Teens are under more pressure than ever before. The teen years have always been a time of rapid change. They carry with them the pressures of sports, part-time jobs, keeping up with family obligations, chores, and school while adulthood and the decision of what to “do with their life” looms ever closer. But teens are now also dealing with the challenges of social media and having every choice, outfit, and word live on forever online.
The stresses are real. Teens often struggle with negative self-talk which can be a contributing factor towards low self-esteem and even depression.
Affirmations can be centering and help encourage and inspire.
They are not an automatic fix, but they can help change their mindset over time, especially when positive self-talk becomes a habit and begins to drown out the negative internal voices.
Speaking positivity into your child and teaching them to speak positivity into themselves can lead to more confidence and improved self-esteem.
Why use positive affirmations with teens?
Positive affirmations can also help to reframe negative self-talk into positive self-talk. For example the card, “I forgive myself for my mistakes,” can help someone who devolves into self-loathing and negative self-talk when confronted with a mistake. It can also help your perfectionist child work on opening themselves up to learning from their mistakes instead of working triple hard to avoid every mistake.
Affirmations can also help your child build their self-confidence. As they practice speaking these affirmations to themselves, they are reminding themselves that there is room for growth and that they are always changing, growing, and improving.
If your child is reluctant to use the affirmation cards, try modelling using the affirmations yourself. Let them hear you speaking them to yourself. You can also tape them up on bathroom mirrors, inside of kitchen cabinets, bedroom walls, and anywhere else your child can’t help but see them.
Affirmations work with continuous practice over time, so the sooner they can get on board, the quicker they will see the changes in themselves.
You’ll find that these cards also help foster a growth mindset.
Affirmations can help your child rework their negative self-talk and help them to build self-confidence to conquer all the challenges that they face in their walk through adolescence.
Today, I’m sharing these downloadable affirmations cards. They can be used with teens or for older children or even adults.
Get your free affirmation cards for teens. Simply enter your email in the box below.
You may also be interested in reading:
Unicorn Affirmation Colouring Pages for Kids (free!)
Why Kids Need Positive Affirmations