Adolescence is a fruitful time to find yourself and experiment in the professional field. No wonder many famous people, such as Jeff Bezos, Steve Jobs, Mark Zuckerberg, showed themselves in their youth. Maria Maslennikova, a financial expert and mother of two, talks about how to help a teenager find himself and show his abilities.
The comprehensive development of the child, the receipt of a quality basic education by him is the parental function «by default». And the function is not easy, time-consuming. At the same time, in order to achieve success in professional activities, a high level of intelligence and high-quality academic education are not always sufficient.
In the 30s in the United States, psychologist Lewis Terman began an important lifelong experiment, which was then continued by his colleagues. He selected 150 of the most gifted students at the age of 11 from well-to-do families who showed the best scores on the Stanford-Binet IQ test. Scientists have long followed the lives of the subjects: their achievements in school, career and personal life.
To achieve success, it is not so much intellectual potential that is important as ambition, hard work, perseverance
As it turned out, only a few of the promising children achieved outstanding professional success. Namely, those who were persistent, ambitious and even in childhood tried to stand out in everything: in studies, sports, social activities. This experiment and many subsequent ones proved that in order to succeed, it is not so much intellectual potential that is important, but ambition, hard work, perseverance, the help of a mentor and a keen interest in the work being done.
If you see in a child a desire to prove himself, talent, interest in a certain area, you definitely need to help him realize himself. To do this, it is important to teach a teenager skills that will help build a strategy for success.
How to help a teenager?
1. Look for strengths and help develop them. It happens that talent «lies on the surface»: the child sings or draws wonderfully, shows interest in sports or construction. But when a child’s obvious talent does not appear, you need to try different activities and look for what is interesting.
There is such a parable. God was asked: «Who is the best commander in the world?» He replied: “Here is this shoemaker, only he does not know about it!”
2. Always be ready to help, but the choice and responsibility lie only with the teenager.
3. Look for a teacher who is ready to light a fire in a child. Encourage communication with like-minded people.
4. Learn to set a goal and look for the best way to achieve it. The ability to break complex cases into many simple steps and achieve their implementation is the main secret to achieving the most ambitious goals.
5. Teach your teenager to manage his time wisely. Teach him to plan his day, week, month and follow the plan. Show them how to use dedicated smartphone planner apps or write down plans in a paper diary. This will help you focus on completing important tasks without being distracted by extraneous matters.
6. Set your teen up for success. Teach him to keep a diary of success and gratitude. This is a useful tool for realizing the results of your work and focusing on the positive aspects of your activity.
7. Do not forget about pocket money — a tool for teaching a teenager financial literacy and a source of savings for important goals for him. It is better to use personal finance smartphone apps that make the process visual, interactive and interesting.
8. Play business games: «Cash flow», «Monopoly», «Real life» — they give inspiration and ideas for implementation in life.
9. Find career guidance courses: they will help you better understand the child’s abilities and interests and find the best option in choosing a university and future profession. Also, work on vacation or internships in companies give great professional experience and business communication skills.
And of course, there is no better example for a teenager than the successful career of parents and acquaintances. Our children learn from us, adults, so we must develop ourselves, grow professionally and not be afraid of difficulties on the way to our goal.