Renewedhopeparenting

8 Ways to Foster and Optimistic Mindset

Tue, 25 Jan 2022 20:06:18 +0200

Having an optimistic outlook is much than living life with rose-colored glasses. It’s a mindset that can really set us up for resilience and growth. Life is sure to throw us curve balls, and having an optimistic outlook can really help us through these difficult times without minimizing the difficulties we will face. Fostering this mindset in our kids can help them overcome life’s obstacles and build resilience.

Importance of Optimism

Optimism is important for many reasons. Having this outlook can help us:

Be more resilient to stress
Be healthier and happier
Reduce depression
Work toward our goals
Face challenges
Overcome setbacks

As parents, these all sound like things we want for our kids. Additionally, researchers have found how important instilling optimism in kids is:

“Kids who believe bad events are permanent, pervasive, and personal while good events are temporary, local, and externally caused are at heightened risk for getting depressed.”

“So we established that pessimism in a child puts him at risk for depression. And once depression sets in, the biggest risk factor for later depression is prior depression. A vicious circle has started, and children now react to each new setback by getting depressed again.”

Quotes from page 82 of The Optimistic Child: A Proven Program to Safeguard Children Against Depression and Build Lifelong Resilience (2007) by: Martin E.P. Seligman, PhD.

What Optimism Isn’t

Optimism can easily be confused with toxic positivity or seeing the world through rose-colored glasses. The important distinction is that optimism is still grounded in reality, while the other two aren’t. Being optimistic doesn’t mean we discount struggles, but see them for what they are in reality, see how we can overcome them, and what we can learn for the future.

What Optimism Is

Optimism is a mindset that allows us to understand we are capable of overcoming hard things. This mindset helps us be resilient. A person who tends towards optimism will see their setbacks as something to overcome, whereas a more pessimistic person may see a setback as too much to overcome or something final with no solution.

Our explanatory style is how we explain what happens to us. It isn’t the “thing” (the stressor, the event), that can tell us what to think or feel. Instead, it is what we think or feel about the “thing.” It’s the story we tell ourselves. We can get so frozen in what we are telling ourselves that we can’t act.

8 Ways to Foster Optimism in Our Family

Give kids opportunities to succeed:

Researchers have found that repeated successes for our kids can lead to more optimism (Seligman, 2007). We, of course, don’t want to just hand successes to them or not allow them to struggle with manageable problems. But we can also help create situations where they thrive. We can foster an environment of active learning in things they are interested in or physical activity in things they can do well.

Foster positive thinking:

Negative thoughts can be hard to get rid of. Wiring our brains for more positivity is good for our mental and overall health. We can interrupt negative thoughts by recognizing when we tell ourselves something negative and countering it with something neutral or positive. We can help our kids do this as well with statements like this:

“I am telling myself ___, but that isn’t true because ____.”

“I have overcome hard things before, so I know I can ______.”

Foster reality thinking:

Our own thinking can lead us to believe things that aren’t reality. One bad grade doesn’t make a child a failure, but their minds can easily lead to that conclusion. Kids can become so focused on these negative thoughts that they are unable to solve the problem or move forward. We can help our kids counter these unrealistic beliefs with more reality-based thinking.

“Is this belief accurate to the situation?”

“What negative thoughts am I thinking?”

“What is a more accurate way to see this situation?”

“When have I overcome something like this in the past?”

Foster mental cleverness:

Our ability to see things from other perspectives and see the causes of problems can greatly help us develop

“This is the situation right now. This thing I am worried about hasn’t happened yet, but if it does I will _____.”

“I have overcome challenges doing ____ before.”

“This problem may need creative solutions. What’s a different way to look at it? What have I learned in the past that can help me here?”

Foster thankfulness:

When we focus on the good things in our life, we are more inclined to see the good more often. You can read more on the Importance of Instilling an Attitude of Gratitude here. Whatever ways you can make the habitual practice of expressing thankfulness work for your family will greatly impact everyone’s mental health.

Face challenges: Instead of running from challenges, help your kids face them head on, look for the cause, find solutions, learn to ask for help, and be proactive.

Be mindful of criticism:

Kids can really internalize our criticism, however “constructive” we mean it to be. Instead of saying, “You are just not so good at guitar.” Try something like, “I can see the effort you’re putting in.” or “I think this instrument is giving you a hard time.”

Instead of saying, “Spelling is not your strong suit.” Try something like, “This week’s spelling list was a tough one.” Or “I think we need to put aside more time for spelling each week.”

