If life has been to be described in one word and one word only, “complicated” is definitely it. As adults, we may have developed enough resilience and perseverance to hold our own while navigating through its many twists and turns. Our kids, however, can find themselves overwhelmed by its complexity and challenges. Many parents seek to tackle this issue by investing money on them. While it can help, the impact is hardly as strong as that made by words of encouragement. Providing unconditional support and hope can play a huge role in building confidence in children, preparing them to push against whatever doubts and fears come in their path to success.

Self-confidence and self-esteem

Rather than learning more about how to encourage your kids, some of us parents still struggle to answer the question “why?” What makes encouragement so important even after we regularly spend nearly half our salaries on our young ones? The answer is simple. When in the midst of trails and challenges, children often feel lost and confused. They also tend to feel insecure when approaching things they consider important, such as friendships, academics, sports, etc. By encouraging them, we can give their confidence a boost, raise their faith in their abilities, and make them feel less insecure about themselves. Not only that, encouragement can make them feel better about themselves, thus improving their self-esteem. Of course, a higher self-esteem translates to higher self-confidence as well. All this is essential for their healthy development and preparation to face the trials of life.

Effort and success

Aside from giving their self-confidence and self-esteem a boost, we can also turn our kids into achievers through encouragement. So often, children simply shy away from chasing their dreams because they feel that they are not capable enough to see themselves through to the end. Providing them with support, hope and confidence can motivate them to work harder to accomplish the objectives they’ve set for themselves. Their progress won’t be hampered by self-doubt and any kind of insecurity. Our words and acts of encouragement may also remind them how much their success and failure matters to us. This in turn can energize them to pursue success with greater zeal.

Encouragement is indeed one of the best things that we parents can do for our kids. We often underestimate the impact that our words and actions can have on the personality development and success of our young ones. This involves everything from encouragement, praise and criticism.