Making your parents proud can be a tough task, especially if your parents are the loving type and will always look at you with so much love and affection regardless of anything. In this case, it can be hard to tell whether they’re proud of you and how you turned out to be or what you achieved so far, or if they’re not so satisfied.

However, if you have a different type of parents or very demanding ones then it can only feel more urgent and necessary to want to make them proud. This type of parents will be more direct about their expectations and if you’re a good child you will be willing to do everything to see a little joy, a lot of respect, and pride in their eyes.

So how can one make their parents proud?

5 ways to make your parents proud:

1. Follow your mind and heart:

We all have goals that we want to pursue in our life, regardless of whether they are about our professional careers or simple ways we would like to improve ourselves. For parents, seeing that their child is trying to push their limits healthily so they can eventually grow into fully capable adults is a reason good enough to be proud of them. 

If you set your mind to do something you believe will be beneficial for your life and your future then you will most definitely be perceived as ambitious and focused. If you have such goals and your parents ask you questions about your progress, it means they are invested in it and proud of you.

Of course, they will be prouder when you achieve your dreams. However, having them ask questions and show interest in your goals and plans to reach them also means they care about you and believe in you to some extent, at least.

2. Become a responsible person:

One thing that some parents struggle with is making sure they are raising their children to be responsible. They struggle with it because they know how important it is to have a good sense of responsibility and they want to be sure that their child doesn’t rely on them for every single aspect of life.

It means that one day when the parents are no longer there for their child, the child should be capable of being independent enough to know what to do. It is the parents who need to cultivate a sense of responsibility in their child, but when the child grows and shows that they can be responsible without having to be forced to go through hardship, the parents will inevitably feel proud.

You can show your parents how responsible you are by being able to handle most aspects of your life without their help. Of course, it’s okay to ask for help when we need it and your parents know that. What will make them proud though is that you refrain to ask for help for things that are solely your responsibility because you could easily handle them alone.

3. Tell them how much you appreciate their efforts and sacrifices:

People often think that we need to achieve great things and do great deeds for other people to be proud of us. Perhaps there’s some truth to it, but it doesn’t apply to people that love us unconditionally and are very close to us. That said, you need to be aware that you don’t need to constantly be doing great things to make your parents proud of you. Most of the time, knowing that you turned out to be a good person is good enough.

You can show that you are empathetic and tell them that you are grateful for the way they raised you. Tell them that even though you didn’t agree with your parents at times, you are now capable of understanding why they took certain decisions. This shows maturity from your side and it will make your parents feel like they did a good job raising such an aware and empathic adult.

4. Show that you have morals:

You don’t need to try to prove yourself to your parents all the time. One thing that you could do instead is gradually work on yourself and wait for the results to be noticeable. It might help to think about the things that could make your parents proud.

For example, maybe when they were raising you one thing they always made sure of was that you were generous and compassionate and that you didn’t only care about your gain. They could also have raised you to be someone who is there for their community in any way they can.

After thinking about this, you can assess if you indeed turned out to be like that or if you could do some improvements. If you fit in the latter scenario, try to gradually improve yourself in that direction and if you are consistent, soon your parents will notice it too. They will eventually realize that you indeed are the person they hoped you would be.

5. Offer your help anytime you can:

It’s normal to be so busy with our daily routines and so self-absorbed in our lives that we don’t always pay attention to the needs of others. However, sometimes it takes a bit of extra effort to be there for others who cannot get by alone and be helpful.

If you are capable of doing this often, your parents will be proud of you because you will be showing them that you are selfless and willing to help others. In any case, your parents will be more willing to consider your opinions and give you a lot of importance; if they trust your judgment and if they are proud of who you are as a person.

This is easier to do than you think. Perhaps you have an elderly family member to whom you could pay a visit, or maybe you have a friend who is going through hard times and they need support. Giving a hand to people who need it will surely make your parents proud. But, make sure you don’t give too much of yourself to friends that don’t reciprocate. This way you don’t fall into the trap of giving so much to others and getting nothing in return.