Is Self-esteem the foundation for a Healthy Mind, Happy Heart and Joyful Soul?

Here are some ways to foster a child’s self esteem:

• Show your child lots of love and acceptance. Demonstrate your love by spending time with him and by giving a lot of affection.
• Be a role model. Show your child what it means to have confidence in yourself and to be willing to do and try new things. Model how you cope with set backs or challenges. Show your child the rewards of patience, persistence and doing things as well as you can.
• Be consistent. Decide on and enforce clear rules and limits that are right for your child’s age and stage. Tell him what you expect and what the consequences will be if the rules are not followed. This helps him feel safe and secure, and more confident about making his own decisions.
• Help your child find something that he enjoys and does well. Understand and respect that he will be really good at some activities and not at others.

Frederic and I were playing badminton one day and Alex really wanted to play. He was getting frustrated because he could not hit the birdie. It was important for us to take a few moments and explain to him that just because he could not hit it now, does not mean he was not good at it, or that he would not get good at playing. Encouraging him and explaining that practice does takes patience and persistance.