Self-awareness is a key component of confidence and self-esteem, it increases your child’s ability to understand what they are good at and to be realistic about what they can achieve. Setting goals is also a great way to achieve something over a long period of time, as it helps to develop self-esteem and allows children to make mistakes that will teach valuable lessons. So if you wish to increase your child’s confidence, one of the most effective ways of achieving this is by first focusing on developing their self-awareness.

Here are 2 ideas that can help develop your child’s self-awareness and increase their confidence:

1. Ask your child to share what they consider to be their greatest strength and their greatest achievement to date. Does their self-evaluation match your own opinion?
   
2. Ask them to share one or two goals/dreams they’d like to achieve in the next 12 months. Ask them to be specific about the nature of this goal and how they will achieve it. For example, if they want to be able to play the piano in front of an audience in 12 months, or if they’d like to be part of the school’s football team, what are the steps to achieving this. If they come up with negative self-talk, find ways to show them why this is a ‘fixed mindset’ and how a growth mindset can help them to achieve their goal(s).

For more ideas on fostering your child’s confidence and develop a growth mindset, read our book: Raising Confident Kids: 10 ways to foster self-esteem and avoid typical parenting mistakes.

Inspirational Quotes:

“Your visions will become clear only when you can look into your own heart. Who looks outside, dreams; who looks inside, awakes.” – C.G. Jung

“As my awareness increases, my control over my own being increases.” – Will Schutz