So generally teenagers aren’t the most receptive to advice from adults when they haven’t asked for it. Unwarranted “adulting” advice can be obnoxious and annoying.
However, redditor notViperX put a question to the Reddit community last week that lead to some wholesome and incredibly enlightening advice. They asked, “Adults of Reddit, what is something every Teenager needs to know?”
Below are some wise words that could actually benefit teenagers (and many adults) in the future.
Contents
1. “It’s ok to say no to anyone. Don’t let anyone in your life guilt trip you into doing something you don’t want to do or are uncomfortable with.” – Purpleraven01
2. “It’s exactly as lame to not do something you want to do because it’s too mainstream or popular as it is to do something only because it’s cool and the cool kids are doing it.” – itsacalamity
3. “Failing is okay.” – 2Graves1Ashe
4. “Start trying to save money now. You will definitely thank yourself later on.” – Lastnight97
5. “If you don’t have a passion, learn new skills. You might find your passion or something you’re good at.” – checkmatelocked
6. “Don’t put off dealing with mental health issues. Developing unhealthy coping mechanisms for emotional issues will fuck you up big time down the road. If you have issues, deal with it head on, right away. It can take time, but start the work now.” – EmbarrassedCalendar1
7. “Learn to trust your gut when in strange situations. If something feels off / wrong, it probably is. Don’t go along with something if it feels wrong.” – holydumpsterfire451
8. “When someone says you can’t do something in life, it means they can’t do it, not that you can’t.” – throbbingliberal
9. “Advice is free, and if you respond to it with “I know” then you’re probably not gonna figure your problem out.” – papawam
10. “Learn how to cook. It’s way cheaper and usually faster than takeout.” – ten-million
11. “When you make a mistake, own up to it. People are more willing to help you when you admit you did a dumb thing. This goes for school, work, and personal life. Forget to make a payment on a loan? Call and talk to the finance company. Mess something up on a school project? Tell your teacher and ask for a bit of leeway. Etc. People will be more likely to help you if you communicate.” – GreenOnionCrusader
12. “It really doesn’t matter what others think of you. It only matters what you think of yourself. Live your life such that you can look at yourself in the mirror at the end of the day and be proud of what you’ve done.” – Cannonballbmx
13. ” Everyone is not looking at you and noticing all your self envisioned flaws all the time, they are all worrying about themselves. Take a deep breath & smile, your new shoes or haircut or jeans look great.” – jjreason
14. “When you get to driving you need to realize that the laws of physics apply to you. They aren’t out to get you, they’re just indifferent. Slow the fuck down and don’t horse around, you’re driving a very heavy machine at speeds we did not evolve to deal with. Be safe.” – faceeatingleopard
15. “The general advice to “not be an asshole” will get you further in life than you would expect considering how easy it is.” – JADW27
16. “While you shouldn’t believe those who say these gonna be the best years of your life, try to make the most of it, to enjoy the ride.” – drDjausdr
17. “Hold yourself accountable for how you want the world to be. Be a part of the world you want to live in.’ – K–Will
18. “Always take your lunch break. There’s never a time where its “too busy” for you to take a lunch/break.” – 9erInLKN
19. “Learn to listen even if you think you know how to do this particular thing already. You may learn a new way of doing things.” – Ry715
20. “There’s always more to it. Right now isn’t the be all and end all.”
Do you have any additional nuggets of adult wisdom to share with teens? Leave us a comment below with your thoughts.
I think learning to handle finances and save now is very important. I made some big financial mistakes early on that followed me to adulthood. Living without debt is so freeing and gives you an advantage in life.
Don’t forget important piece #1. Your mum was right, you did need that jacket cause it WAS cold 😀
These are all very wise words and quotes. I really love number 17 very important for everyone.
I don’t know about teenagers but some of this advice I could really do with taking on board myself!
Great post x
I would like to add to #4 “Start trying to save money now. You will definitely thank yourself later on.” Use a budget to prevent spending more than you make. Start investing early in dividend stocks and mutual funds and you can become a millionaire in your early 50s.
Love this!
Some really handy tips! Could do with my pre-teen checking these out as she never listens to me!
Love this post ! The save now my dad told me years ago really saved us last year !
I wish I had been given some of this advice from adults when I was a teen! I’d definitely give some of this advice myself now.
There are some wise words here! I wish someone would have told me #4 when I was 18!
This isn’t something I’d have thought about before. I’ve a pre-teen so I found the post really interesting and useful to read.
It is hard giving advice to teenagers as they know best, but these are great tips to give even if you don’t think they are listening
Some really good nuggets of wisdom there. I’d say enjoy things while you don’t responsibilities, do what you want to do and ignore what others may say. But also be savvy with your money now and you’ll thank yourself later x
The benefit of knowledge, I wish that some one had just given me a few of these tips when I was in my teen years that is for sure x
I work with teenagers and they want to listen to anything I have to say as an adult!
There’s some good advice in that list, I agree with almost all of them. Another piece of advice – you’re never too old to learn and try to learn something new every day.
wow there’s some amazing advice there, thank you for sharing! Holding yourself accountable for the actions you do in order to create the world you wanna live in is something i’m learning to do now in my mid twenties!
These are all such great comments and advice, I will definitely be book marking this to share with my own kids too. My son has just turned 11 so not quite a teenager yet but I am very aware that the time is coming and I really want to instil good advice early!
Oh I really enjoyed this post! Nevermind teenagers, I think these are all really valuable pieces of advice for adults too.
As a mum of a teenage boy I sometimes find it hard to give him advice when he thinks he knows it all anyway.