As a gymnast of 17 years and a gymnastics coach of 25 years, I have encountered many occasions where I and my gymnasts have suffered from low self-esteem. One of the questions that remains is why is it so common for some of the strongest girls on earth to suffer from low self-esteem?
In my research and experience, I believe that the answer lies in how we perceive self-esteem and what we believe it is.
Self-esteem is related to how we view ourselves, not to how others view us.
In order for us to best help develop a high sense of self-esteem in our children is for us to remind our kids how strong they are, how capable they are, and how, given the opportunity and dedication they put in to something, worthy and deserving of success they are.
When we tell them how proud of them we are, we need to remind them that they should be proud of themselves, too. Remind them that they are the ones who worked hard and accomplished something. This will teach them to believe that they are capable and worthy of success – learning to think this way takes time, consistency, and effort.
Part of this is helping our kids develop their own goals and their own paths to reach those goals.
We need to teach our kids that their goals are important; the work they put in is important, and the outcome is important. If we don’t teach them this now, then they will not learn to be self-sufficient, strong, and ambitious. Let’s help them by encouraging goal-setting, their work, and their success!
Gym Rats 