Blurts & Spasms

From Quora discussion: "What are the most common life mistakes young people make?"

I am a life coach to adult couples and individual clients, a step-dad to two young adults, a brother to three younger siblings, and, over time, I have been a mentor to a handful of teenagers. Many of my adult coaching clients are working through questions and challenges that are similar to the ones they had back when they were teenagers. But either no one thought to encourage them to seek out professional help back then, or there was some stigma or insecurity about doing so when they were young. And as I interact with young people today, I see the same hesitancy to engage in professional help with psychological, emotional, relational or life management issues. Sometimes this choice seems similar to not wanting to go to the doctor, or not wanting to listen to adult advice, but often it seems more about fearing to face personal struggles, or not wanting to encounter painful self-knowledge. In other words, avoidance. Probably the greatest impact I have had on the young people I have known is encouraging them to seek out a good therapist, coach or mentor in order to overcome these fears and gain important life management skills. In fact, if all young people had such resources available to them when making important decisions, navigating romantic relationships, planning their education and careers, etc., they could gain the tools necessary to help mitigate all the "mistakes" described in the 40+ answers in this thread. Of course, the key is finding a good resource - someone patient, skilled, insightful and well-trained - and, as with any other product or service, that means being a discerning and careful consumer.