When kids face challenges, it is easy to feel overwhelmed and frustrated. This can cause them to shut down or feel anxiety, and sometimes, they can even present bad behaviors. The best way to keep these feelings at bay is to help your children develop perseverance. Here are some ways to do that.
#1: Make sure they know they are valuable and appreciated.
Your child is a unique creation and telling them regularly that you appreciate who they are is important. This helps build their confidence and allows them to step into who they were made to be. Celebrate this with them, highlight what things make them special, and then when things get hard, they can rely on this knowledge and confidence to help get them through.
#2: Help them discover their strengths.
Each child has strengths, and it can be a really fun thing to watch and help them discover what they are. Are they a natural athlete, are they gifted at drawing or music? Give them opportunities to discover their strengths and talents, so they can hone those skills. Then, when there are areas where the child may not be as strong, you can work together on those things. Be sure to encourage your children that there are many things that they are good at, but there are some things that simply must be worked on a little harder.
#3: When they fail, or things are challenging, try to find a positive lesson in it.
Not everything is easy in life, and kids will soon discover that there will be difficult seasons or tasks to get through. Despite obstacles, there is almost always a lesson that we can learn from it. Train your children to uncover what those lessons might be.
#4: When you see growth in them, encourage and reward.
Cultivating perseverance takes baby steps. Liken it to working your way up a large mountain trail and then looking down at how far you’ve come. Paint that picture for your kids and when you see growth in how far they are coming in patience and perseverance, praise and encourage them for that. Maybe it’s by hanging up some samples of their math or artwork throughout the school year or creating a chart that tracks their task completion. When your child sees that they are making progress, it gives them that extra positive boost to keep on going.
Start helping your child develop perseverance from a young age. Doing this gives them the tools they need to keep trekking with confidence, even though they might encounter things that are tough.