The key difference here is that we aren’t criticizing the child or putting a label (bad speller, crummy guitar player) on them. We are talking in more temporary terms and about things that can be changed. Kids need to know they can change things they struggle with. Their effort is always more important than their results.

Model it:

When our kids hear us speaking negatively about ourselves (or others) they will pick up on that attitude. If I want to see my kids live out a certain mindset, they certainly need to see me live it out.

Do you have a tendency to be negative or pessimistic? What steps can you do to help shift your own mindset? What ways can you model this in daily life and conversations with your kids?

By: Emily Scott, PhD

Follow Renewed Hope Parenting on Facebook, Pinterest, and Instagram!

You may also like:

Emotional Wellness for Kids

Building Resilience in Our Kids

The Power of Even Though: Building Resilience in Hard Times

Helping Kids Develop a Growth Mindset

This blog is written as an educational and general resource only. It should not be used to diagnose or as a substitute for parenting or relational therapy, advice, or counseling with a professional therapist or medical doctor. Renewed Hope Parenting is not responsible for results or use of the information provided in these pages if you choose to use them. Everything included in this blog and website is copyrighted to Emily Scott, PhD and Renewed Hope Parenting and may not be used without permission.

The post 8 Ways to Foster and Optimistic Mindset appeared first on Renewed Hope Parenting.

Conversation Starters to Foster a Growth Mindset

Sat, 20 Nov 2021 01:18:53 +0200

One of the best things we can do our kids, is help them develop a growth mindset. Kids with a growth mindset believe they are capable and can handle challenges. These are definitely characteristics I want my kids to develop and have as adults.

Fixed Mindset: People with a fixed mindset typically believe they aren’t able to learn more or new things, or they get stuck when they make mistakes. They don’t usually like failure and can easily shut down when things get hard. You may hear your kid say, “I am not good at basketball.”

Growth Mindset: People with a growth mindset typically believe they can learn new things, expand their brain, and are willing to take on challenges. They know they can learn from mistakes. You may hear your kid say, “I can’t do this yet.” Or “I am still learning how to do math.”

Most of us have a little bit of both of these mindsets from time to time. The more we can foster a Growth Mindset in our kids, the more willing they will be to take on challenges and not give up when things get hard.

You can read more on Helping Kids Develop a Growth Mindset here.

Here are some conversation starters to use at family dinners, car rides, or anything other chance you have to engage with your kids that will help foster a growth mindset:

What did you learn today?

When was a time you didn’t give up?

When did you solve a problem?

What steps can you take to solve a new problem?

What is something you want to improve at doing?

When did you improve? How? How did it feel?

What are some goals you have?

What do you feel/think when you make a mistake?

What strengths do you have?

What can you do if you feel like you can’t do something?

Do you have negative thoughts about yourself or your abilities? How can we rewire those to positive?

How can I support you?

What is something new you want to learn?

What is something hard you did?

When were you challenged today/this week?

What was the last hard thing you did?

What made you think hard?

What is something easy you did that used to be hard?

When was the last time you asked for help?

When was the last time someone asked you for help?

These conversation starters are a great way to get your child thinking about themselves and their lives. Remember, modeling a positive, growth mindset is one of the best ways for our kids to learn how to do it themselves. Let them hear you talk about times you’ve overcome something challenging, or let them see you make mistakes and how you learned.

By: Emily Scott, PhD

We are here to support you on your parenting journey. Parenting support sent right to your inbox.

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Helping Kids Develop a Growth Mindset

Fri, 19 Nov 2021 21:48:03 +0200

We want our kids to do their best. We want them to succeed. One of the best ways we can set them up for success is helping them develop a growth mindset.

In this article, we will talk about two of the main mindset types: Growth and Fixed. We will also discuss a few ways you can help your kids develop a growth mindset.

Mindset Definition-

Our mindset, how we view ourselves and the world, has a great impact on our lives and relationships. Our mindset fuels our actions and how we view our actions.

Primary Definitions:

Growth Mindset-

A person with a growth mindset will see failure or mistakes as a catalyst for growth or a learning opportunity. They know they can learn anything if they try hard enough, put in the effort, and stretch their brain. They also see failure, not as a reflection of themselves and their abilities, but as a means to grow. People with this mindset will often be willing to try new things or take on challenges.

