I'm sure I speak for many parents when I say the ultimate dream is to see my kids succeed in life. Whether it's encouraging them to pursue the career of their dreams or simply ensuring they're happy, my goal is to raise confident kids that are motivated to reach their own goals.
From experience, I know that mastering any goal takes hard work, determination and self-confidence - the belief you can do it. It takes guts to go against the 'norm' and take risks - especially when they could spectacularly back-fire.
For that reason, I'm passionate about helping my kids become confident.
I was reading an article yesterday about how parents can raise brilliant children and one certain point struck a chord with me. It said that 'confidence is crucial in teaching kids to take safe risks' and I completely agree. How can anyone, including a child, find their true calling in life if they don't experiment with the things they're interested in?
Everyone gets through life using trial and error. Your trials make you successful and errors? Well, they just make you realise that nobody's perfect. It takes a while to figure 'life' out, and I want my kids to know that it's all part of the journey to becoming happy and successful in their own terms.
I want my kids to take risks. I want them to have fun with their experiments. I want them to have the confidence to persevere and know that they can turn their repeated failures into success. If they try hard enough they will win in the end - whether it be the third, 50th or millionth attempt.
I'm forever stressing the importance of experimentation with my kids, whether it's my daughter deciding whether to lob her long locks off or my son choosing his subjects for GCSE, I want them to experience both the successes and failures of life. But, you can't experience them without taking risks - and being confident enough to take them.
I want my kids to make their own decisions on the risks they'll take but I don't want to bubble-wrap them. They need to feel comfortable with where they're at. I want them to be self-motivated, to constantly push themselves; it's where the best (and greatest-feeling) successes come from.
As a person who's experienced both major successes and heart-breaking failures, I believe that both make you a better person. I'd much rather have a varied life and search for my talents than feel like I'm at a stand-still, waiting on somebody else to tell me what I should do.
From failed relationships to learning how to make a career for myself (the hard way), it's my goal to have my kids experience both the successes and failures that life has to offer. The only way to do that is to encourage them to be more confident in themselves, to take risks and believe in themselves and that they can turn every negative experience into a positive one.