Field Notes

July 13, 2026 9 min read

Don't Check Your Kid's Grades. Check Their Group Chat.

I am going to tell you the single most useful thing I learned about predicting how your kid turns out, and, hold onto your coffee mug, it is going to make some parents uncomfortable.Grades? Mildly important but not a main factor in outcome. What is?Check their group chat or their core friend group. You can hire tutors. You can set... I am going to tell you the single most useful thing I learned about predicting how your kid...

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July 7, 2026 2 min read

Why Your Kids Need a Leader at Home, Not Just a Parent

Your kids are looking for leadership. Nature does not tolerate empty space. Neither does your kid’s brain. If you do not fill that gap with solid leadership, something else will crawl in and make itself comfortable. An algorithm. A stranger online. A peer of theirs with worse judgment than a drunk uncle at a wedding. Kids are not blank slates... Your kids are looking for leadership. Nature does not tolerate empty space. Neither does your kid’s brain. If...

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July 1, 2026 10 min read

How a Ghost Airport in Poland, a Jammed GPS Near Belarus, and a French Pilot Made This the Most Memorable Flight of My Life

There is a moment somewhere over northern Poland, dodging rain showers low enough that you can see individual cows getting nervous about the weather, when you start asking yourself serious questions about your life choices.I was not asking those questions because I was scared. I have been in worse spots than a Beechcraft A36 Bonanza skimming under a gray ceiling... There is a moment somewhere over northern Poland, dodging rain showers low enough that you can see individual...

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June 29, 2026 10 min read

Parenting in America Is a Public Health Crisis. Here Is What Nobody Is Telling You About Why.

In August 2024, U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy issued a formal advisory not about a disease or a drug or a dietary habit. He issued one about parenting itself.The advisory was titled “Parents Under Pressure” and its central finding was both obvious to every parent reading it and somehow still shocking to see stated in an official government document:... In August 2024, U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy issued a formal advisory not about a disease or...

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June 22, 2026 10 min read

Your Kids Are Keeping Score. They Just Never Tell You Until It's Too Late

Puddle Jumpers came out on May 12th. I was in New York for the launch, running the kind of schedule that book releases produce. Back-to-back podcast interviews, some in-person appearances, the particular exhaustion of talking about yourself for ten hours straight, and trying to make it sound fresh every single time.I had a book signing scheduled at Words Bookstore in... Puddle Jumpers came out on May 12th. I was in New York for the launch, running the kind...

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June 17, 2026 3 min read

This Father's Day, one book your husband will actually read

Gretchen wrote the foreword to my parenting book.We have been divorced for over ten years. We raised three kids together across different cities, different schools, different seasons of life that neither of us planned for. She’s an amazing mom and co-parent. When I finally finished writing Puddle Jumpers she was the first person I asked to write the opening pages.She... Gretchen wrote the foreword to my parenting book.We have been divorced for over ten years. We raised three...

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June 16, 2026 8 min read

I Left the Navy SEALs Broken. New York Fixed That. Now the Knicks Are Reminding All of Us Why.

I want to tell you something about New York City that I have never said out loud before.When I lost my best friend Glen Doherty in 2012 , I realized I was not okay. I had buried a lot of trauma of what I’d seen in war, the friends I’d lost, and when I lost Glen, the weight crippled me,... I want to tell you something about New York City that I have never said out loud before.When...

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June 10, 2026 4 min read

The moment I almost protected my daughter from a great life lesson

She was only eight years old.The taekwondo studio in Paso Robles smelled like sweat and dirty socks. Black mats on the floor, an American flag on the wall, a room full of parents sitting in the back watching their kids get evaluated one by one for the next belt level. Her older brother Jackson had gone first. He ended up... She was only eight years old.The taekwondo studio in Paso Robles smelled like sweat and dirty socks. Black...

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June 5, 2026 9 min read

Someone Left a 1-Star Review of My Book and I Want to Frame It

I have been shot at in two countries . I have finished Hell Week . I’ve eaten bugs in survival school. Went to the bathroom in a Folgers coffee can in prisoner of war training . None of this prepared me for the intellectually challenged and aggressively un-self-aware Renfreds of the literary world.Renfred found my book on Amazon. Renfred had... I have been shot at in two countries . I have finished Hell Week . I’ve eaten bugs...

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June 2, 2026 14 min read

Post Traumatic Growth in Parenting

I believe that a lot of parents who have been through the most often raise the most resilient kids.I was sixteen years old in Tahiti, with a few hundred dollars, a half-packed bag, and the particular kind of existential dread that arrives when you realize your safety net just evaporated completely, and nobody is coming to help you figure it... I believe that a lot of parents who have been through the most often raise the most resilient...

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May 21, 2026 8 min read

Your Kids Don't Need More of Your Time. They Need More of Your Presence.

