Our teenage years are one of those times that helped shape us to become the adults we are now. We gathered lessons from those years either through the teachings of other people or through our own experiences. We might have recognized those lessons as valuable right away, yet some we only find meaningful as we tread through adulthood. 

Out of all the valuable lessons from my teenage years, I have five topmost on the long list. They remain echoed to my being while I navigate this life to fulfill my purpose. 

1. Being young is not a reason not to gain respect. It is said that respect is earned, not given, and nothing can be more accurate than this statement. Age, popularity, or wealth are not the determining factors to gaining genuine respect from people. I learned that when you honor your words, uphold what is right, and respect others too, you gain people’s respect even when you are young, powerless, or underprivileged. No matter how old, influential or wealthy, a person with no integrity will never truly gain the people’s genuine respect. 
2. Never make decisions because of peer pressure. Most of us usually learn this lesson hard because we only realize the impact after succumbing to the pressure. I knew that it is not a wise choice to act under the reason of not wanting to disappoint your friends because not everything that they want you to do is beneficial. More importantly, you are the one who the outcome of your actions will directly impact.
3. It’s okay to be different from everyone else. The desire to belong is inherent to human beings. We usually want to be part of something. Because of this, we try to alter ourselves, personality or character, to fit in and be like everyone else. However, I learned that you could not bring out your potential if you try to be someone you are not. You can only contribute when you bring out your uniqueness and offer it to serve others.
4. Helping others does not put you at a disadvantage. I have encountered many people who do not want to share knowledge, time, and other resources because they think they will have less afterward. I learned, however, that when you help others through whatever means you have, you actually gain something. You gain opportunities, relationships, and joy in your heart.  
5. There is a lesson to learn from every situation. During my adolescence, I went through a lot of challenges, both internally and externally. Some of the troubles were serious, while some were trivial. Yet, no matter how trivial some of those challenges were, I could extract lessons from each of them and use them to solve the more enormous challenges I had. I learned to look at the good side of everything. 

Every time I look back on these lessons, I am reminded of how each phase of life is essential to a person’s growth and development. 

What are some of the lessons you learned from your teenage years? Do you still find them applicable to your life now? 

(Photo by Min An from Pexels)

In one of my past blogs, I shared five of my most recommended books. Those books did not only prove beneficial in my journey to career growth but also my endeavor for a well-rounded life. A book can indeed hold a great power through the influence it can cast upon its readers. The book, The One Thing by Gary W. Keller and Jay Papasan, for instance, brought me a lot of realizations that I consider to be helpful takeaways that I readily applied. 

1. Everything is not equally important. This piece of wisdom reminded me to identify what matters most and focus on those first. Even the things or people on top of our list of priorities follow a hierarchy. One is just more important than the other, albeit not less significant. 
2. Developing good habits slowly and steadily leads to success. This served as an affirmation that it is fine to be at a slow pace because people have individual ways and times of coping. This is an encouragement meant to keep us wanting to keep trying and keep moving forward surely, even if it meant going at a minimum speed. 
3. Doing the right thing and not doing everything right. When we do everything right, it does not always mean that we are doing the right thing. We need to muster the courage in ensuring that we stick to what is right even if it means we have to go against what the majority dictates. This is one of the most important lessons that we should never forget when we tread our way through life because, without our integrity, we are nothing. 
4. Multitasking consumes a lot of time. Doing a lot of tasks at the same time does not save us time, contrary to a popular belief. When the mind is not focused, it does not function well. At the end of the day, we only manage to get every task started but, more often than not, not a single one gets done or most have lousy results.
5. Going big in everything you do. For any task to be successful or completely feel rewarding, we need to give our best in the process. While it does not guarantee success all the time, it leaves little room for regret on our part. Giving our best in everything we do would not lead to future what-ifs. 
6. Striving to always live a balanced life makes you stressed. Trying hard to do everything to achieve balance does not produce the best results. Wanting to achieve balance does not only lead to overthinking; it also causes fatigue. Again, we have to learn to put the most important things first, complete them and work our way down. 
7. Holding yourself accountable for the results you get in life is a sign of maturity. It is convenient to blame outside forces when we experience difficulties or failures in life, but this does not contribute to our growth as a person. As being capable of thinking and deciding, we should be responsible for our actions. We should know that each action we decide to take has corresponding results. A mature person does not blame others. 

It is amazing that with only 240 pages, I found myself learning valuable lessons from this book that could get me through a lifetime. With its practical lessons, one can easily navigate through them and apply those lessons immediately. 

Have you read this book yet? What lessons did you learn from it?

Which kind of habit is easier to fall into? A bad one or a good one? I believe most people would agree that it is easier to indulge oneself in a bad habit. Usually, bad habits are generally easy or comfortable, while a good one requires tremendous effort. Needless to say, bad habits are tempting. 

With this knowledge, how can we pull back from our bad habits then establish and maintain good habits in their place? Here are some ways that may help one to go through such a feat. 

1. Determine which bad habits are non-supportive to your growth. This step is first and foremost in the process because identifying the habits that we need to rid ourselves of will help us identify the steps to make it happen. More importantly, knowing what our non-supportive habits are will lead to the formulation of the opposite.  
2. Seek a mentor or coach to help you with techniques on how to replace the bad habits. Whether we admit it or not, we need other people to help us, especially when we need to overcome a challenge that we have a hard time fighting inside us. If we just rely on our strength, the tendency would be that we’d go back to our bad habits because it would be easier. Therefore, seeking out motivated and expert people with techniques that could make falling into good habits easier is a good decision. 
3. Do it consistently. At the end of the day, the top and most significant element we need in keeping the good habits we start to develop is ourselves. Even with the knowledge, skills, and help we get, the change will not fully take root if we do not muster the discipline and willpower to keep the new and unfamiliar habits. We must always be consistent and fight every difficulty or obstacle that comes our way through keeping the good habits we wish to maintain. 

Developing good habits or trying to do so is a personal choice. Some people are not able or do not get out of their bad habits because they might not have found it necessary for themselves or the people around them. People with hopes and dreams for their future typically strive hard to overcome their weaknesses and develop good habits. If you are one of these people, you know what you need to do. Are you willing to do so? 

(Photo by Shamia Casiano from Pexels)