The Healthy Struggles Your Children Need to Succeed

Children need to experience healthy struggles to realize their full potential. Scott and Chad discuss how to create smart, successful, confident children by allowing them the space to overcome challenges in their own lives. The impulse to give your children all the things you never had as a kid comes from a good place, but it can prevent them from growing in the ways they need to. As parents, it’s easy for us to intervene and tell our kids what to do, but that hinders a child’s ability to make hard decisions for themselves. Your goal as a parent is to let your kids go through life experiences themselves, but to coach them along the way. We want to let our kids do dangerous things safely so they can build their competence and confidence. One way to gauge this is whether your children are willing to try new things. Are they nervous and hesitant about trying new activities? Helping a kid overcome a problem gives them confidence for life. Most kids struggle and want to give up as a default. Instead of telling them to suck it up and keep pushing, show them the value of overcoming challenges by embodying that value yourself. It takes discipline as a parent to allow your children to struggle. Ask questions instead of just solving their problems for them. Teach them to think through their challenges and work through things on their own. Watching your child figure out problems and gain confidence in themselves is fantastic. Solving your kid’s problems for them just creates a dependency. If your child needs to raise money for an activity, challenge them to reach out beyond family and friends. Overcoming challenges consistently will build children up into capable, confident, and effective adults. Chad tells a story of his seven-year-old son learning how to surf and being challenged enough to want to quit. You can’t expect your kids to get everything they need to be successful in public school.     Mentioned in This Episode: gravystack.com/smart smartmoneyparenting.com Smart, Not Spoiled: The 7 Money Skills Kids Must Master Before Leaving the Nest by Chad Willardson Value Creation Kid: The Healthy Struggles Your Children Need to Succeed by Scott Donnell and Lee Benson Scott Donnell on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/donnell-scott Chad Willardson on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/chadwillardson Scott Donnell on Instagram - @imscottdonnell Chad Willardson on Instagram - @chad.willardson Scott Donnell on TikTok - @imscottdonnell