Fixed Mindset-

Someone with a fixed mindset will believe nothing can be changed. They will see a failure or mistake as a reflection of their intelligence or ability and that they can’t learn anything from it. They’ll often avoid risks and new things. You will often hear them say things like, “I am not good at this.” Or “I can’t do this/anything.”

We can all have a little bit of both a fixed and growth mindset. In order to tell which one your child has in certain situations, pay attention to what they say when they make mistakes, how easily they give up, or how stuck they get when things get hard. If your child usually gives up when things get hard or you hear them saying negative things about themselves, they likely have a predominately fixed mindset. Kids with a fixed mindset often get frustrated easily too.

Helping Our Kids Develop a Growth Mindset-

Researchers are finding that people with a growth mindset are often more successful than others. They don’t give up and are typically willing to try. This mindset is truly something that can help us succeed in life, and that’s something we want for our kids.

There are lots of ways we can foster this outlook. Here are a few ways to get your family started on developing a growth mindset:

Help kids understand practice and perseverance help them achieve.
- Talk with them through their struggles with your genuine empathy and understanding. Point out times they overcame something hard, or talk about when you did. When they don’t give up on something challenging, ask them what they did to succeed and how it feels when they accomplished the task.

Make mistakes something to grow from, not something worth punishment.
- There is value in mistakes and struggles, but many kids see a failure as final. Again, talk with them about how our brains can grow and circuits can expand when we preserve and learn new things. As parents, we often focus a lot on our kid’s mistakes and sometimes even punish or discipline harshly over them. I’m not saying kids shouldn’t be guided to make the best choices, but we can reframe mistakes as learning opportunities rather than something to be punished over.

Foster internal motivation:
- We learn because it’s good for us, not because we want good grades. This belief creates a more internal motivation to learn, not an external motivation (report card). We can’t force internal motivation, but we can foster it. We can allow our kids to feel their accomplishments, focus on the process more than the outcome, give them autonomy, encourage their self-discipline and self-direction, minimize external rewards or incentives, allow them to learn what and how they need, and point out what they do well and why they were successful.

Help kids develop a positive internal voice:
- When our kids have negative automatic thoughts, they often have a negative self-view. When we think certain thoughts over and over, they become automatic and difficult to control. We want them to counter those negative thoughts with something more motivating. So, if your child says, “I am so bad at reading.” You would want to help them counter that thought with neutral, “I am learning to read.” Which can eventually become something positive, “I am a good reader.”

Make them stretch:
- If kids are always doing things that come easy to them and things they are good at, they aren’t really stretching their brain. So, give them opportunities to do things they do well and do things they may struggle with, but that you know they can overcome. And, always be there to support them if they are struggling. Our brain needs to get uncomfortable in order to grow, and that growth is more likely to happen when there’s a loving, support adult walking along side them.

Don’t compare:
- We want to teach our kids to only compare themselves to themselves. Instead of looking at what someone else is doing, they can look at their own actions. Are they improving? Are they meeting their goals? As parents, it’s easy to compare our kids to one another, but it has been shown many times to not be the best practice. We want them to be the best version of themselves, not a better version of someone else.

Focus on the process:
- We rarely have much control over the outcome. But we can typically control what we put in, our effort. Results are important, but focusing on the learning process and the effort that went in, is much more beneficial in helping our kids learn to be their best self. How we praise their efforts is important too. Many of us are wired to say, “Good job!” But researchers continue to caution us to focus more on their effort than the end result. Instead, saying, “How did you accomplish that?” or “You look so proud.” Or “I bet that feels good/How does that feel?”

Make it part of your daily life:
- The best way for your kids to learn how to have a growth mindset is by watching you have one. It doesn’t come naturally for all of us, but it is something we can work into our daily lives. We don’t want our kids to feel like something is wrong with them as guide them on their journey, so it’s great for them to see us live it out. We can model how we handle struggles, ask them for their help with our own small problems (kids should never have to solve our problems for us, but we can include them in the process and ask them for suggestions so they can practice and feel important), and let them watch us grow our own brain. Having mindset conversations can become part of your family language, just like being thankful, and we can talk about how our brains grow and we do what we can to be our best selves.

Here are some questions to get a Growth Mindset Conversation started-

What can you learn from this?

When was a time you didn’t give up?

What can you do to solve this problem?

How did you get to this point?

What is something new you want to learn?

What is something hard you did?

Read the full article on Conversation Starters to Build a Growth Mindset here.

