Children have so much energy and excitement (a little too much at times) and it is important to nurture that. Optimism is something that all parents should work on with them as it helps them to be more adventurous and forthcoming to challenges. Pessimism on the other hand can lead to them turning away opportunities and stop them from achieving their full potential. Parents, if this is something that you’re struggling with, we have just the tips for you. We’ve included some below from an independent school on how to raise an optimistic child.
Dare Yourself
You set an example for your little one in the way that you handle things and deal with life. If you’re someone that’s quite reserved, likes to take a step back and expresses self-doubt, your child may also learn to do the same and deprive themselves of new opportunities. To stop them from becoming a pessimistic person, you should try to refrain from overly displaying such attitudes and try to be a little more daring by taking calculated risks.
Don’t Bubble Wrap
It’s only natural for you to want to protect your child and it’s an example of great parenting. For their personal development though, taking risks would be beneficial. It would give them the opportunity to demonstrate their ability and independence resulting in increased self-belief and optimism to try new things. These risks should be decided on by you – your confidence in them, the threat of danger and their ability.
Encourage Them with Your Words
Your words can really act as a source of encouragement as children value what their parents have to say. When opportunities arise, try and encourage them to have a go. There’s nothing lost and everything gained, even if that is a funny memory of an epic fail!
Look for New Things to Do Together
If you’re struggling to get them out of their comfort zone, you may be able to help them by making it a joint effort and supporting them. There are dozens of child and parent classes out there that you can attend. Slowly but surely, they’ll become more confident and excited by the prospect of trying something completely new.
Set Goals
A simple yet effective way of helping them to be more hopeful about the future and trying new things is goal setting. They don’t have to be very detailed as it can be hard to look and plan so far ahead into the future. Just take time to get them to think about what they want to achieve in life and the small goals that they will need to meet along the way by breaking them up.
This is a collaborative post. Photo by Ramin Talebi on Unsplash