The Hidden Skill That Will Help Your Kid Get Better at Everything In Life

by Jane Nelsen and Mary Tamborski

Let’s start with a universal truth: nobody is perfect.

Nobody is automatically good at EVERYTHING they do.

They get that way through practice, trial, error…

And a whole lot of mistakes.

The best guitar player you’ve ever heard has hit more than one wrong note in their lifetime.

Olympic athletes spend years trying to beat their best time.

Carpenters make a lot of ugly furniture before they churn out a gorgeous piece.

Making mistakes is how we get better.

Making mistakes is how you get GOOD.

So why, then… do we get so upset when our children make mistakes?

Why do we either get upset when they inevitably screw up - whether it’s spilling their juice on the carpet or forgetting their homework… OR bend over backwards to prevent them making a mistake at all?

Here’s the thing: Mistakes are OKAY.

We all make them. We say or do the wrong thing or we forget an important event or we have an embarrassing moment. And as adults, we’re fine. We get over it and learn from it and do better next time.

But for some reason, we think that preventing our children from making mistakes is helping them.

When the reality is much, much different.

The Critical Skills Your Child’s Mistakes Allow Them to Build

Many parents want their children to live lives free of difficulty and strife.

After all - we want better for our kids than we had for ourselves, right?

But when you prevent your child from making mistakes or protect them from the consequences of those mistakes…

Your child has no opportunity to build resilience.

And resilience is one of the most critical skills your child can EVER have in their entire lives.

That means no matter how uncomfortable it is… it’s pretty important that your child make some mistakes. Because it’s when children make mistakes that they start to know what they’re capable of…

And even more importantly, know that they’re capable of succeeding even if they fail the first time they try.

Think of something you’ve never done before in your life. It could be playing the trumpet, climbing a rock wall, building a house, or anything else in the world that takes practice to do well.

How would you get good at that particular skill?

You would probably give it a shot - pick up the instrument, take a step up the wall, nail together some boards.

It might work - and it might not. You’d probably play the wrong note or struggle to find a handhold or the boards would be crooked.

You would have made a mistake.

The next time you attempt it, you won’t make the same mistake again. You’ll likely make a different one, but you’ll learn from that too.

And after trying and failing however many times it takes… you’ll get good at what it is you’re trying to do.

But the key here is NOT how good you get at something.

It’s the very idea of trying again. That’s the skill you want your child to have.

But more than that, making mistakes allows your child to:

• Learn how to handle disappointments
• Problem solve so they don’t make the same mistake again
• Gain independence as they truly learn new skills
• Take responsibility for themselves and their actions
• Understand natural consequences
• Predict outcomes and use it to make better decisions
• Discover their own motivations and values
• Find their strengths and interests
• Ask for help and communicate the problem

That’s a lot of learning that comes from a few mistakes, isn’t it?

And funnily enough, children are perfectly capable of making mistakes. It’s the parents who have the hardest time allowing it to happen.

How to Create a Mistake-Friendly Environment (So Your Child Can Grow)

Sometimes, parents need a little help letting go. They need to understand what it looks like for their child to make a mistake safely… and maybe even a framework to work within so they don’t immediately jump in and try to solve the problem.

That’s why Making Mistakes is one of the key lessons contained inside Positive Discipline Made Easy… because I know firsthand how difficult it is to let your child do their thing.

It’s hard to let them forget their homework - and really, really easy to swoop in and save the day so they don’t have to worry about the lowered grade or disappointed teacher.

It’s easy to clean their room for them (especially when it’s been driving you crazy!) instead of simply shutting the door when you know their favorite top is at the bottom of the clothes heap the night before picture day.

But we have to train ourselves as parents to allow these mistakes to happen.

And that’s why I’ve created Positive Discipline Made Easy - to hand you the framework and step-by-step coaching you need to allow these mistakes to happen… while you take on the role of coach, cheerleader, and mentor.

But Positive Discipline Made Easy is more than a mistake-making guide…

The Complete A-Z Parenting Guide For Every Situation You’ll Ever Experience

Making Mistakes is not the only tool in the Positive Discipline toolbox.

For a reason.

Because as a parent, you’re going to be hit with curveballs almost every day.

The foundation of the Positive Discipline method - used by millions of parents, teachers, childcare workers, social workers and more - is the full suite of tools that will help you navigate any and every challenge or situation your family faces.

