Kids Do Well When They Can
The Daily Dad
Daily Dad
4.6 • 630 Ratings
🗓️ 21 September 2021
⏱️ 2 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Ryan discusses why it’s important to base your expectations on this simple idea, on today’s Daily Dad podcast.
Pre-orders are available for Ryan Holiday’s new book Courage Is Calling: Fortune Favors The Brave - check it out at https://dailystoic.com/preorder
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Welcome to the Daily Dad podcast where we provide one lesson every day to help you with your most important job being a dad. |
| 0:15.2 | These are lessons inspired by ancient philosophy, by practical wisdom, and insights from dads all over the world. |
| 0:22.9 | Thank you for listening, and we hope this helps. |
| 0:31.5 | Kids do well when they can. |
| 0:35.2 | Going back to Socrates, we have this idea that most people are doing the best they |
| 0:38.9 | can, that almost nobody does the wrong thing on purpose. No, they're doing what they think is right, |
| 0:44.6 | what they're capable of in the moment. And so why should this be any different with your kids? |
| 0:50.8 | You think they want to underperform in school, that they want to let you down, that they |
| 0:54.6 | want to have behavioral issues? Of course not. When we interviewed Dr. Williams-Sticks-Read and |
| 1:00.6 | Ned Johnson about their book, The Self-Driven Child, they paraphrased an idea from Dr. Ross Green |
| 1:05.6 | that's worth committing to memory. Kids do well when they can. When kids are set up for success, they succeed. |
| 1:15.1 | When it's possible for them to do what you want for them, what is best for them, they do. |
| 1:20.6 | And if you don't believe that, then what exactly is it that you do believe about your kids? |
| 1:25.7 | The reason they're struggling, the reason they're |
| 1:27.6 | acting out, the reason things are fraught is because things aren't right. They're tired. They don't |
| 1:31.9 | understand. They're sick. They're scared. They don't know better yet. They aren't old enough yet. |
| 1:35.5 | They aren't perfect. They can't do the impossible. Understand this and commit this to your |
| 1:41.6 | memory as a parent and help them accordingly. |
| 1:45.6 | My newest book, Courage is Calling, Fortune Favors the Brave, is now available for pre-order. |
| 1:52.9 | We've got a bunch of amazing bonuses. You can get signed copies, of course. I'm so proud of this book. |
| 1:58.0 | General Jim Mattis has called it a superb handbook for crafting a purposeful life. Matthew McConaughey, also a father, called it an urgent call to arms to each and all of us. |
| 2:07.8 | I do hope you check it out. It's my first in the Four Virtue series, Courage, temperance, justice, wisdom. |
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