It’s a new month (how in the world is it already May?!) and it’s time for a new Fishful Thinking focus for the month. This month’s focus is Empowerment.
Empowerment, or self-efficacy, is believing in oneself. It is knowing what your strengths are and how to use your strengths to navigate challenges and reach your goals. Children with the skills of empowerment believe that they are effective in the world. They have learned their strengths and weaknesses and rely on their strengths to navigate the challenges in life. Children with self-efficacy dream big, because they believe in their capacity to work for their dreams.
One of my greatest senses of pride as a parent has come from the moments when I have seen that “I Can” spirit in my children. They truly CAN do a lot for themselves, and having that confidence gives them the ability to do so much more!
Kids with a strong sense of self-efficacy are:
- better problem solvers
- less likely to become helpless
- more resilient
- more willing to try new things and take risks.
Browse Fishfulthinking.com (Empowerment section) to find articles and activities to do with your kids to build their sense of self-efficacy. What are some things that you have already done with your kids to foster their “can do” attitude?
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This is a wonderful message to convey to your children. My parents taught me that I can do anything if I put my mind to it and proved it by pushing me to help them with tasks around the house such as plumbing repairs, home repairs and do-it-yourself camping activities, etc. It’s a lesson that should be passed on to every child.
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This is a great theme. And I love fishful thinking. I will have to go browse on this subject.
Such a great theme! On my way to check out the link you posted. :D
Happy Sunday!
Yes, empowerment allows kids (and us) to believe that we can change our circumstances, that we can reach for more. Thanks for a good Sunday morning post!
Stopping by from SITS.
http://www.mommamaybemad.blogspot.com
I’m not a mom but realize how important lack of empowerment has been in my life. I see kids who’ve been given that gift and just love watching them live life more fully.
Cheryl’s last blog ..May Day Redux
Amen!
This is a great theme! And one I thoroughly encourage my children to learn from very early on…. it helps to instill great pride in themselves :)
I’ve found that children ultimately develop one mindset or another regarding their abilities. Some children are “performance” based — as in “I’m good at…” or “I’m bad at….” which parents unfortunateley reinforce in many ways. The superior belief system a child can form about himself is “learning” based, as in “I want to learn…” or “I can learn…” From this paradigm, nothing intimidates them as they are convinced that any skill or trait or accomplishment is within reach if they choose to invest themselves in the education and mastery of it. I wrote about this subject on my old blog, with my own mommy experience, last year at:
https://monasgospelmusings.blogspot.com/2009/03/clueless-or-creative-continued.html
It is not only vital to help our children feel that way about themselves, but our spouses as well — I’ve written (and podcasted) about how a wife may do this for her husband at Mona’s Musings (“My Hero”) just this week:
https://www.monasmusings.com/my-hero-3/
Thank you for addressing this subject! Soooo important.
.-= Mona ´s last blog ..My Hero =-.