No matter how good of a job we do in protecting our children from negative thoughts, there is always the opportunity for self-doubt to emerge. It's a natural result of interaction with the world. As parents, it is part of our job to help combat negative self-talk, which is all too common in children.
Our brains are wired to remember things that cause us pain, as this is nature's way of helping us avoid dangerous situations. However, those thoughts can become permanently trapped in young minds. All of this can lead to a cascade of negative emotions, including feelings of anger and fear.
Don't Just Take Our Word for It
We've personally seen firsthand the life-changing power of positive self-talk. Additionally, a variety of research studies have concluded that it is transformative. Here are just a few examples.
Psychology Today, noting studies conducted on affirmation, stated, "If people benefit from deliberately choosing to self-affirm, perhaps they can learn to incorporate self-affirmation into their arsenals of tools for coping with everyday threats and thus become agents in the maintenance of their own well-being."
Additional research has pointed to other positive self-talk benefits. According to a 2016 study published in the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, self-affirmation improves problem-solving and performance on tasks that directly relate to executive function." Psychology Today describes executive function as "a set of cognitive processes and mental skills that help an individual plan, monitor, and successfully execute their goals." Research conducted by Janine M. Dutcher put forth the theory that positive self-affirmation works to activate the brain reward circuitry. In fact, this was observed while participants were seen in an MRI.
One article in direct support of positive self-affirmation comes from studies cited in New York Magazine. Christian Jarrett clearly lays out the research that self-affirmation can boost people's sense of self-worth. Jarrett points to research that uses MRIs to prove that self-affirmation actually works. In short, there is real, concrete neural evidence backing up the benefits of self-affirmation.
Positive Self-Talk Gives Kids a Powerful Foundation
Modern science has even shown that the brain does, in fact, respond positively to self-affirmation. Ultimately, there may be no single greater tool that parents can give to their children. It is our belief that through positive self-talk, children can achieve greater confidence and a stronger sense of self-worth. They can even improve their problem-solving abilities.
Parents do so much to protect and nurture their children. Adding self-affirmations to your child's daily routine will most likely produce incredible results, not just in the here and now, but for decades to come.
1. Pick out affirmations. If your child can read, have them pick them out. If not, do not worry, you can pick out a couple.
2. Talk about them. Ask your child what the affirmation means to them. Ex: What does BRAVE mean to them? If they do not know, then help them with the meaning.
3. Ask or give your child examples. Asking your child or give them examples of when they were showing the affirmations. Ex: "I am Brave." They might say they were brave when they tried a new sport. Come up with more examples of ways to show what brave means.
4. Practice saying the affirmations. They are more powerful when said out loud.
5. Put on mirror/glass type surface. Putting on the bathroom mirror is a great place that that your child will see while getting ready in the morning.
6. Add it to your daily routine. By having the affirmations on the mirror for your child to see when getting ready for school, they can easily add this to their daily routine.
7. Change out your affirmations. Introduce new affirmations every month or two. Remember, you know your child best. If they need more time with their affirmations, that’s okay too.
8. Praise the process. When seeing them doing things that are displaying their affirmations, tell them and talk about it.
9. HAVE FUN! If we have fun, we are more inclined to do something. Each child is different and learns in other ways.
Inspire your youth today with a 24 pack of reusable, adhesive free, positive affirmation stickers. Start having fun while increasing your child’s self-esteem.
Ignite your child’s confidence and self-esteem while fostering a deeper connection with a pack of positive affirmation cards.
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