Ammy is all prepared for her badminton tournament. She’s been practising for the past 2 months. Her parents are very supportive. Her mother dropped her at her academy for the practice sessions and her dad picked her up from there. She’s working really hard. And the day, which she’s eagerly waiting for, has finally arrived. She’s nervous and having butterflies in her belly.
The match starts, and she’s playing marvellously. Everyone Is cheering for her. She is on cloud 9. However, unfortunately, she loses the match by 1 point. It is heartbreaking for her. Her parent’s hearts just sank. It is devastating.
Every parent has gone through such heartbreaks. When their kid is doing so much hard work, yet fails to achieve their goals. Parents would do anything in order to cheer their children up. Although, then the main question arises… How can parents help their children to understand that failures are important?
In this blog, we shall talk about it and suggest some ways by which you can teach them.
In order to achieve success, one has to walk down the path of failures. We often think that failure is the opposite of success but that’s not true. Failures teach us various lessons, which ultimately helps us to get closer to our dreams. It has different learnings like:
- It keeps reminding us, our ultimate goal. Failures reconnect us with our goal.
- Keeps us grounded. Failure keeps us on track and gives us a chance to re-evaluate all the procedures so that we can restart our journey and achieve our goal.
- Strengthen us from within. Failure can give us strength so that we can achieve anything we want.
- Makes us a creative thinker to overcome obstacles. If we failed once, the very next time we would think of a different way, try a different strategy. It makes us a creative thinker.
- Helps to overcome our fear. Most of us are usually afraid of facing our fears, although failures let us, to face them and learn lessons from our mistakes.
If you want to learn more Register for our Happy Parenting Masterclass: Register Now
There are certain things that as a parent, you can do.
- Be more Empathetic
Be very careful of what you say when your child just faces failure. Your first words really make a huge impact on their mind. Try to be very careful and sensitive while talking to them. Instead of saying, “It’s okay, you’ll do better next time”, you should say “I know you’re feeling disappointed and it’s okay to feel that way. You know you can talk to me whenever you feel like.” Give them some space and be in touch. Make sure they don’t suffer on their own. They need you, so be present and handle them with care, love and just be there for them!
- Guide your child
At this crucial stage, when they just faced failure, they need your guidance. Don’t be their savior, they don’t want to be saved. Try to guide them. There’s a fine line between imposing your opinion on them and guiding them. Whenever you tell them what to do, it kills their creative problem thinking. You want them to be independent and solve their problems on their own. They need just direction and they will find the rest path on their own. They’ll come back with a smile and confidence.
- Encourage them not to give up
Whenever they step out for their bigger move, talk to them. It’s better if they know that winning and losing is just a phase of life. And they won’t be judged whatever the outcomes would come. Even if they fail, they have plenty of other options. Life doesn’t stop there. Tell them to focus on their learnings, as this is what actually matters. Our every step, our winnings, our failures teaches us something. And that is what really counts.
Focus on that and keep trying. Giving up is not an option, they need to fight for it.
- Let the Failure happen
No parent wants their child to struggle. They want to give them everything and because of this they don’t let them to face disappointment. Parents need to understand that children would learn if you let them free. Let them fall and learn. You can’t protect them all their life. They need to get out of their shell and fly.
Support them and tell them that you don’t care about the results.
- Celebrate Failure!
Your child will never get a better teacher than a failure. They must be sad, disheartened, or sometimes don’t even want to talk about it. They want to be alone. However, they need you the most at this time. You need to cheer them up, try to bring a smile on their face and talk about it, if they feel like. Failure brings a new opportunity to be better than ever, so don’t forget to celebrate it.
Parents can stop their kids from doing self harming, only if kids know that it’s okay to make mistakes. Kids need their parents as they are devastated by their defeat. We need to make them understand that failures bring new opportunities, and instead of crying over what we did, we must focus on those opportunities and try to move on.