A while back, I heard an episode of a popular podcast about a man who was completely blind

and rode around on his bike, a skill he'd honed as a child.

He would make clicks, not unlike a bat or dolphin, and could judge distance based on sound.

As a mother myself, I immediately thought about his mother.

I couldn't imagine what kind of courage it might take for a parent to buy their blind child

a bicycle.

During the podcast, she told stories about him returning home bloodied and missing teeth

at different times, and the criticism she endured.

But despite the obvious dangers, they persisted.

Parents has proven that our expectations of people can physically change them.

A teacher's expectation can literally change a child's IQ.

A weightlifter can outperform their personal best if they believe they've been given performance

enhancers, and in the case of Daniel Kish, a guy with no eyeballs, his mother's expectations

made it possible for him to find a way to see.

Our next story is a tale of ascending towards expectations.

David Finlayson raised his son Charlie with the confidence that he would be a capable,

independent adventure partner, taking him as a child on backcountry pursuits from the

mountains of Canada to the jungles of Panama.

When Charlie was just 13 and alone with his dad deep in the backcountry, his father suffered

a horrific injury.

Charlie, despite being forced to make decisions way beyond his age and experience, never

doubted that his father could survive and that he could help him.

...