with yourself. Most people battling low self-esteem are victims of emotional abuse from family, loved ones, colleagues, or random strangers. Have a one-on-one conversation with yourself; dissect all the words, names, and attributes you have been associated with and list out your strengths, and compare to see how these negative attributes do not line with who you truly are. It‟s your life so write your scripts.
As a perfectionist, I cannot stress how overthinking every situation, conversation or circumstance can ruin so many things for you. Ignore those tiny little words and stop overthinking what never and might not happen and focus on the bigger picture. Find peace and look beyond every situation.
You might wake up at the right side of the bed, excited about the day ahead, and all of a sudden feel low because you ran a thought in your head comparing yourself with friends, family members, or random online strangers you have and might never meet again. Clear your head and mind and focus on the moment. We are beautifully unique in our way.
This final tip always works for me. Doing what you love gives you a boost of confidence and excitement which is all you need to feel better about your self-esteem. Discover your talent and hobby, set achievable goals and pursue your dreams, and don‟t look back.
When it comes to topics concerning overcoming low self-esteem, there are never enough tips to recommend to you to help you overcome this temporary weakness. You are not alone on the journey of low self-esteem,
According to a book by Dr. Joe Rubino titled The self-esteem book, 85% of the world’s populations are affected by low self-esteem.
Don’t beat yourself, think positive about yourself, focus on your strengths, work on your weakness and do what you love doing. Furthermore, what are the things you love doing that boost your self-esteem?
Unlike most of my articles focusing on tips for adults can looking to improve their soft skills, this article is centered on building confidence in children. In my experience working with children, I have come to realize that children are very interesting beings and there is so much to learn from them than you can imagine. Unlike adults, children are free, adventurous, and confident to do what they want and how they want to. But due to lack of experience, they might require guidance from adults in their lives.
Children are recorders and they watch every move and action adults around them take then replicate that action perfectly. This stage is a very critical stage that determines the type of adult the child is going to become in the future.
As an adult or parent with children around, this sensitive stage in the lives of the children requires constant molding and mentoring. A confident child has more likelihood of being successful at handling life pressure, responsibilities, and negative emotions.
Being their role model helps in building confidence in children. Be what you want your children to be. The easiest way to make children act a particular way is by being that person yourself. Show them by doing it. Don’t be afraid to show them that it is not easy, but teach them that it is normal to fail and also get up to try again. Walk the walk and see them imitate you.
You must be kind and use soft kind words with your children. They might test your patience most of the time and it is easy to use a hurtful word on them. These words can affect their self-confidence even till adulthood.
As an adult, you have to be patient with the children and use positive kind words to encourage them. This helps in building confidence in children.
This is a tricky one and the most misunderstood tip by most adults dealing with children. Some adults believe the best way to show a child you love them is by buying them all the gifts in the world or letting them get away with everything. But the best way you can show a child love is by being present, supportive, encouraging, kindly correcting their faults and mistakes, helping them discover their potentials, and molding them to be great adults.
Make sure you let them know you love them. This always builds their self-confidence.
The best way to destroy your child’s confidence is by comparing them to their siblings or other children. This always leaves a scar on the child till adulthood, making them doubt themselves and see themselves as less than others. You should know that every child is unique and beautifully made different. Treat every child in their unique way and appreciate their uniqueness.
This surely helps in building confidence in children.
Children are curious and are at a stage in their lives where they enjoy learning and trying out new things. As an adult, you should imbibe the culture of learning in your child. Teach them new skills or enroll them to learn new skills. Learners are naturally ahead of their peers.
Teach your children that failure is part of life and the growth journey is full of stumbling blocks. The world is full of adults who cannot accept failure. So, by teaching your children to accept failure, you are building them to be confident adults.
As an African child, respect is the number one moral attribute taught and encouraged. Teach your children to be expressive in a respectable manner. Decide on strategies to use to express their feelings given their moods and feelings. This will go a long way to build confidence in your children.
When dealing with children and how to build their self-confidence, there are tons and tons of strategies to help them get there. Children are in a delicate stage of their lives where they can be molded to be adults with certain traits. If this stage is gotten right, they can turn out to be great adults.
