9 Actionable Tips to Help Your Kids Master the Art of Self Discipline
With the easy escape of smartphones and in an era of the internet and technology, it is very difficult to get kids to discipline themselves. That being said, it is still quite relevant and crucial for kids to learn the skill of self-discipline at a young age to be able to lead a fulfilling life in future. And as a parent it is a challenge for you to be the guiding torch for your kids in finding their way to being self-disciplined. Read on to know how you can help…
Actionable Ways to Instigate Self-discipline in your Child
While it may not be an easy task to always be able to incite discipline in your little ones, it is not impossible. Here are some amazing and realistic ways in which you can help your child be self-disciplined:
Help them in Organizing their Schedule: Creating a schedule is the best way to start the journey of discipline. A proper schedule will help your child create a routine for themselves and act in a more organized manner. This will help them manage their time, be aware of all their tasks and make their day as fruitful as possible. Ask your kids to create a time table for all the tasks they need to do in a typical day. Review this schedule with them and highlight the areas where they can improvise it. Also, make sure that they do follow this schedule.
Let them Solve their own Problems: A typical mistake that parents/guardians make with their kids is to solve their problems on their behalf. Instead, let your kids fight their own battles. Be around to help them when they need it, but let them try first. Only when they face a problem hand-on without any backup to fall on, they will be able to learn crisis management, decision making and problem solving.
Give them Positive as well as Negative Feedbacks: It has become a trend of sorts to appreciate your kids on all their work. This is good to build self-esteem and confidence but at the same time may not give your child the scope to improve further. Combine your positive feedback with some comments on the scope of improvements in their work to let your children grow further with self-improvement.
Do not be a Good Behavior Police: Self-discipline is not limited to good behavior. Ideally, it is not being goody-two-shoe that makes you disciplined. So avoid being a good behavior police to your kid. Allow them to commit mistakes and make wrong choices. Let them reveal their worst self to you without the fear of being scolded or insulted before others and then steadily help them to keep such behavior under control.
Create Non-monetary Rewards: Another mistake to avoid as parents is making rewards all about money and stuff. To actually motivate your kids into doing things in a disciplined way, you need to stop attaching monetary value to it. Or else, they will always end up being motivated by money alone. Instead try rewarding them with something non-monetary like a good novel, or half hour of video game battle with them. Gifting them knowledge or your time will be much greater motivation than money.
Make them Do Stuff Now rather than Later: One big fat barrier in self-discipline is procrastination. It doesn’t matter how good their routine board looks unless your kids are actually willing to accomplish those tasks everyday. And for that you need to push them to do the task “right now” instead of “in sometime”. And for that you need to create an urgency on the task to be done in a way that completing it within time will be rewarding for them. For instance, completing their homework before going to play will give them an extra half hour in their play time.
Encourage them to Express via Journaling: A great way to let all your emotions and dilemmas out is to write it down. Through journaling your kid can express their struggles, the things they accomplished, the tasks they missed out on, and give them scope to self-reflect. Try to make them habitual of writing and keeping a check on their own thoughts. You can yourself do some journaling and each week encourage your kid to exchange their journal with yours to know if they need your help.
Engage them in Daily Household Chores: What better way to bring self-discipline in kids than teaching them some household chores? Kids have all the rights to enjoy their childhood playing and doing stuff that they do best. But, learning household chores is also an important thing kids must indulge in from a young age. This will incorporate self-discipline and make them home-smart. Being able to cook a simple snack, do basic laundry, clean their room, arrange their desks, make their bed, are some things they must be well aware of and will come handy as they grow!
Help them in Achieving Self Control: Last but not the least, self-discipline requires self-control. Kids in their early age are prone to temptation. Be it a game or a favorite food, they will throw tantrums until they get what they want. And you need to help them keep this temptation in check and exercise self control. For example, if your child is adamant on getting a new outfit that they don’t need, you must reason with them by highlighting all the better ways they can use that money in!
Final Words
Self-discipline has much more to it than what is conventionally understood. It is an art that helps kids to walk past their temptations and discomforts to focus on achieving long term goals. It is the means to making them a better human being and a responsible adult. Helping your child in crossing all barriers to develop self-discipline from the start will be of great use to them in facing challenges and difficulties in life. This will give them the power to be prepared for whatever the future holds.
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