As young kids, we all spend a lot of time and energy on things which have no relevance to our lives or our careers. In fact, a majority of our time is spent on things which have no relevance even in the near future! These take up a lot of our time and distract us from things that do matter. All of us are like this when young and only realize our fallacies after growing up. To help you save time and understand where to focus your energies and what to ignore, I have compiled a list of things which you should not focus on.
Since this list can become pretty extensive so I have restricted myself to 10 things that young students should not focus on.
1.Comparing yourself to others.
I cannot stress how important this is. Once you start comparing yourself to others, be it friends, family members, distant relatives, you will find it difficult to stop the inferiority complex growing within you. The best way to deal with this is to focus on your own growth instead. Start studying in a more organised manner. Starts being up to date with what’s happening around the world and always make it a priority to look after your physical and mental health.
2. Having nice stuff or whatever is in vogue at the time
Parents likely face this problem every few months. Kids like to stay on top of trends, whether fashion, games, accessories and others. If your friend has a new accessory on his bicycle which you don’t, you immediately rush to your parents begging for a new shiny thing. Well, in another few months, you will want something else. These things are all temporary. As for the other kid who has the best stuff, he might not have the best domestic life. Think about that. Be grateful for your parents, your life and the strong relationships you have.
3. Being better at something than others
Let me tell you outright. If you spend your time trying to be better than others, you will hardly learn anything in the process. Life is not a race. We are good at few things and terrible at others. What’s important is that we try and learn to be good at things which matter to us. When we can do that successfully, being better than others will not matter for us.
4. Faking in front of others
This is one thing almost all teens do. They try and fake their way through school and try to impress their friends with how ‘cool’ they are. The same kids in a few years brag about how ‘real’ they are and how they hate people who fake it. Life is funny that way. Being your authentic self is cool and sooner or later everybody realises this.
5. Keeping up with celebrity gossip
This one is an absolute waste of time. Kids excitedly chatter on about the latest Bollywood or Hollywood gossip they come across and being around them might make you feel excluded if you have no idea about what’s happening with celebrities. Fear of missing out (FOMO) is a common thing among kids these days which is why you try to keep up with them as much as you can. I know it is fun to talk about these things but they are completely irrelevant. So if you want to, you can keep yourselves in the loop but never make it a point to know about the latest celebrity news every single day and neglecting what’s really important, the real news of the country.
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Who cares? In a few years you are going to realise that nobody was thinking about you at all. Everybody was afraid of what other people were thinking about them. Everyone thinks just like you do, i.e., nobody is thinking about what you eat, how you dress, how you speak or where you live. What matters is being yourself and self-improvement. That’s all that is going to matter in the future anyway.
7. Playing the blame-game
It is easy to place blame on others for your own actions in the short term but it will not make you feel better. Most importantly, the problem is not going to go away.
8. Worrying about the future
It will be easier for you to learn this while young. Nothing comes of worrying but more worry. The most successful and happy people I know are all a bunch of planners. The happiest and at-ease kids are followers of routine and systems. The point is to plan, because when you do, you are figuring out ways to make success a reality instead of worrying about when success will come.
9. How your social media looks
Kids today go crazy when they lose a follower or two. Try grabbing their phone when they are posting a picture and they will tear your arm off. Kids are way too intense about how their social media profile looks, how many followers they have, how many likes their posts are getting and others. If you are somebody with their own channel, do go care about the numbers but never make the highest priority in your life. The highest priority in your life should always be people, those they stay around you.
10. Living in the past.
We have all done that and some of us continue to do this till date. It is easy to fall into a spiral and keep reliving every mistake we have made and every stupid sentence we have ever uttered. It only makes us miserable. We should focus on living in the present. There is a saying called Carpe Diem, it means live in the moment. We are happiest when we can do that.
So there you go. 10 things teenagers should avoid and what they should focus on instead. Teenage is a tumultuous time, full of uncertainties, pleasing everyone and sometimes forgetting who you are. Once a while, we all need a refresher to remember what is actually important.
