Raising Lions in a World That Breeds Lambs
Why comfort is killing our kids—and how to rebuild courage before it’s too late.
We’re raising kids who can quote motivation but can’t stomach failure.
They scroll past success stories and mistake dopamine for purpose.
Then we wonder why they melt the moment life hits back.
We’ve built a culture obsessed with comfort—“it’s okay” schools, safe words for every emotion, and parents who negotiate with coaches over playing time.
We’ve replaced consequence with coping, and courage with contentment.
The result? A generation that wants the rewards of effort without paying the courage tax.
When I sat down with Angus Reid—former CFL champ, coach, and author of Thank You, Coach and Teenager—we didn’t talk about touchdowns.
We talked about raising warriors in a world teaching kids to stay safe.
And how courage, not comfort, is the currency of becoming.
Connect with Angus Reid
Website: https://www.maximizeyourpotential.ca
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/angus_reid64/
[NEW BOOK] TEENAGER: A STORY ABOUT FINDING YOUR WAY: https://amzn.to/4qHpwum
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Teenager: A Story About Finding Your Way
Angus told my son Duke something I’ll never forget:
“Perfect technique can beat anyone—because most gifted people never learn the fundamentals.”
That line hit me hard.
Angus was the smallest guy on the field for most of his career—outweighed, outmuscled, overlooked.
He didn’t complain. He refined.
While bigger athletes coasted on talent, he weaponized precision.
That’s the first truth about courage: it’s technical.
It’s not just “believe in yourself.” It’s “train so hard belief becomes irrelevant.”
The second truth is more uncomfortable: our kids aren’t losing enough.
They’ve been insulated from pain, so failure feels fatal instead of formative.
They don’t play pickup games with no refs, no parents, no second chances.
They don’t scrape their knees and figure out what went wrong.
We call it “protecting their self-esteem.”
But really, it’s protecting our own discomfort—because watching your kid struggle hurts.
Yet that struggle is the only gym where courage builds muscle.
The Cost of Courage
In our conversation, Angus said something that sums up the whole book:
“The cost of becoming is courage.”
He’s right.
Courage is the tuition for greatness.
Every rep of adversity, every failure they survive without us rescuing them, is a deposit into their confidence account.
Because action creates confidence; confidence doesn’t create action.
You want your kid to believe in themselves?
Let them fail—and make them get back up.
The moment we stop bubble-wrapping reality is the moment they start growing into it.
Do This Today
Let them lose. Don’t correct the coach. Don’t rewrite the ref’s call. Losing is a lesson plan.
Coach for courage, not comfort. Praise effort, not outcome. “You tried something hard” beats “You’re talented.”
Model the monster. Show them what controlled aggression looks like. Compete. Struggle. Let them see you bleed without quitting.
Our job isn’t to build perfect kids.
It’s to raise humans who can take a punch—metaphorical or real—and still move forward.
Raise lions.
This world has enough lambs.
“Courage is the tuition for greatness.”
The Rub
If this hit you where it hurts—the way parenting truths should—share it with another parent, coach, or teacher who refuses to raise lambs.
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This is the way.
Hanley
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