Resilience is such a key aspect in character building. As a parent, you are required to work on building resilience in your children to set them up for success as they continue to grow. Without resilience, your child is going to struggle with the ability to overcome adversity and adjust to the world around them. Luckily, teaching resilience is fairly easy, and a few quick mindset changes will help you teach this skill to your children.
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Resilience: More Than Just Bouncing Back
Resilience is more than just bouncing back when you get knocked down. While that is certainly part of it, resilience is about setting yourself and your family up for success in the wake of failure. This in turn prepares your family to be able to strive for their best as they continue to deal with the ups and downs of everyday life.
Top 5 Ways to Teach Resilience
- Set Up and Move Towards Goals: Goals are so important for children. Setting realistic and strong goals allows your children to learn to work toward something. The goals should be attainable, but require some work from your child to obtain. Once the goal is met, praise should immediately follow. This reinforces the setting of goals and working towards them, even through the ups and downs.
- Maintain a Daily Routine: Setting a daily routine, especially for younger children, give them the stability they need to strive for goals. By having a set routine, they know the basics of their day are standard, regardless of what else might change. It is much easier to deal with change when you have a strong foundation to rely on.
- Accept Change: Change is inevitable. Teaching your children to accept that change is coming and adjust as needed is an invaluable skill. By accepting change, you are able to continue to grow and adjust instead of crumbling when things to do not go as planned. Teaching your children to take a step back when things change and adjust will be a skill that follows them throughout their lives.
- Nurture a Positive Self-Image: One of the most important aspects of resilience is maintaining a positive self-image. When children are confident in themselves, they are able to understand and differentiate from changes to items around them and not internalize the issues. When something negative happens, they see it as an action and not an attack on themselves. Stay firm in the types of words you allow your child to use about themselves and others.
- Make Connections to Others: As with every other character trait, resilience is directly connected to other aspects of character building. Making connections with others, through empathy and compassion, gives your child a strong base to rely on as they continue to navigate the world. Connections should be made with parents and family members, friends, and other important people in your children's lives.
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As always, the best way to teach these skills is to model them yourself. Children are constantly learning through watching how their parents react and often react the same way. Show your children how to act with a resilient attitude and you will see them respond in the same way. Along with helping your children become better people, having resilience will improve your life too!
