You can teach kids that courage is just like a muscle. The more you use it, the stronger it gets. And by incorporating growth mindset strategies into the mix you have an ultimate recipe that will help your kids thrive!
I’ve been pushing the ideas of courage and growth mindset on my children for a good while now. Fascinated initially by the ideas of growth mindset, it sent me down a trail of which I discovered the true meaning of courage and how we can cultivate it in our every day to learn and grow to be our best selves. In a world of competitive comparisons, our children are finding themselves in constant pursuit to be their best selves. But can easily resort to thinking that courage, success and happiness can seem like they are strengths and qualities that seem to be possessed by only a chosen few.
So what if we could teach our kids to harness these qualities and believe that they too can learn anything or be anything they desire to be? That no matter who they are or what their circumstance, that they too have the power to reserve themselves a seat wherever they choose to go. Or do whatever they want to do. And that their only limit is their imagination.
Now just imagine that.
Many things can lead to success and happiness, but with the combined power of growth mindset and courage your kids can cultivate the courage to do anything. And like anything, practice makes perfect!!!
So here are 3 ways you can encourage your kids to develop a growth mindset and practice courage to be their ultimate selves.
#1 Defining courage and growth mindset- Teach your kids the true meaning of courage and what it means to have a growth mindset!
What is COURAGE?
Teaching kids to be brave is as simple as explaining what courage actually is. Many people misinterpret what courage actually means and often conjure up images of fierce battle scenes, where big brave heroes take on the world with reckless inhibition and a complete lack of fear.
The truth is that courage is not the absence of fear.
The very definition of fear is the mental or moral strength to venture, persevere, and withstand danger, fear, or difficulty.
That is, to feel fear and do it anyway.
There is power in teaching kids that courage is not about being fearless. It’s about finding that something inside you, that pushes through fear, encourages us to overcome self doubt and discouragement and do hard things that make us feel uncomfortable, risky or even frightening. And it often doesn’t look like it feels. More often than not, it looks big, heroic, frightening and sometimes even dangerous on the outside. But on the inside, it can feel scary, uncomfortable and unpredictable.
Sometimes too, courage doesn’t look so big on the outside, but feels pretty big on the inside. The smallest act of kindness like standing up for someone who needs it, befriending the new kid at school or trying something new can all fall into the category of courage if it induces some sort of fear or discomfort in some way. Not all acts of courage involve medals of honor or recognition but some of the smallest acts of bravery can change a person’s world for a lifetime.
Couple courage with growth mindset and you’ve got a recipe for the extraordinary.
What is a GROWTH MINDSET?
Teach your kids to understand the difference between having a growth mindset or a fixed mindset. And why it is such an important belief system to have. This powerful mindset is the belief in your ability to grow change and improve. And is the key to developing true self confidence and courage.
In order for a child to be successful at whatever they are working on, they need to believe in themselves. They need to develop and believe in their own power and capacity to learn and nail the things they want to achieve. They need to understand that with practice, effort and discipline they can learn to do anything they put their mind to. That a master was always a beginner at first if they cant do something ‘yet’ then they can learn, practice and achieve it as long as they believe it.
#2 Create powerful growth mindset and courage affirmations and stick them around the house in visible places for your kids to see.
The best way to encourage growth mindset and courage in your kids is to train the way they think. Creating positive self talk is critical in developing both and the best way to encourage positive self talk is to practice positive affirmations over and over to create new beliefs and neural pathways. Teaching your kids how to talk to themselves and communicate effectively especially when they face challenging situations can make all the difference in getting them to achieve anything they want whenever they want. And will set them up for life. This can be as simple as adding the word ‘yet’ to a sentence. ‘I can’t do it ‘YET’ is extremely powerful to use when learning a new skill or trying something new.
#3 Develop a strong sense of Courage and growth mindset understanding as a family!
Courage and growth mindset tools are valuable assets for both adults and children to master. I have literally devoted a whole wall of our house to promote courage and growth mindset. I call it our wall of courage and it has Mighty Hamiltons written all over it! The Mighty Hamiltons is like our family mantra and we talk all the time about what it means to belong to our family and be a Mighty Hamilton. We have pumped our kids full of growth mindset strategies, bombarded them with vocabulary to understand courage, vulnerability, failures, mistake making, resistance, persistence and the idea of anything is possible with the ‘I can do anything I put my mind to’ attitude. We know we are the main role models in our childrens’ lives so we understand how important it is to model all of these ourselves, directly in front of them. We know that we are the creators of our reality and we are determined to teach them to understand the power that they hold in that too. We are constantly using vocabulary and verbal communication to reinforce both concepts and we constantly expose them to a barrage of visual reinforcements too such as the affirmation cards and posters on the wall or mirror of the bathroom.
Fear governs so much of our world today. We live amongst a general and ever growing climate of fear. And uncertainty. So what if we taught the next generation how to cope with fear? By teaching them the skills to step into action by cultivating courage and bravery instead. To embrace vulnerability, thrive by making mistakes and learning to fail and engage in their fears instead of running from them. Courage is more than just taking action. It’s more than stepping outside of your comfort zone. It’s about creating natural curiosity to the world around us. Showing kindness, compassion and empathy towards others. And understanding and loving ourselves in order to be able to love others. Teaching kids the true meaning of courage is the first step. And then giving them the concepts and strategies to pursue a life of courage by forging that path with growth mindset tools ….. will equip them for life. Not without fear, but the means to use it to succeed.
Download the my Cards of Courage Family game here and affirmation cards below!