Adolescence is a critical period for young people, since it is a transitional phase of growth demanding more awareness towards themselves and others. Maturity and great decisions are made throughout that stage of transition to adulthood.

It is the period when adolescents start building their own world according to their perception and vision of life, background and surroundings. It is also the period of time when they create their best selves, learn to increase self-esteem and self-confidence so as to live a decent and fulfilled life once they become grown-ups. However, this seems not to be the case for some adolescents nowadays, because due to several factors, either inward or outward, many are seen to suffer from a lack of self-confidence and lose that good self-image of themselves. In fact, self-confidence and self-esteem are the keys which unlock greatness and success.

Confident teens are more likely to be assertive, positive, engaged, enthusiastic and resilient. At the same time, they are also more likely to be successful in all their undertaking, whether it is in academic performance or with any other projects. Indeed, their confidence is related to their self-esteem. When they are more confident, they also feel good about themselves and feel that they are worthwhile persons. Furthermore, self-confidence is also linked to resilience or when a person has the ability to bounce back from difficult experiences. This said, by being resilient and learning to cope with tough times, teens are far more likely to develop a certain feeling of confidence in tackling other challenges and unpleasing situations in the future.

Self-esteem and self-confidence builders tips for teens

Parents play an important role in helping their adolescents manage confidence and they are the ones who can firmly encourage that self-confidence in their teens. Based upon the tips provided by psychologist Carl Pickhardt, here are three effective self-confidence builders for your teens:

• FAITH. Here, the word faith can refer to good belief. Parents need first to help their teens believe in themselves through reshaping their way of perceiving things, encouraging them to practice positive affirmations or to use positive self-talks. Through statements like “I can do it”, “I can work hard”, “I am skilled” made in repetitive ways, teens will turn negative thinking into positive one in a short time. As a result, they will believe in themselves and then end up having more confidence with who they are and what they do.
• EFFORT. To help teens maintain their self-esteem and self-confidence, parents should also let their children do things on their own and keep trying no matter what. This means, encouraging them to try new things and not to let down when hardships come up. Through that, parents teach their teens to be more resilient and stay focused on effort and accomplishments. Acting with resilience and focus would be then a great self-esteem booster for teens.
• OUTCOME. The mix of faith and effort brings up positive results. Indeed, outcomes can hardly affect self-confidence. When a teen has achieved some accomplishments, since he/she believed in himself or herself and always kept striving, he/she becomes fruitful and is more likely to adopt positive attitudes towards the positive outcomes, and eventually gets highly confident in himself/herself.

Source: Psychology Today