On why quality time is not a parenting concept. It is the whole game. And why one intentional day with your child is pricelessMy oldest son graduated from the University of St. Andrews in Scotland in 2024. He walked across that stage, came outside in the sunny centuries-old courtyard among the crowd, found me, and hugged me. It was an... On why quality time is not a parenting concept. It is the whole game. And why one intentional...

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May 18, 2026 2 min read

NY Post Puddle Jumpers Interview: Tough Love

Below is an excerpt from the NY Post’s Sunday edition. -BWWith his new book, “Puddle Jumpers: Powerful Mental Techniques from a Navy SEAL Performance Coach and Father of Three” , he offers tips for a different kind of battlefield: modern parenting.He thinks many moms and dads aren’t doing well by their troops. Despite their best intentions, they’re raising kids who... Below is an excerpt from the NY Post’s Sunday edition. -BWWith his new book, “Puddle Jumpers: Powerful Mental...

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May 15, 2026 6 min read

From the Wall Street Journal: A Former Navy SEAL on How to Raise Confident, Risk-Taking Kids

I wanted to share my recent Wall Street Journal Interview with Pamela Paul …I’ll share some other great podcasts and interviews in the coming weeks. Thank you all for buying or gifting my new book, Puddle Jumpers, and please share this with someone you think it would help. Full Interview from the Wall Street JournalBy Pamela Paul Brandon Webb is... I wanted to share my recent Wall Street Journal Interview with Pamela Paul …I’ll share some other great...

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May 12, 2026 4 min read

The Parking Lot Moment That Changed Everything I Thought I Knew About Raising Kids.

We had just come off the mountain after a long day of skiing. Legs smoked. Everyone ready to get home. And my youngest, Tyler, spotted it in the parking lot.A half-frozen puddle of mud and slush so gnarly it looked like it had its own ecosystem.His face lit up. He started running straight for it with the delight of a... We had just come off the mountain after a long day of skiing. Legs smoked. Everyone ready to...

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May 4, 2026 8 min read

What a Handwritten Postcard From My Daughter Taught Me About Twenty Years of Parenting.

My daughter Madison and her friend, Tali, from grad came to visit me in Lisbon recently. They flew in from London, where they are both studying, and we spent a week doing what I love most when my kids show up here. Good food. Long talks. Movie night and a bit of spoiling. When they left, Madison put a postcard... My daughter Madison and her friend, Tali, from grad came to visit me in Lisbon recently. They flew...

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April 27, 2026 7 min read

AI Is Eating White Collar Jobs From the Bottom Up. Is Your Kid's College Major in the Way?

Kids and school can be tough, and it’s gettin’ tougher! My youngest, Tyler, was on the verge of failing out of eighth grade. I am not talking about a rough semester. I am talking about a kid who had checked out of the system entirely…Turns out he just had a bad teacher and that was affecting him in a negative... Kids and school can be tough, and it’s gettin’ tougher! My youngest, Tyler, was on the verge of...

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April 23, 2026 6 min read

I Sent Two of My Kids to College in the UK. Most Americans Have No Idea What They’re Missing.

My son went to St. Andrews. My daughter studied design at Goldsmiths, University of London. We saved hundreds of thousands of dollars compared to what their American peers paid. Here is exactly how.In 2024, my daughter Madison visited me in Lisbon during her summer break from Goldsmiths, University of London, where she was finishing her design degree. We sat down... My son went to St. Andrews. My daughter studied design at Goldsmiths, University of London. We saved hundreds...

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April 20, 2026 11 min read

Nobody Is Coming to Teach Your Kids About Finance. Except You.

Inflation, student debt, outrageous medical expenses, and a housing market that is starting to look a lot like the movie, The Big Short, all over again…Our kids are inheriting a financial mess in America.Most Americans still talk about the “American Dream,” but the data looks more like an American Nightmare.A few years back, I attended a one-week seminar by a... Inflation, student debt, outrageous medical expenses, and a housing market that is starting to look a lot like...

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April 17, 2026 6 min read

Your Kids Are Swimming in a Sea of Garbage. Here Is How to Teach Them to Swim.

I want to tell you something nobody in your social media feed has the spine to say out loud: the world your kid wakes up to every morning is, in large measure, a professionally engineered slaughterhouse of confidence. Algorithms tuned to outrage.Comment sections that would make a seasoned priest question humanity. Influencers selling manufactured cynicism like it is a lifestyle.... I want to tell you something nobody in your social media feed has the spine to say out...

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April 14, 2026 4 min read

The Art of Raising Leaders

If you want to raise a leader who can walk through fire, you have to stop protecting them from the world and start preparing them for it.As you know from my writing, I’ve always been a proponent of the Puddle Jumper mindset. It is that “ordinary magic” of being allowed to fail, get dirty, and realize you are the one... If you want to raise a leader who can walk through fire, you have to stop protecting them...

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