Low Self Esteem – How to support your child?

SoulKids teaches parents many skills and techniques to support their children if they ever face low self-esteem.

Here are some ways parents can help to raise self-esteem in their children.

5 Simple Tips to raise self-esteem in your children:

1. Keep your speech positive around your child. Be aware of what they hear from you and others in the family, because they imbibe and imitate what they hear.
2. Encourage your child to make small efforts, rather than take big leaps. Support their efforts when they make them and encourage them to do some more. Remember, small victories lead to greater ones.
3. Never compare your child. This habit is toxic to your child’s inner beliefs, and devalues the child’s self-esteem.
4. Do not dominate your child. If you are dominating and dictatorial, it weakens your child’s self-esteem. Either they will withdraw and become introverted, or they may rebel and swing the opposite way by becoming confrontational.
5. Avoid labelling your child in any way. Labels such as ‘you’re slow’, ‘you’re so dumb’ etc. are toxic to their self-belief.

Positive self-esteem in children helps them to become happy and successful, while low self-esteem will make them unhappy, sad or depressed.

High self-esteem leads to action, while low self-esteem will make them avoid taking actions. Since actions produce results, success is inevitably a result of high self-esteem.

SoulKids is an award-winning life skills program for children. Send your children to SoulKids and we will help them develop a positive and strong self-esteem.

We recommend all parents to attend our annual ‘SoulKids Mentor Training’ and learn SoulKids methods and secrets from Vikas Malkani himself.

Interview with Dana Ilies, SoulKids Mentor

Sally: What brought you to SoulCentre & SoulKids?

Dana: I first applied for an open job position at SoulCentre. I was recommended by a friend who is a student at SoulCentre.

In my interview I was very impressed by Sally who I found to be a very positive and happy person and by the calmness and peacefulness of SoulCentre itself.

And when I was accepted into the company, little did I realize that working for SoulCentre would be so exciting. In my 6 months since, I’ve grown and learnt about life and work, beyond my imagination. I’ve been involved in areas from basic admin to future planning, and everyday has been a fun and learning experience for me.

S: How did you hear about SoulCentre/ SoulKids?

D: My friend’s daughter attends SoulKids and she really loved Sally and Vikas. She told me how nice they are and how everybody at SoulCentre is happy and friendly.

I was recommended to SoulCentre by my friend.

S: What were your experiences of the SoulKids Mentor Training and the SoulKids Weekend?

D: The SoulKids Mentor training was the most transforming and enlightening experience of my life.

Vikas teaches that in order to be a Mentor you have to be an example of what you teach, and that the first step to mentoring is to make your teachings a part of you. You can’t give what you don’t have.

I think this is why the SoulKids programs are so powerful, because Mentors not only transmit information, they are living examples of what they teach.

The SoulKids weekend was a blast. To see 23 children have so much fun while learning such powerful life lessons was a true joy. I was impressed by the way children really absorb the lessons in SoulKids.

Hearing them say “This is my best day ever” or “I want to come to SoulKids everyday” was very rewarding too.

I’m also very grateful that I had such wonderful fellow Mentors on the mentor training with me. We were a very good team and had the best time together.

S: How has SoulKids changed you as an individual?

D: I will be the most positive person I know! This is my new motto after the SoulKids Mentor Training.

I’m empowered with all the wisdom Vikas gave us during training, and I now know how to keep myself positive and transmit positivity to people around me.

SoulKids mentor Training was really transformational for me!

S: What is your most important lesson from the SoulKids training?

D: It’s so difficult to choose only one!

I’d say the one that impressed me the most was the story of 10 000 mirrors who teaches us that the universe is a reflection of what we are.

If we are unhappy and negative, then what we see is all that’s unhappy and negative. If we want the universe to give us positive things we have to change our inside first.

There are so many great lessons, but that’s been a very impactful one for me!

S: What are your hopes / dreams and visions going forward?

D: My dream is to transmit the SoulKids wisdom and life lessons to as many children as I can.

I’m convinced that if we equip children with life skills which guide them to success and happiness, then not only will we have a lot more happy people, we will also be living in a better world.

I want to change the world one child at a time!

S: Anything else you want to share with our readers?

D: Action brings results, intentions don’t! I learnt this in my mentor training, and I apply it every day.

I advise everyone to get in touch and learn from SoulCentre, it will change your life for the better.

Thank you.

Parenting tips for stress free travel

The holidays are finally here!

Summer vacations, trips back home, family time, and travel to exotic locations. While all of the above sounds exciting and fun, if you are not well prepared, they can prove to be stressful as well.

So here are our top tips to enjoy stress-free holiday with your family:

1. Plan in advance.

Children need something to do, something that stimulates them and excites them. Just sightseeing or tagging along for a shopping trip sounds extremely boring to them. Instead make a fun experience out of the same outing. Let them lead the way for you or talk to you about where you're headed. Get them to do some research in advance and take on the role of a guide or explorer. By giving them this responsibility, you are just turning a potentially boring trip for them into a fun learning experience.

2. Set some goals

A fun way to engage the children is to sit together as a family and set some holiday goals for each of you. Make sure the goals are achievable, realistic and measurable. Set goals for yourself too and work on them everyday. When the children see you working on your goals, it inspires them to work on theirs too.

3. Encourage the children to read.

Holidays and travel are a great time to read. SoulKids books provide a wealth of wonderful stories, which not just intrigue their interest but also serve as a wonderful conversation starter. The stories in SoulKids books help you to coach and mentor your children even whilst on holiday.

The SoulKids® books support the children to earn essential life skills such as self-confidence, self-esteem, teamwork, leadership and resilience.

You will be able to relate to the stories as you travel and explain the lessons with real life situations.

For example one story teaches about seeing the good in every situation – this could apply to many situations whilst travelling.

4. Start each holiday morning on a positive note.

Switch your thinking from 'what can go wrong' to 'what an exciting new experience, I’ll make the most of it'.

This way you transmit your positivity to your children and create for them the opportunities to see positive thinking in action.

5. Remember holidays are meant for rest and rejuvenation, whilst having fun.

It is a well-deserved time-off not just for you but for the children as well. Make it your goal to create happy memories.

After all " the quality of what you do is more important than how much you do."