He was made aware by a doctor friend in India that a mother and child died due to undiagnosed anemia during childbirth. Ingawale believed that such a treatable condition should not result in death and therefore set out to create a simple, needle-free, and portable anemia testing device.
Despite the initial failure of the device, Ingawale and his team persevered and created 32 iterations before they finally succeeded. This exemplifies the importance of overcoming obstacles to achieve success.
Unfortunately, many young individuals often perceive obstacles as someone else's responsibility or as too daunting to tackle.
This results in a lack of understanding of what is possible and inadequate preparation for the workforce.
In today’s blog, we’ll study the psychology of not giving up in children while providing tried and tested methods to help raise children who are fearless in the face of obstacles.
The Psychology of Building Resilience in Children:
Children who are resilient can face challenges in their daily lives because they do not fear failing. They recognize that making mistakes is a normal aspect of learning and view them as chances to try something else.
It's critical to see errors as teaching opportunities rather than causes for guilt. By using a variety of parenting techniques, including punishment, communication, modeling, family rituals, and problem-solving, you may, as a parent, assist your child in developing resilience.
You may teach your child to be resilient by using these methods along with your natural parenting techniques.
Overcoming Hard-Hitting Obstacles:
Regrettably, some difficulties may arise that no parent wishes their child to encounter. However, as it is not always possible to prevent challenges, it is important that your child possess the necessary tools to confront these situations.
Resilient children are capable of facing these challenges and eventually living life with self-assurance in their own abilities.
Despite experiencing trauma, they can still relate competently to others and recover from their setbacks. This process, however, requires time and effort.
Overcoming significant obstacles is not comparable to finishing a homework assignment. When faced with life-changing trauma or loss, there are natural phases that everyone must go through: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and finally, acceptance.
Nevertheless, resilient children can navigate through these stages and emerge with strengthened character and self-confidence.
Ten Ways of Overcoming Obstacles for Children:
With this quick overview out of the way, let’s get into the meat of the discussion. As obstacles are inevitable, teaching children how to overcome them is a key stepping stone toward building their future.
Here are ten ways to teach children how to overcome obstacles.
1. Serve as a good example for your children.
Children learn a lot about problem-solving by observing their parents dealing with challenges. Therefore, model the sense of fulfillment that comes with overcoming difficulties.
To assist your child in overcoming the fear of making mistakes, it is important to utilize effective communication strategies. Maintaining a calm and steady tone when your child makes a mistake is crucial.
While it may be difficult to do so, especially when your child accidentally spills milk or rides their bike recklessly, taking deep breaths and counting down from ten or a hundred can help.
2. Equip your children with essential skills:
Teach your children essential skills like motivation, self-confidence, perseverance, faith, strength of character, sound judgment, and experience in solving small problems.
Utilize active listening skills to effectively provide solutions for your child. To offer viable solutions, it is crucial to fully understand the issue at hand.
This requires your complete attention and focus on your child's explanation. Clarify any confusion by asking questions and attentively listening to their responses. Once you have grasped the situation, suggest practical solutions.
3. Engage in family problem-solving activities:
Participate in scavenger hunts, board games, and word puzzles. This helps children realize that obstacles are a crucial component of a fulfilling life experience.
4. Understand the difference between childhood and irrelevancy:
This is crucial. Some parents provide neither responsibility nor respect for their children's expectations. Two key points arise from this:
- Expecting nothing from children will teach them to give exactly that as they grow up. It's a common mistake parents should avoid, as they are more likely to create issues than solve them.
- Children who are not permitted to contribute to family life usually develop other, often destructive, habits.
It is vital to act as though children are an essential part of family life and that they can make valuable contributions.
Try to instill that in them as early as you can.
5. Offer opportunities for children to practice:
Expose children to manageable obstacles, teach them how to develop strategies, encourage them to persist, and celebrate their achievements. Involve them in planning family outings, organizing family events and vacations, and handling logistics.
Additionally, using I-messages to help your child identify and articulate their emotions can also be helpful.
For instance, saying, "I understand that you feel frustrated, but you cannot jump off the table," can enable your child to better understand and regulate their emotions, allowing them to find a solution more effectively.
6. Discourage giving up:
Avoid solving problems for your child that they can resolve themselves with guidance. Encourage and guide them so that they experience persistence and success as more rewarding than giving up.
7. Support them when they face overwhelming failure:
There are times when you should avoid becoming involved in your child's dilemma. For instance, if your youngster needs to address a difficulty but is reluctant to do so.
In such circumstances, allow your child to experience failure. Subsequently, do not permit them to place blame on external factors or other individuals for their shortcomings.
Instead, offer potential solutions for the future and reassure your child of their ability to succeed with greater effort.
While it is important to encourage children to persist, there are times when the struggle is too great. In such cases, offer help, redirect them towards success, be realistic, and counsel them when an obstacle appears insurmountable.
8. Promote solution-oriented discussions at home:
Initiate conversations with the children about challenging situations and seek their input. Involve them in brainstorming for solutions to family problems and decisions that will impact the family, such as budget cuts.
9. Volunteer with your children:
Participate in community or church projects that call for creative thinking, and volunteer at facilities where individuals with disabilities work hard to overcome obstacles. Allow your children to lead.
10. Maintain balance:
It's appropriate to ask for help when an obstacle is too challenging. Certain situations certainly require your children to seek assistance, such as dental procedures or funding a college education.
Teach your children the difference between perseverance and stubbornness.
It’s so easy to go way overboard and micromanage your child’s every move in the hope of helping them break new ground.
At the other end of the spectrum, parents who are too lenient leave their children unprepared for the randomness of life.
Aim for the middle ground between helping your children and leaving them to discover things on their own.
The Takeaway:
So, as you can see, the right solutions to raising children who are mentally strong and resilient are all there in front of you.
The aim of this blog was to get parents to see these opportunities and use them effectively. While there’s no right way to build resilience in children, these methods have proven to be timeless simply because millions of parents throughout history have applied them.
It’s not too late for your child to become the best version of themselves, and it all starts with you, the parent, helping them ignite that fire inside of them.
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