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How to Raise Mentally Strong Kids

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Being mentally strong has been on the backburner in our society for quite some time. People thought it was better to be physically strong instead of mentally strong. However, nowadays it is showing just how important it is to have mental strength, especially for children. Here are 13 ways to help you raise mentally strong kids.

Mentally Strong Kids

1. Get Rid of Victim Mentality

When your child fails, and they will eventually, it is not the end of the world. Teach them that failure is a part of their life and how to overcome it.

Don’t let them feel like they are a victim in those scenarios. Don’t play a part in their pity party. Instead, help them see the positive in everything.

2. Power Through Guilt

As a parent, you will feel guilty. However, don’t let your guilt control your actions, because your child is watching. If they see you conform to everything you feel guilty about, they will do the same.

Then, they won’t learn how to say no to someone, especially in bad situations. Teach your kids that even though you may feel guilty, you can still choose to make wise and good decisions.

3. Don’t Allow Fear to Govern Choices

This is similar to the one above as you don’t want to teach your kids to give in to negative emotions, especially fear. While it is perfectly normal to have fear, we must teach our children that they don’t have to make choices out of fear.

Teach them that the best way to overcome their fear is to tackle it right away. Continue to build confidence rather than act out of fear.

4. Show Them the World

While your children are our entire worlds, they can’t fully believe that. We must show them that there is a whole entire world out there, and they are not the center of the universe.

Teach your kids to give to the world rather than always taking or expecting things from it.

5. Family Hierarchy

You need to show them that they are not in control of everything that goes on in the family. While it is important to have them make choices for smaller events, we cannot let them dictate every choice in the family.

There needs to be a hierarchy in the family, letting them know that you are in control. They will need to learn to take orders that they don’t fully want to follow.

6. Don’t Avoid Responsibility

While it may seem easier to do your child’s chores, it is not worth it in the end. They need to learn a sense of responsibility and to take action for themselves.

Find things for them to take responsibility for themselves that are age-appropriate. That way they are not overburdened but gain that mental strength.

7. Don’t Expect Perfection

No one will ever be perfect in this life, teach that to your child. Don’t expect them to never fail or to get straight A’s as it will only hurt them in the future.

Teach them to learn from their mistakes and pick themselves back up when they fall down.

8. Don’t Shield from Pain

Bad things are going to happen in life; that is inevitable. Your kids need to learn how to successfully manage their negative emotions instead of burying them or hiding beneath them.

Teach your kids to always strive to be the best person they can be, not to be perfect. This will help them to be resilient when hard times come.

9. Teach Consequences

You cannot fully protect your child from everything. They need to learn how natural consequences work and what to do with them. Don’t fix your child’s homework or triple check if they turned something in.

Allow your kids to mess up and then teach them how to handle it afterward.

10. Teach Emotions

One of the best things you can do for your children is to help them learn to control their own emotions. Teach them how to overcome sadness or anxiety rather than constantly trying to cheer them up.

11. Discipline vs. Punishment

Punishment is when your child suffers for doing something wrong. Instead, discipline them so they know what to do better for the future.

Teach them to want to make good choices instead of fear of getting in trouble.

12. Make Priorities

Show your children how to make and keep good priorities. Allow them to see the bigger picture in life and not get so caught up in the little day-to-day events.

Teaching about priorities will help them to set good priorities for themselves and set themselves up for success in the future.

13. Don’t Take Shortcuts

Shortcuts will never lead to anything good. Teach your kids that patience is better than receiving something right away through a shortcut.

Find ways to teach delayed gratification as it will help your kids to become mentally strong.

If you teach your children these 13 different things, you will set up your kids for success and they will be mentally strong. It may be a challenge at times, but completely worth it in the end.

14. Teach Realistic Thinking

Sometimes kids can feel down on themselves for things like performance at school, sports, etc… We as parents tend to give our own words of encouragement, but we should talk with our kids about how thoughts aren’t always true. Sometimes it’s important to shift our thoughts into other directions of positive thinking.

15. Engage with Problem Solving

Talk about issues they might be struggling with and come up with solutions together. Whether it be a behavior problem or having trouble with friends, etc… brainstorm a set of solutions as a team.

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