You're listening to TED Talks Daily, where we bring you new ideas and conversations to spark

your curiosity every day. I'm your host, Elise Hume. Could exposing kids to their fears help them thrive

later on in life? In my house, we talk a lot about trying new things,

trying things that scare us because it helps us learn to be brave. In this talk, pediatric psychologist

Catherine Heck shows the parenting for confidence by encouraging children to handle discomfort

with some support builds resilience, courage, and lasting self-belief.

Through personal stories and practical strategies, she shares the secret playbook for raising

children ready to meet life's challenges.

I've walked a lot in these shoes today. These soles have ground into the pavement of downtown Minneapolis,

the rubber mats of my car, the linoleum of a gas station bathroom,

and the plato-crested carpet of a daycare.

Embedded in the tread, smear a toddler bugger, and the plato-crusted carpet of a daycare.

Embedded in the tread, smear a toddler bugger,

a little leftover norovirus maybe.

Maybe if I'm really lucky, a little fluked dog poop.

Makes you sick just thinking about it, right?

Hey y'all, Elise, here that shock and awe you just heard from the audience is because Catherine,

who until this moment was holding her shoe in her hand, had just licked the bottom of her dirty shoe and then put it back off.

So, yeah, that happened.

And while you may not have tasted what I just tasted,

you felt what I felt.

Your sympathetic nervous system activated,

...