Your kid won’t do their chores? … There’s a tool for that.

Your first born keeps hitting his little sister? … There’s a tool for that.

You can’t get out the door on time and are always late for everything? … There’s a tool for that.

Bedtime takes hours?… There’s a tool for that.

Endless sibling bickering? Yup, you guessed it. There’s a tool for that, too

With over 30 parent-tested tools at your disposal, you’ll be armed for any curveball that comes your way.

And these tools don’t just work in the long term and build skills for tomorrow.

They work to build a positive relationship with your child while giving you the confidence to step back and be the coach…

Instead of forcing yourself into the problem-solver role all the time.

They teach your children to build valuable skills and beliefs that will help them:

• Know how to solve problems and handle conflict effectively and without drama, martyrdom, or escalation
• Instill a strong moral and ethical compass that isn’t vulnerable to peer pressure, risky decision making, or social vampires
• Develop the ever-critical problem solving skills needed to respond to the unexpected twists and turns of life
• Learn resiliency and to trust themselves, their judgment and their abilities

And these skills will show up in the way your home operates today, tomorrow, next week, next year, and beyond.

In other words, these tools become the foundation of a happy home today, and a thriving life tomorrow.

And just like it takes a village to raise successful, happy, and well-adjusted kids…

I didn’t build this program alone.

My favorite collaborator is Mary Nelsen Tamborski - my daughter. And through her work as a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, she’s seen firsthand how these tools play out in real families, every single day.

She’s seen the positive impact Making Mistakes and the other tools in the Positive Discipline Parenting Library make on attitude, behavior, relationships, skills, confidence, self-sufficiency, and more.

Mary and I will use stories, real-world and real-life examples, workbooks, imagination exercises, and many more techniques to help you not only learn the foundations of Positive Discipline…

But truly understand the theory behind it so you can continually make parenting decisions that feel good AND work.

In short, we’ll be your Personal Parenting Coaches.

We’ll walk you through the ins and outs of HOW to put our tools into practice, breaking each tool down into actionable steps and showing you how to apply all that you are learning with your children.

We’ll role play different scenarios so you can see what success looks like.

And we’ll show you what to do when things go wrong, so you can quickly course-correct and get back on track.

Once you’ve taken this 6-module course, you’ll understand:

• The different types of discipline that are used by parents everywhere and what they’re teaching your children about themselves, you, and the world as a whole…
• The 6 essential skills your child needs to be a well-adjusted and successful adult - and exactly how Positive Discipline helps you teach your child each one of these…
• The Kind and Firm principle explained in detail, with examples and categories to help you use it in the moment when it will be most effective…
• The one type of time-out you SHOULD use that encourages your child by offering him a choice for self-regulation instead of creating an opportunity to think they’re a “bad kid”…
• The 4 potential outcomes of punishment(once you hear what punishment really does for your child, you’ll think twice about grounding her ever again!)…
• How to avoid “the blame game” and what you can focus on instead to build connection and keep the problem from repeating over and over…
• The skill that your child simply doesn’t have before the age of 7 that makes punishments not only completely ineffective, but damaging to completely appropriate brain development
• The hidden part of behavior that’s easy to miss - especially in the heat of the moment - but is critical to helping you understand the belief behind your child’s behavior (this insight is far more impactful on your kids future and wellbeing!)
• Where your child’s happiness will REALLY come from and what your role is in that happiness (hint: it’s NOT doing everything for them)…
• The superpower hiding in your hug that will help you bond and connect with your child as well as help them learn what you’re working to teach them…
• And dozens more lessons that will help you understand your child more easily so you can parent them more mindfully…

And you’ll finally, FINALLY have the tools in your hand to build the right behaviors at the right time, using the right methods for both you AND your child.

PLUS we’ve polled the audience and created a special Q&A session where we tackle REAL situations from REAL parents, just like you.

Parents who are uncomfortable with letting their child make mistakes… simply because they don’t know how to handle the aftermath.

Parents who want nothing but the best for their children… and they’re willing to sit with uncomfortable feelings to make it happen.

Parents who want to raise resilient, capable kids who turn into adults who can manage their lives with relative ease.

That’s what I want for you, and what I’m excited to help you find.

I can’t wait to help you get started.

Love,