Courage is an essential ingredient needed for all athletes to play to their potential, reach their goals, and enjoy what they're doing in their sport. 

It is often forged in the unpleasant moments, the challenges, and the disappointments. It's in these moments that sports parents often hider the exact thing that athletes need - courage! 

Life and leadership coach Meghan Patiño speaks into this important topic in this episode. She shares with parents how to cultivate courage for themselves and their athletes when dealing with challenges in sports and in life as well as the three mistakes parents make when interacting with their athletes. 

What is Courage?

Courage means no matter what- whether I win or lose I am enough. It's the attitude that "Yes I am imperfect and worthy of love and belonging."   

Courage is an offramp from the "I’m not enough” cycle.  In sports this is often triggered when dealing with a team loss, a personal mistake, criticism from a coach or teammates, or when an athlete compares themselves to others.   

As parents and coaches, you are often the person your athlete is coming to when they are dealing with their mental gremlins.  Our response can either support your athlete to build mental muscles for courage muscles, or continue the shame-spiral.  

WARNING:  Don’t use this content as a way to shame yourself as a parent or a coach yourself! We’re all human and imperfect, so approach this with some curiosity and playfulness. Where might this show up?  What might I take with me to explore a new approach?  

3 Top Mistakes Parents Make That Hinder Courage

These are all survival responses that often were formed from when you were a child, so be compassionate with yourself if you recognize some of these patterns in yourself. 

 Three common responses we discuss are the:

1.Disappointment Response

2. Make it Better Response

3. Blame Response

3 Ways to Embrace Brave Parenting (and cultivate courage for you and your athlete)

These responses come from your inner sage.  This is the part of you that is deeply rooted and able to embrace strengths with struggles.  

The antidote includes a combination of Courage, Compassion, and Connection*!

*This is based off of  the shame-resilience research conducted by Brene Brown.  

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There you have it! What courage is & why it's essential for our athletes, the top 3 mistakes that hinder courage, and how you can embrace brave parenting to cultivate courage for yourself and your athlete!

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Helpful Links:

• Grab the full show notes on our podcast hub page
• Hang out with Meg on social @meg.patino and learn more about working with her!
• Download the free resources we've created for you
• Join us inside our FREE Facebook Group - The Elite Competitor Society - for weekly Q&A, periodic trainings and challenges, and the support of an amazing community of moms, coaches, and the men who partner with us!

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