Positive children

During their growth and development, children go through many stages of self-doubt. They are always comparing themselves to others, and they often see themselves as coming up short. As parents, we can offset this natural tendency in our children by giving them the skills to think more positively. It is important that you really listen to your children, and help them overcome their negative thoughts and beliefs. 

This is, of course, easier to do if you practice positive thinking yourself:

 

• Show your children how to look for the good in everything. Even hard situations probably have some sort of positive message or lesson hidden inside somewhere.
  
  
• Help your children develop their gifts and strengths – everyone has them. Perhaps your child is artistic or has a gift for music. Maybe your child enjoys animals or loves to construct.  As you discover the intrinsic and amazing traits about your children, support them as they develop them. This might include setting goals, taking classes or celebrating efforts.
  
  
• Teach your children that it’s hard work and effort that counts more than the final outcome or the result. If a person puts as much effort as possible into a goal or project, this is the success – it doesn’t matter what the precise result looks like. Hand in hand with this principle, make sure your children know that failure is permissible. No one ever learns or grows without making mistakes.
  
  
• Express feelings when they come up – both positive and negative. Show your children how to talk about negative feelings such as anger, fear and sadness. Give them words to describe these feelings and then make time to listen when children need to talk. Guide children through the process of expressing feelings respectfully, working toward resolution and then moving forward positively. 
  
  
• Provide positive feedback and praise when you see actions that you desire. Praise the action, not the person, for the most effective results, You might say, "I can see how hard you worked on this art project!".
  
  Our world is so full of negative feedback. We need to arm our children with a positive attitude, so that they can stay focused in the right direction. Parents always hope that their children will have a positive outlook on life, but most often how this happens is left to chance. When you take this matter into your hands, and look for ways to guide your children’s thoughts in a positive direction, you will see very exciting results.