Positive Sayings for Kids-

I am strong.
I can do hard things.
Mistakes help me learn.
Challenges make me stronger.
I can challenge myself.
I want to learn new things.
I can always improve.
I choose to have a positive attitude.
Practice helps me get better.
I can train and grow my brain.
I can always do my best and that is good enough.
I am wonderful.

Try incorporating these into your own vocabulary as well. Modeling this for your kids is one of the best ways for them to learn.

By: Emily Scott, PhD

We are here to support you on your parenting journey. Parenting support sent right to your inbox.

Follow along with Renewed Hope Parenting on Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest, and Twitter! We’d love for you to join us.

You may also like:

5 Ways to be a Relationship-Based Parent

5 Impactful Ways to Build Your Child’s Self-Worth

Focusing on Your Child’s Mental Health

Easily Family Conversation Starters

Conversation Starters to Foster Emotional Intelligence

Emotional Intelligence for Kids

The post Helping Kids Develop a Growth Mindset appeared first on Renewed Hope Parenting.

The Power of Even Though

Wed, 03 Nov 2021 20:21:22 +0200

The Power of “Even Though”

Building Resilience and Gratitude in Difficult Times

As parents, we want to equip our kids with the tools they’ll need to handle the struggles of life. Resilience is one of those tools we want to give our kids in their success toolbox. Building resilience is an on-going process throughout life. People who have been working on building resilience typically can handle hard times or know pull from past experiences to see their strength.

Resilience has many components. Teaching our kids to find the “even though …” in difficult times, is just one of many ways our kids can develop this vital skill. With this skill, we can accept the difficult situation and still look for ways to be thankful, find ways to overcome, or use skills we’ve developed in the past to feel better.

Importance of Gratitude

Instilling an attitude of gratitude in our families is important. The habitual practice of thankfulness has been shown to have many health benefits, from better mental health, to better sleep, to better relationships. (Read more on Instilling an Attitude of Gratitude in Our Kids here.)

Although we know that expressing gratitude is good for us, there are times in our lives when it’s difficult. Life throws us curve balls and we go through difficult seasons where it can be hard to find anything to be thankful for. In 2018, our family lost our home and everything we owned in a California wildfire. It was an incredibly difficult season, but we made a point to find any little thing to be thankful for.

Modeling

Our kids learn a great deal about life from watching us. Therefore, it’s important for us to model resilience and gratitude for them to see. We can talk with them when life gets hard and let them see how we struggle and overcome. I think showing our kids what is “real” is important. Let them see you struggle and how you overcome. Model what you hope to see in them.

The Power of “Even Though” in action:

“Even though I got a bad grade, I can study more.”

“Even though I didn’t do well on the test, I know I studied really hard.”

“This bad thing happened. And even though it happened, I am OK.”

“Even though this is a hard situation, I know I can do hard things.”

“Even though I didn’t make the team, I can still play with my friends or try out next year.”

“Even though our home burned down, we are all safe and can make a plan to rebuild.”

Toxic Positivity and Empathy

A quick note on toxic positivity: When someone is struggling, it isn’t usually helpful to discount their feelings and what they are going through. For example, we had many people tell us, “It was just stuff” that we lost in the fire. They truly meant well and were trying to help us get perspective. It was JUST stuff, but it was OUR stuff, and hearing this all the time didn’t help us feel any better. This is where empathy is so important. We don’t need to discount hard times when trying to find the “even though.” Being empathetic, understanding, and compassionate are truly the best ways to build relationships and help people through difficult seasons.

(Read more on Empathy with an Upset Child, Empathy, and Big Emotions here.)

As parents, we have many opportunities throughout our kid’s childhood to help them develop resilience. Finding the “even though …” in hard seasons is just one of the many ways we can help our kids practice gratitude and build mental strength.

By: Emily Scott, PhD

Follow Renewed Hope Parenting on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, and Twitter!

You may also like:

Focusing on Your Child’s Mental Health

Emotional Intelligence for Kids

Emotional Wellness for Parents

Helping Kids Learn Problem Solving

Conversation Starters for Emotional Intelligence

Build a Strong Self-Worth

This blog is written as an educational and general resource only. It should not be used to diagnose or as a substitute for parenting or relational therapy, advice, or counseling with a professional therapist or medical doctor. Renewed Hope Parenting is not responsible for results or use of the information provided in these pages if you choose to use them. Everything included in this blog and website is copyrighted to Emily Scott, PhD and Renewed Hope Parenting and may not be used without permission.