I hope this article was helpful. What other ways do you think you can boost a child’s self-confidence? Share with me in the comments section below. Thank you.
Should parents make their children’s decisions? This has been a challenging question most parents can’t seem to find an answer to. However, there is a need for a balance in terms of decision-making for one’s kids. When it comes to the relationship between parents and their kids; the one who pays the piper dictates the tone becomes the reality. Parents believe that since they provide the necessities for their children, they are also responsible for making decisions for them.
Imposing your will as a parent on your children is one of the parenting mistakes to be avoided. However, it’s your responsibility to guide your children on the right path to tour in life. This guidance becomes more effective when you hear their opinions about a matter.
In as much as you want the best for them academically, socially, morally, financially, and otherwise. Ensure that you strike a balance by carrying them along when making decisions regarding them.
Most teenagers feel caged and deprived of their freedom of decision-making when they are being forced to do something outside their choice like being pressured to select a particular career.
Therefore, as a parent, the best you can do for your children is to offer them your advice regarding certain decisions. By stating the reason for your decisions.
Perhaps, you feel your children are making the wrong decisions, sit with them and talk about it. Tell them the consequences of their decision and also give them room to outline the reason for making such decisions.
To enable your children to learn how to be independent when away from you, begin by letting them make certain decisions by themselves.
The more they learn about good decision making, the more they attain a state of self-reliance capable of managing their affairs without being confused by all other sorts of counsel that may come from their friends or others.
Low self-esteem can tear down a child’s emotional coordination. Subsequently, it affects every other aspect of that child’s life ost especially their academic performance.
In contrast, you can boost the confidence of your child by guiding them on the right decision to take. Subsequently, they develop a sense of self-worth and value in themselves.
Most parents are yet to learn about how to discover their child’s interests. However, this is made easier when you study the choices made by your kids. For instance, instead of shopping for all the cool stuff, you think kids love, you can go with your kid and watch them select the things they prefer.
It will amaze you how your child would prefer shopping for a bunch of papers, crayons, poster color, and its kinds. Instead of shopping for fancy toys, shoes and clothes. The above is a pointer to that child’s interest— being an artist.
Furthermore, decisions made by a child that leads to self-discovery automatically provides an answer to our initial question; should parents make their children’s decisions?
Decisions making helps fosters the creativity of a child—applicable to other aspects of their lives. Most importantly, decisions are taken in an attempt to solve a problem. Consider a child who lost contact with his mom in the shopping mall. At such a point, most kids will give in to tears and appear afraid.
However, despite this, they’re compelled from within to make a decision to solve the problem by figuring out a way of locating their mom.
Next, that child approaches an adult still in fear and tears requesting to place a call across to his mom through any available cell phone. In a nutshell, that child will be found sooner than expected. Subsequently, his creativity grows to solve other problems.
When children make their decisions they automatically become responsible for the aftermath of their decision—either good or bad. In other words, they learn to make quality decisions to avert negative consequences.
In addition, should parents make their children’s decisions wouldn’t be asked by most parents. This is because their children can take responsibility for their decisions.
Whenever parents impose their choice on their kids unconsciously their kids begin to lose trust in them. Furthermore, they view their parents as being selfish without needing the best for them. Therefore, avoid imposing but choose to advise them. It’s easier to gain your child’s trust for future decisions when you seek their opinions before arriving at a conclusion.
When your kids trust you, they become open to tell you things bothering them. In addition, they look up to you as the right role model for them to follow.
Parents communicate the feeling of value and the message of love across to your child each time you allow children to make their decisions. They realize that it’s out of a loving heart you offer them quality advice regarding their decisions.
Once this is known, be rest assured that they wouldn’t make wrong decision choices but will do what will make you proud as their parents.
Therefore, should parents make their children’s decisions? Certainly yes by offering their children advice and guidance on the right decision to make. In addition, while you advise them to be mindful of imposing your choice on them. Your role is to state the advantages and consequences of the decision they are about to take and watch them select their preference—they would always go for positive decisions with excellent outcomes.
Also, don’t forget to join the discussion in the comment section below.