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What Is Bravery?

Bravery is facing your fear. 

Bravery is a choice. 

The world would have you believe that bravery means the absence fear, but I believe bravery is facing your fear and BEing intentional. 

Like, brave people don't experience fear, but this isn't true. 

Brave people experience fear, just like you, but they have mastered the skill of BEing intentional in the face of their fear.

Bravery Requires Fear

Fear is not the enemy. 

In fact, fear is a required emotion for bravery and courage. 

BEing brave actually increases your emotional health because it requires that you experience, identify, and process emotions. 

One of the most powerful things that you can do as a parent is to lean into your fear and choose to be brave.

This will show your teen a powerful example of BEing brave, of being intentional in the face of uncomfortable emotion. 

How Fear Affects You As a Parent

Through the years that I’ve coached parents and teens, I’ve noticed a few things about fear.

NOBODY likes how they behave when they’re being driven by fear.

NOBODY!

When you parent from a place of fear, your brain goes into overdrive to find all the things that you “should” be scared of.

If you’re like me, fear makes you more controlling, less trusting, and it shifts your focus from things within your control to things outside of your control.

How To Manage Your Parenting Fears

1. Identify and Acknowledge Your Fear
   • Get to know what your afraid of.
   • Understand it.
   • Acknowledge that you are afraid and that it’s okay.
2. Mentally Go There
   • If you are scared, you are likely focusing on things outside of your control, and you are likely catastrophizing.
   • Understand that and mentally go there.
   • Picture yourself in the experiencing the thing that you fear.
3. Decide Who You Want to BE In The Face of Your Fear
   • This is hard, but explore, who you want to be in the face of your fear.
   • See yourself BEing that way in the face of your fear.
   • Understand why you want to be that way.
4. Explore How That Way Of BEing Would Apply To Your Best Case Scenario
   • Once you’ve identified who/how you want to be in the worst case scenario, your fear, see how that would serve you in the best case scenario.
   • How does this way of being apply to both scenarios?
5. Practice BEing The Parent Of Your Dreams
   • Now, get back to reality and practice BEing the parent of your dreams.
   • This doesn’t make the fear go away, but it gives you a guide for how you want to be.
   • This shifts your focus back to the one thing you can control, YOURSELF!

Join our Family!

Human beings are herd animals. We are unintentional about most of the herds we are a part of.

You have the opportunity to intentionally join a herd of like-minded parents who want to grow! You can be part of a herd that will help grow and develop.

Want to join the Firmly Founded Parent?

Join now while the doors are open. They close again on June 5th.

https://www.firmlyfounded.com/parent

Are You Caught in the Parent Trap?

Discover the hidden patterns that are keeping you stuck—and how to break free.

Take this quick (and eye-opening) quiz to uncover which common parenting trap you’re falling into with your teen.
Get a personalized roadmap to help you parent with more clarity, confidence, and connection—starting today.

https://benpughcoaching.com/parenttrapquiz