“Being a father is probably one of the toughest and most rewarding jobs I’ve ever had. A lot of the principles I used to teach snipers apply to kids: dealing with negativity, replacing negative self-talk, learning that well-meaning adults can say terrible things — and you don’t have to take that on as baggage.” — Brandon Webb

Brandon Webb defines himself as an author, entrepreneur, Navy SEAL sniper, and father. But not in that order. The first three he leveraged into a series of bestselling books about the art of sniping. The fourth — the art of being a loving father — he dodged and ducked for years.

But fatherhood might be Webb’s real calling. People regularly pulled him aside after meeting his grown children to ask him about his “secret” for being an effective dad. His kids were making eye contact, they were asking good questions rather than staring at their phones. Most astonishingly, they seemed happy.

Webb’s new book, Puddle Jumpers: Simple and Proven Ways to Raise Confident and Joyful Kids, reveals his secret of parenting. It applies the positive performance psychology Webb learned as a Navy SEAL sniper instructor — how to redirect negative self-talk, how to deal with well-meaning adults who say damaging things, how to build mental toughness without destroying connection — to the work of raising children. It outlines his parenting philosophy of both high expectations and high support. Think of Puddle Jumpers as simultaneously the manual for tiger and the bunny parenting.

Brandon Webb’s ultimate calling in life is as a parent. Father, author, entrepreneur and Navy SEAL sniper. In that order.

Five Takeaways

• The Sniper Instructor as Parenting Coach. The psychology of elite performance — positive self-talk, replacing negative internal narratives, dealing with adversity without catastrophising — applies directly to parenting. Both require performing under pressure and building confidence that is genuine rather than brittle.

• High Expectations, High Support. Not permissive parenting, not authoritarian discipline. Both are false choices. Puddle Jumper Parenting holds both simultaneously: clear expectations and emotional safety. Kids need to know what’s required and that they won’t be abandoned when they fail.

• Don’t Bail Them Out. Jackson ran up $12,000 in credit card debt. Webb said: figure it out. His son’s girlfriend hated him for two years. Jackson paid it off and called it one of the best lessons of his life. The suffering was the lesson. It would have been easy to bail him out.

• Purpose and the War Veteran. How does a combat veteran come home intact? Purpose. Afghanistan had clear moral logic for Webb. Iraq did not — which is why so many Iraq veterans came home broken. Viktor Frankl: purpose is the thing that makes endurance possible. Without it, violence produces serious mental illness.

• Teach Kids About Money. America’s economy is fuelled by consumer debt. Credit card companies prey on college students. Kids need to understand the system before it takes advantage of them. The deal: I pay for school and food, but if you want to socialise, get a job. The lesson is about agency, not just money.

About the Guest

Brandon Webb is a combat-decorated Navy SEAL sniper, New York Times bestselling author, and father of three. He is the author of Puddle Jumpers (Authors Equity/Simon & Schuster, May 12, 2026), The Red Circle, and The Killing School.

References

Puddle Jumpers by Brandon Webb (Authors Equity/Simon & Schuster, May 12, 2026)
Viktor Frankl, Man’s Search for Meaning

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Chapters:

00:00:31 Introduction: author, entrepreneur, Navy SEAL, father
00:02:09 Why a parenting book?
00:03:00 Positive performance psychology: from snipers to children
00:05:14 The handwritten postcard from his daughter
00:06:11 How were you parented?
00:08:00 The generational crisis: kids or parents?
00:11:00 Positive self-talk applied to children
00:15:00 High expectations, high support
00:35:00 Teaching kids about money
00:38:00 The $25,000 payout and the $12,000 credit card debt
00:41:00 Don’t bail them out
00:47:21 Helen Benedict, Iraq, and the question of monsters
00:48:20 Purpose and the combat veteran
00:50:00 Viktor Frankl and the purpose of endurance
00:52:11 Are you open to new kids?