Tonight with your 13 to 17 year old
The prompt
“What does it actually feel like in your body right before you have to do something that scares you?”
What to listen for
If they can describe physical sensations specifically, stomach drops, hands shake, heart races, they're building real self-awareness, which helps them trust their own reactions instead of being blindsided by them.
If they say "I don't really get scared," that might be true bravado or a habit of pushing feelings down before they're examined, no need to challenge it, just leave room for it to come up again.
If they mention avoiding the thing altogether, that's worth noting gently, it may point to needing more confidence that it's safe to try and possibly fail.
What this tells you
How closely they can track fear in their body shows how well they currently understand and trust their own inner signals.