Scott Schimmel (00:05)
Well, hey, welcome to the You School podcast. I am your host, Scott Schimmel. And it's been a few minutes since we had an episode. I've been really busy. We've been busy in a couple of things. One, most notably, been partnering with the Honor Foundation in providing You School curriculum to veterans in transition. So the last couple of years, we've partnered with them to create an organization together called Vector Accelerator, which is You School content.
delivered in an online format for transitioning veterans. It's been a big part of what we've been doing for the last 11 years. And now we're thrilled that it is officially launched. There are 200 to 250 veterans per month going through this program, getting clarity about their life and what they're going to do after the military. And we've had over a thousand graduates of that program. So it's been ⁓ a huge opportunity and a privilege for us.
to come alongside them. We use the same exact curriculum for kids, of course. If you're familiar with us, we love helping kids get clarity about their lives before they make all these big decisions about what they're gonna do, where they're gonna go, and what kind of life they're gonna build. And for you, if you're watching this or listening to this, you're someone I know who cares about kids. Whether you're a parent, an educator, a coach, a mentor, a grandparent, you care about kids.
And like me, I know that you will do whatever it takes for their welfare. I've lost count of how many times I've dropped everything and literally run to rescue my kids. Usually it's my son on the way to the emergency room after a broken bone. But even recently, I got a ⁓ frantic phone call from our 16 year old daughter whose car was dying on the freeway. I literally dropped everything and ran. We will do anything for the welfare.
of our kids. And when it comes to their welfare, it's not just those crisis moments around their safety around their health that matter. It's these broader discussions that we have with them, because in the future of their welfare, are the decisions that we help veterans with decisions about their college and their education decisions about their career, where they move. Those are the big, huge moments and our
welfare and how we think about our lives and success as parents and educators and mentors is tied to them. That's a big part of what makes it so complicated. That the choices that they make are tied to how I feel about my life. And I almost wish it wasn't true, but we in our family have three of these kids, which means we have three opportunities to have our hearts broken. And we have three opportunities to be
incredibly proud. And so what we want to help you do is think well about the most significant moments that you can have with them so that you can be as intentional as possible while preserving and honoring their autonomy. Because that's the key part. That's the you in You school. I wish it was as easy as telling our kids what to do and then they go and do it.
because we would be forecasting the future. We'd be reading the Wall Street Journal. We would be reading the US News and World Report about college rankings. We would maybe test them to figure out where are their highest aptitudes. And then we would hand off a script to them to ensure their success. We would tell them, hey, in our family, we are dentists, and you're going to go to dental school, and you're going to have a dentistry, and we're going to provide with you, we're going to get you
clients and customers and you're gonna have a life, an income, a home, all that whole thing. But we cannot do that. That is not how the whole thing works. In fact, the way it works is pretty awful. They have to make choices for themselves. And they are making choices while they are currently uninformed. And those uninformed choices that they're making have downstream consequences.
So the kid who's struggling with a class who refuses to go to office hours, refuses the offer of help, won't go see a tutor, you can see the big picture of that because that class that they're struggling in actually impacts the next class that they will take. And those classes will impact their transcripts, which will impact their ability to get into a good university. And not only that, it will shape how they see themselves.
and their intelligence and their success as a student. All is happening in real time. And those layers are what come through in the middle of a conversation that we have with our kids. And every now and then we are given as parents or mentors or coaches, grandparents, aunts and uncles, we are given layup moments. Let me explain by that where the ball is passed to you, you're wide open and you're right underneath the rim and the ball is just right there.
Or if you prefer golf analogies, there's a 18 inch putt. It's a gimme. It's a gimme putt where you can, you've done this a thousand times. You can do it backwards. You can do it with your eyes shut. These gimme moments, these layup moments are parents are the moments that I had recently where one of my kids said, gee whiz dad. didn't say that. He said it like that. What do you think I should do for work in the future?
There are these few rare moments where your kid is going to look to you and ask you the question, what do you think I should do? And these ought to be layup moments. These are gimme-putts as parents. These are the moments that we've been waiting for because we know as they became teenagers, they were pushing away from us. They were denying our wisdom. They knew all things and we didn't. And it's been years, years since they've really looked to you to direct their lives. They don't want that.
But in these little shining layup, gimme putt moments, they ask you for your opinion, your advice, your foresight. And what's driving them to come to you is their anxiety. They're feeling anxious about it. They're not sure what they should do. And they're feeling the stress and pressure underneath that. And they want to come to you and say, what do you think? And the layup, really the slam dunk would be, all right, let me pull out my notes. Here's who you are. Here's what you're good at. Here's what I think.
The jobs are here's how you design life. Here's step one, two, three, four. But because you know how it works, because you've been tracking with us, you know that that can't happen. You can't answer a direct question with the direct answer. You have to guide them. And that's what this series is going to be about. I want to help you guide your kids to the good life. I want to help you know how to answer those moments when you get the ball, when you get the putt.
I want you to know how to handle those moments and neither freeze like I do, which is, I don't know. Let me get back to you or become the dictator, the script writer, the screenwriter and start telling them what to do. I don't want you to freeze. I don't want you to control. I want you to guide your kid because again, that's how autonomy works. Your kid needs your help to see clearly.
the different dynamics, dimensions, and layers about their life and about the world so they can become more informed. And the good news is it's not unlimited. There are a fixed number of questions and exercises and conversations and experiences. It's a fixed amount to intentionally give your kid so that if you do and if they are guided by you and your support and your modeling,
They will find clarity. They will make more informed choices. Coming back to that class that they're struggling with and they're not sure why it matters and they don't know what to do, you can actually guide them in those crisis moments as well as those layup moments. So welcome to this new series. We're going to call it Parent School, Guiding You to Guide Your Kids to the Good Life. And over the next series of
Weeks we're going to be releasing episodes digging into each one of these exercises, questions, experiences to have stories to share, really the dynamics that are most important for you to get so that you are ready when the ball comes your way. I want you to be able to guide your kids to the good life that includes you understand a framework for how to do this well. So stick with us. We have articles on our website that will reinforce
and go into greater detail. We have these episodes if you want to subscribe on YouTube or audio podcasts, please do and love to hear your feedback as we go. So with that, welcome to this new series, Parent School, guiding you to get your kids to the good life.
