Building teen self esteem, articles and advice

A departure point for any teenager to start on this journey of building self esteem is to click back to the link on (see self Improvement). The dedicated commitment to the principles that drive the achievement of satisfaction and success in self improvement and image apply equally to any teenager in the quest for recognition.

The image the teenager has of self begins in the cradle. Those around the growing infant will subliminally influence the images of life. The role model will tend toward the parent in the mind of the small child. As the child grows into a young person the learned habit will lead to a development of character. Thought patterns stimulated in the active young mind will lead to action, as the young love to experiment. Habitual action on new ideas will lead on to the development of a character that recognizes that action is what moves the world. Once this character is developed then the young mind recognizes that destiny is determined not by knowledge, not by education, not by who you are or what you know but by what ACTION you take.

The minds of young people are not programmed to failure. They are the world's optimists until life makes them pessimists. They think they know everything until they are told they know very little and start to believe it. That's when they are told to "grow up". Many great discoveries were "impossible" or mistakes. If only the parent can avoid dampening the enthusiasm of the teenager for life and allow them to make mistakes in order to learn. They are told that this or that will not work. Education generally tends to teach about historical fact. Our society and our media focus on failure as a final destination instead of as a step on the way to success. Failure is bad, only success is good. How can we blame young people if their lives collapse under the stress of the demand of society that only rewards success? Entrepreneurship is mostly about the unknown or the unproved. Young people should be encouraged in constructive research and experiment so that they can discover for themselves the limits of reality. The joys of failure should be shown as the benefit of experience.

I think of my own case as a young farmer when my late father would not allow me to start an idea I had about pasture management. Five years later I was able to implement this idea which turned out to be one of the great innovative developments in that area of South Africa which literally changed the economics of dairying. How many years of discovery were lost and at what cost? Why could I not have been allowed some small area to experiment on? Similarly, the teenager with what might be an outlandish idea should be encouraged to develop this idea in some small way to start so that he can learn about actions, results and responsibilities. This might change the rest of a young life; build self worth, self esteem and confidence.

Think and dream big. You can change your life and those around you with a positive attitude. Your attitude to anything you touch will determine the direction of the rest of your life. If you believe strongly enough subconsciously you will achieve that goal. You have to think success. Forget about thinking big and focus on the complete achievements of small goals which are feasible and realistic at the start. Don't be a dreamer without action. Appreciate and never forget your friends and those near to you for you will achieve greater goals with the support of your friends and family.