Fighting Spirit Definition
Fighting spirit is the emotional strength that a person has which exhibits the willingness to achieve set goals and overcome limitations. It is more than just the willingness to engage in adversarial contests. It is a neurological response to positive energy.
Fighting spirit is an important trait every parent should strive to develop in their children. This is essentially not just for their performance in sport, but also for a progressive and positive attitude towards life in general.
What is more?
Children with a functional fighting spirit can overcome harsh economic backgrounds, educational deficiencies, and even physical and mental limitations. But, the big question is “how do we build a functional fighting spirit?
In this post, I will give you the best 5 ways you can improve fighting spirit in your children. However, before identifying these 5 super strategies to build fighting spirit in children, I’ll tell you why it is important to develop fighting spirit.
Why Do We Build Fighting Spirit?
Some of the reasons we should build fighting spirit include:
- People with a fighting spirit do not give in to despair;
- An unrelenting fighting spirit always distinguishes goal-getters from speculators and wishers;
- People with a fighting spirit are more consistent in life and can manage their successes better.
How can you Build Fighting Spirit?
Parenting is one of the most difficult task in human existence. As a parent, you have the arduous tasks of improving and building the fighting spirit in your children. This is aside the responsibility of providing feeding, clothing, and also taking care of the physical needs of the child in your care.
The following are ways you can activate the fighting spirit in your children:
#1. Build Fighting Spirit By Setting High Expectations
One of the lessons I learnt from Les Brown’s motivational speeches is that “Most people fail in life not because they aim too high and miss, but because they aim too low and hit.”
Expect the most out of your children, and motivate them to expect the most out of themselves. I’ve seen children who perform well above their grade level in school. I’ve also seen kids who can lift weights adults deem impossible. All these are possible because such children have the fighting spirit or motivation that they can do these things.
The sweetest thing about having high expectations for your kids is that even when they fail to achieve those expectations, they will always end up at a higher level than they ordinarily would had they low expectation or an unmotivated spirit.
#2. Let Them Understand that it is Normal to Fail Sometimes
We all don’t like failure. It sucks to fail. Because of the painful feelings which accompanies failure, some groups promote the concept of self-esteem vigorously and are of the opinion that anything that shows failure in the life of a child should be removed. To this end, the proponents of this group no longer grade the children in test, quiz, or even in soccer competitions.
The danger in this is that when these children encounter the inevitable reality of failure, they are ill-prepared to confront this grueling reality.
Building a fighting spirit in your children therefore also requires that you also teach them that it is normal to fail sometimes, and when they fail, they should pick the lesson and reasons for their failure and ensure they do not fail because of those mistakes again.
Someone wrote eloquently that the key to achieve this is to “Let your kids get familiar with the strain needed for true success, and if they fail sometimes, so be it. Let them learn from loss and develop the skill set that comes with critical evaluation of performance. Let them learn how to come back from a loss and to know the self-esteem that comes from true achievements”
#3. Give Your Full Support and Encourage their Dream
A friend shared her story about how she is giving her full support and encouraging her kid to achieve his idealistic dreams.
In her exact words:
“Currently my son has a dream. When he gets older (maybe ten, maybe 100, he’s not sure), he wants to be a firefighter who also drives an excavator, while moonlighting as Batman, and becoming the strongest man in the world. The realistic adult in me wants to say his dream is impossible. But, I also realize this sort of dreaming represents him setting a high goal for himself. Sure, the odds of him becoming the strongest man in the world are roughly one in seven billion. Sure, Batman exists only in comic books and on film. But, who knows what he could become?”
This story by Amanda represents the exact message under this sub-topic.
I advise that you shouldn’t worry about counting the cost now. There is enough time for that later. For now, encourage you kids to pursue their aspirations with all their heart.
#4. Encourage Them to Always Take a Step Farther than the Usual.
Another effective way to build fighting spirit in children is by encouraging them to take a step farther than the ordinary.
When you challenge your kids to take just a single step beyond their limit, they are more likely to take the challenge and achieve the task. Do this over time will build their fighting spirit and create a feeling of persistence and self-confidence in them.
Amanda says that:
“Encouraging your children to be a little bit better than they were before will lead to huge gain in the long run.”
#5. Try to Recognize and Reward Effort, Not Results
One of the constant mistakes parents make is identifying results not effort. Children are fantastic beings and this quality usually drive them to give in great energy in achieve set goals. Oftentimes, because of the unrealistic nature of their dream, they fail. As parents, you should strive to always identify the effort they’ve expended in those venture and reward them for that.
You can take them on an outdoor event where they take snickers, yogurts, cheese, and other fun things kids love to take. All these are targeted towards recognizing their effort. Amanda says she once prepared Pastrami – a Japanese delicacy for her sun to celebrate one of his inventions.
Doing this overtime will encourage them to give in their all to a task irrespective of what the result of their effort would be.
On the other hand, if your child do not show determination, you have to note it and confront them with it. Let them understand that you expect more them. Teach them that they need fighting spirit to shape the world to their will. They should learn that nobody stumbles their way into a perfect life without effort, regardless of the fantasy tales you may read.
Amanda says that “you should encourage your children to develop their own fighting spirit, to grow their mental muscle. Hopefully, their strength and spirit will make them as successful as they ever dreamt”
Conclusion
I hope you’ve learnt how to acquire and build fighting spirit, and how to be more aggressive in sports. You can read some of our related posts for more information. Kindly leave your comments and questions in the comment box below.
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Originally posted 2021-03-04 15:48:51.
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