Dear Parents,
Beware! There is a thief near you! And that thief is not after your money or your Plasma TV. This thief is after something far more valuable. The thief is after the Self-Esteem of your most precious possession … your child.
My friends, we live in a largely negative world. And, unless you are vigilant, that negativity will drain the Self-Esteem
from your son or daughter. Protecting the Self-Esteem of your child is an ongoing, never-ending task. The
responsibility falls to you. If you don’t undertake this urgent responsibility, who will? Our martial arts teachers use a 10 step approach to developing and protecting Self-Esteem. You can use these strategies too!
1. Always remind your child of their past
victories and accomplishments. Let their
self-image be built upon a recollection of
past successes. Let the memory of failures
and disappointments fade away.
2. Help your child strive for improvement.
…NOT perfection. Help them to create
reasonable expectations for performance.
3. Develop a family heritage. Teach your
child to be proud of your family. Tell them
about the achievements and sacrifices
of their parents, grandparents, and other
relatives.
4. Do provide feedback; don’t be overly
critical. If you do have to give negative
feedback, especially to an older child,
always criticize privately; on the other
hand, always praise publicly!
5. Teach him the value of telling the truth.
Lying steals Self-Esteem!
6. Appearance counts! Guide your child
into taking pride in their appearance.
7. Try to guide her toward friends who
have high Self-Esteem. Possibly other
kids in her karate class. Help her to avoid
negative people.
8. Paint the big picture with your
child. Help her to dream big dreams
about being a future Black Belt. How
setting goals for each belt is the same
as setting goals for anything else they
want to achieve in life. Remind them
that winners never quit and quitters
never win. So choose to win in the game
of life.
9. Be healthy! Exercise regularly; eat a
balanced diet.
10. Become an expert! Pick a couple
of activities that are important to your
child and help him to MASTER them!
Don’t allow them to flirt from activity to
activity.
If you have questions about Self-Esteem issues, give me a call; I’d be happy to help!
Success Always
Master Virgil Greer III