The post The Power of Even Though appeared first on Renewed Hope Parenting.

Five Ways to be a Relationship Based Parent

Tue, 19 Oct 2021 19:19:17 +0200

The key to our parenting is our foundational relationship with our kids. We can know every parenting skill ever developed, and none will work as well if we don’t have the relational base with our kids. Focusing on enhancing and fostering your relationship with your kids won’t magically make all your problems disappear. But it is what will last. Your relationship with your kids is more important than grades, sports, or any other part of parenting.

To be a relationship-based parent, we first need to define what kind of relationship we hope to foster with our kids. This may look differently from family to family, but here are some ideas to get you started.

Mutual trust.

Respect.

Safety.

Security.

Support.

Comfort.

Honesty.

Communication.

Enjoyment.

Fun.

There are countless ways we can foster our relationship with our kids. Here are five areas of focus to get you started:

Focus on the Individual

It doesn’t always feel like we have what it takes to parent our kids. But we have an innate biological connection that can really set us up for success as parent. So, be a student of your child. Recognize their struggles and qualities. Discover what makes them feel loved and express your unconditional love. Also, understand that as they grow, your relationship may change, but it never becomes any less important. There is no one more important to their development than you.

Focus on Attachment

Connection, attachment, bond. These words are often used interchangeably to mean the basis of our relationship with our kids. From infancy, relationship-based parents seek to meet all the needs of their children and use warmth, affection, and love to foster attachment. As kids grow, we foster our attachment in different ways. Focusing on love languages, quality time, meeting needs, and showing interest.

Focus on Discipline over Punishment

There are dozens of parenting labels out there today, and it isn’t often helpful to get too bogged down in labels, but it can be helpful to see our own patterns of behavior and make changes in areas we need. Being too punitive, or too permissive, or too authoritarian, or too much of a helicopter, can be unhelpful in fostering relationship. Instead, focusing on healthy boundaries and allowing kids to live with the natural consequences of their choices, while being loving and empathetic are all ways research has shown to be an effective parent.

How we choose to discipline our children can have a major impact on our relationship with them. Living in a world with no consequences is as bad as living in constant fear of severe punishment. We don’t want to over punish our kids and make them fearful of us. Fear and punishment have no place in a healthy relationship. Instead, loving boundaries, sincere empathy and understanding, and non-punitive consequences show kids they are cared for and loved.

Additionally, when problems arise, parents who focus on relationship will look behind the behavior. Often, misbehavior is a child’s way of trying to tell us something they don’t know they need to say. Maybe they are feeling disconnected, maybe something is bothering them, or any number of other possible roots could be feeding the weeding misbehavior. Instead of focusing on the behavior, focus on the child.

Focus on Emotional Support

Research continues to show that kids who were raised by emotion coaching parents develop healthy relationship skills and are more successful in many aspects of life. Instead of constantly telling kids to “get over” their negative or uncomfortable feelings, emotional support parents help kids learn what they are feeling and how to deal with those feelings. (Read more on Emotional Intelligence for Kids here.)

Focus on Being Real

There are tons of labels out there for parenting. Helicopter, positive, permissive, lawn mower. Labels we put on our kids can be disabling, and it’s true for us too. Focusing on being a relationship-based parent is great, and so is being a real parent. Let your kids see you struggle and how you overcome. Allow them see you mess up and apologize or make amends. Let them see how you interact with the world. There are good and bad to all these parenting labels, and I think being a real parent is the best we can be.

These five areas of focus are just the start of being a parent who focuses on relationship building.

What other ways can you foster your relationship with your child?

By: Emily Scott, PhD

Follow Renewed Hope Parenting on Facebook, Pinterest, and Instagram!

You may also like:

Focusing on Your Child’s Mental Health

Fostering Self-Worth

Empathy With an Upset Child

Open Communication

Ways Parents Shut Down Conversation

Conversation Starters to Foster Emotional Health

This blog is written as an educational and general resource only. It should not be used to diagnose or as a substitute for parenting or relational therapy, advice, or counseling with a professional therapist or medical doctor. Renewed Hope Parenting is not responsible for results or use of the information provided in these pages if you choose to use them. Everything included in this blog and website is copyrighted to Emily Scott, PhD and Renewed Hope Parenting and may not be used without permission.

The post Five Ways to be a Relationship Based Parent appeared first on Renewed Hope Parenting.