5 Ways you can support your girl’s confidence
The challenges that our young girls face on a day to day is astounding! They are hit with all type of images, and messages that can and will have an affect on their lives.
Let me share some statistics with you:
Global research shows that 6 out of 10 girls are so concerned with the way they look they will actually opt out of participating in daily life (Dove Self-Esteem Project)
And
7 in 10 girls believe that they are not good enough or do not measure up in some way, including their looks, performance in school, and relationships with family and friends (Real Girls, Real Pressure: National Report of the Stat of Self-Esteem Fund)
One more:
75% of girls with low self-esteem reported engaging in negative activities like cutting, bullying, smoking, drinking, or disordered eating.
I know these statistics can be astounding, and whenever I share them I feel 2 ways…
1. Sad and alarmed
2. It motivates me to do something about it
And that is my certainly my reason for sharing it with you, is that the statistics will motivate YOU to support the girls in your life!
Now I want you to know that I would not just leave you hanging like that…I have some ways that you are able to support your girl and her confidence.
Ready? Ok…here goes!
Here are 5 Ways to Support your Girl’s Confidence:
1. Make sure that she knows she is BEAUTY-FULL (did you notice how I spelled that?)…it’s because beautiful is not what someone is on the outside…it’s a direct reflection of how someone is on the inside. Talk to your girl and affirm her…let her know that she has something valuable to add to this world. She has a gift that she is supposed to be sharing with the world…here are some questions that you can ask her to get her (and you thinking)
a. What is your favorite thing to do?
b. What are some of your hobbies?
c. What are you good at?
d. What is one way that you can share something you are good at with someone else?
This will get her to start thinking about herself, and her uniqueness. I think a lot of times we discredit ourselves and what we have to offer, so we want to make sure that she gets into the habit of practicing these skills.
1. Talk to her about the importance of taking care of her “shell” (your shell is your outside being)…now before I talk to girls about this, I want to make sure to let them know that we should not obsess about the way that we look, but we do need to be mindful and make sure that we are taking care of our bodies. I believe that when you look good, you feel good
So talk to her about the importance of taking care of her “shell” by doing things like:
a. Lotioning her skin
b. Putting on chapstick/lipgloss (to keep lips moisturized)
c. Wearing clean clothes
d. Taking showers/baths
e. Trying new clothes/or hairstyles
(this will allow her to embrace her uniqueness and take healthy risks)
Explain to her why these things are important, this will help her to understand why it’s important to take care of her “shell”
1. Remind her that she is on a beautiful JOURNEY…this is a way to introduce exercising to her (you ladies can start doing little things together like:
a. Picking a day to take a walk around the block
b. Going roller skating with friends
c. Swimming is a great physical activity
d. Playing an active video game (like Just Dance on the WII)
e. Go bike riding together
This will give you and your girl the opportunity to connect while you ladies are getting physical
1. Let her know that HEALTH AND NURTITION does matter. You can teach her healthy eating habits by first modeling it, and let her join in on the decision making for a designated meal (breakfast, lunch, dinner or start with a snack) that she can make (or you can do them together) for the family. You can always google or pull up easy dishes with simple ingredients for her to do.
Doing this can make her feel like she is apart of the process, give her a little responsibility, and make her feel proud that she contributed to the healthy habits of the family.
1. Investing in herself is SUPER important, and that comes in a variety of ways…one of them is investing her money (allowance) in things that matter, maybe giving a certain amount to an organization of her choice, practice the skills of saving a portion of it when she does get money, or having her create a small budget if she gets money frequently
Another way to invest is in your time…is she making the time to do things that is important to her (like drawing, or playing that instrument that she loves and is good at, or writing)…is she making the time to hang out with friends? Or hang out with siblings and other family members that are important to her.
Also is she making the time to give back to others…not only in the spending time with them but volunteering at places that she is passionate about. Does she have a passion to help animals? Does she love to babysit? She can volunteer at the local animal shelter or the childcare center (these are things that you ladies can do together).
Here is another little tip that I want to make sure that you ladies remember…
ALL OF THIS TAKE PRACTICE
