Building Self-Esteem

Self-Esteem is the MOST IMPORTANT GIFT mothers can give their daughters.

Lack of, or low, self-esteem (self respect) is harmful, debilitating, and counterproductive. A child with low or no regard for their self, is a beautiful spirit broken. Having self respect give girls power, better perspective and balanced intelligence. It allows them to make decisions and judgments in their lives that are positive and productive. And their sense of self worth builds as you allow the young girls and women in your life to be themselves, discover their likes and dislikes, explore their talents, etc.

There are many productive ways mothers raising daughters can build respect for themselves:

• Praise your daughter(s) for her wins and encourage and teach here to overcome her losses.
• Support your daughter(s) emotionally when they don’t do as well as they’d (or even you had) hoped). Do not impose your personal desires on your daughter(s). In other words, if your daughter decides she wants to be in marching band or in theatre rather be an athlete or member of the debate team, let her be who and what she wants to be. That’s not to say that if she decides she wants to do things that jeopardize her health or safety, you shouldn't step in. That’s where wisdom and guidance come in - or foresight to find assistance for her that will build her up rather than break her down.
• Show the best of your own fortuitous nature while teaching your daughter(s) to respect their own self worth and to accentuate the positives!
• Ask yourself these questions: What is/are my daughter(s) good at? What What is/are my daughter(s) strengths - mental, physical and emotional?
• Remind your daughter(s) of instances in her/their past where she/they solved a problem or avoided a problem all together.
• Show her her power. Embrace the wonderful potential within her and the genius she is and she’ll see and believe this of herself as well. It’s a great revelation and feeling for both of you!

Self-Esteem is the ultimate EMPOWERMENT:

Positive self-esteem enables young girls to navigate the challenges of adolescence with strength and commitment to good in their lives.

• Daughters with high self-esteem embrace and value their differences from others rather than going to either extreme: one extreme would have them become introverted and passive-aggressive, and the other extreme would be high aggression, defensiveness and general mayhem. Rather, high-esteem enables them to also embrace others’ differences.
• They learn to make the best of what they have and to build from that.
• They tend to mentor others and help them integrate into their social groups.
• They learn to be extraordinary young women and people gravitate toward their positive energy and acceptance.
• They become great leaders.
• They contribute to mankind by building people up around them.
• They will also not settle for sloppy seconds, physical or mental abuse, suppressive relationships and the like.
• They will make healthier choices about their friends, their significant others, their careers and their lifestyles.
• They will respect themselves and others, and cultivate friends and advisors that do the same for them.

Raise your daughter(s) up with a solid self-image and watch them thrive!