Raising Resilient Kids with Kerwin Rae

Many of you will know Kerwin Rae. He’s a successful businessman, entrepreneur, investor and international speaker. He’s also a single dad to his son, Noah. Kerwin has a popular podcast called Unstoppable with Kerwin Rae where he interviews experts and thought leaders across many different fields. I recently spoke with him about how to raise resilient kids. Here’s a short excerpt from the podcast:

We covered a lot of ground during our chat and you can watch the full interview here. But I wanted to share with you what I think was the most important part of the conversation. Towards the end of our chat Kerwin asked if there was one piece of parenting advice out there ‘that is tried, true and tested and guaranteed to give an effective outcome every time?’ My response? ‘Let your kids know that they matter in everything you do and say.’ Take some time to think about this. It might seem like a simple statement but if you start to practice this each and everyday, I promise it will have a profound and lasting impact on your child’s life.

I also shared one more thing with Kerwin that in my opinion is the most important thing every parent needs to know about themselves . You are good enough. I include a whole chapter on this my book 10 Things Every Parent Needs to Know and I read a few chapters to Kerwin during the interview. I’m going to repeat it again here because I can never say this too many times…!

Parenting is as much about the good times on Instagram as it is about those moments you would never want anyone to see. It’s about how we respond to the runny noses, the fussy eating, the wet beds, the soiled underwear or the puddle on the carpet that provides evidence that the toilet training still has a way to go.

It’s about how we respond to the complaints that ‘my legs are sore and I can’t walk’ on tired mornings, the lost school jumpers, and the never-ending sibling challenges that confront every parenting of more than one child. Our responses to those micro-moments that occur endlessly, day in and day out, set the foundation for our children’s lives.

As you respond with patience, kindness, understanding, compassion and a desire to help rather than hurt, you’re doing enough. You’re doing all that is required. You are growing. You are loving. And you are enough as a parent. You are doing work that will never be seen by anyone but your family, but the value of that foundation you lay will last for generations.

– An extract from 10 Things Every Parent Needs to Know

I really enjoyed chatting to Kerwin and I hope you get a lot out of the conversation too. The full video recording can be found here or if you’d prefer to listen to the audio recording, head over to my podcast here. And just a word of warning, Kerwin drops some coarse language towards the end of the episode.