How To Be The Best Role Model For Your Children
22 Mar 2023
Photo by Pixabay
When you are a parent, you want your children to be the best they can be and achieve the most possible. Although this is perfectly achievable, sometimes children need some motivation to get started and to see what opportunities lie in front of them. They need a role model to show them what to do so they build their confidence and start to believe in themselves more.
As a parent, it is your responsibility to be that role model as much of the time as possible. This is not always an easy thing to do, and it’s likely you’ll make mistakes, but by understanding what you need to do and trying your best, you can make a big difference in your children’s lives and ensure they live their own to their full potential. With that in mind, here are some of the things you can do to be the best role model for your children.
Take Care Of Yourself
Your health is crucial in life, and without it, you’ll be held back and not be able to achieve your goals. This is why you need to take care of yourself so that you can stay as healthy as possible. Plus, if you want your children to stay healthy, showing them how to do it and leading by example will instill some great habits in them.
One easy way is to eat well. Eat the same healthy food as your children, and don’t hide food or snack when they’re not looking – this just sets up unhealthy behaviours, and if they catch you, it can cause a lot of problems with trust, for example. It’s also a good idea to exercise regularly. After all, you can’t expect your kids to switch off their screens and play outside if you never do the same.
Plus, make sure you keep up with your regular medical appointments. See your doctor and dentist for regular checkups and book eye exam online. Don’t just make your own appointments, but make them for your children too. As they get older, they can make their own appointments, and it’s a good habit to get into.
Acknowledge Mistakes
If you want to be a good role model, hiding mistakes is the worst thing you can do. Instead, you need to acknowledge when you make an error and take steps to put things right if that is called for.
Pretending that mistakes don’t happen might feel like the right thing to do when you want to be a role model – you don’t want your child to think any less of you for not knowing something or getting something wrong – but what lesson is this teaching them? Instead of owning up to their own mistakes, they will try to emulate you (or the ‘you’ that you present to them) and hide their mistakes instead.
This is a problem because it can make those mistakes seen a lot more problematic than they really are, and it means your child will never learn.
Plus, as they get older, they’ll realise that you made mistakes because everyone does, and that realization can be shocking if it comes later in life. Showing that you are a fallible human being just like they and everyone else on the planet is a much better way to be a role model; you can show them how to deal with mistakes, and that’s crucial.
Be A Good Listener
You might think that you always have to be the one who is listened to and that you have a lot of important wisdom and information to impart. While this is somewhat true, it’s not always the right thing to do, and some of the time – and all of the time when your child has something to say to you – it’s better to listen and not say a word.
This will help your child understand that what they have to say is important and that their opinion and ideas certainly count. They’ll become more confident in putting their point across, and when it comes to discussions, they’ll be able to hold their own (or admit they were wrong if the need arises, as we mentioned above).
Plus, by listening, you can show your child that this is an important skill to have. They will then be able to listen to others, showing respect and potentially learning something at the same time.
Be Positive
There will always be challenges in life, and some of them will make us truly unhappy. We might find it hard to be positive and to see the bright side of things. However, if you want to be a good role model for your children, you must try to be as positive as you can in all difficult situations. If they see you let the negativity get the better of you more often than not, they will assume this is how life is, and they might not try to make things better for themselves.
It’s true that, in some cases, positivity is just not possible. However, if you can work on being positive more often than not, that can be hugely helpful.
Cheers,
Big Daddy
If you are a PR agency or brand and would like me to review a travel destination, vehicle, restaurant, product or service, please send me an email.
Craig Silva
Craig is a husband, father, team leader, travel and food writer, senior youth group coordinator, designer, brander, community builder, volunteer, and social media strategist. He likes to travel, go camping, go on road trips, watch movies, build stuff, operate the grill, and sing with his band. Craig is a member of the Travel Media Association of Canada. If you are a PR agency or brand and would like Craig to review a travel destination, vehicle, restaurant, product or service, please send him an email.
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