Want to be a responsible teenager going into adulthood? Here are 10 life skills for teenagers to learn that you must know!
Of course, there is much more to life than these 10 skills. However, these skills are absolutely crucial to transitioning from a teenager to an adult.
Before we start, let’s go over why they’re important in the first place…
Why You Need Life Skills as a Teenager
If you went into the real world straight out of high school without having learned any of these life skills, you would have such a hard time adapting.
Here are a few benefits to learning these life skills as a teenager:
- More responsible
- Easier transition into the world
- Growing your knowledge in everything
- Better self care and control
The best part is… learning these skills aren’t all that complicated. A few Youtube videos or articles like this one will help you get there!
Now that you know why, let’s get into the 10 life skills for teenagers to learn…
Cooking
Who do you think is going to cook for you after you leave the house?
Learning how to cook is necessary for maintaining a healthy diet and avoiding junk food. Eating out is very common in young adults because they never learn how to make their own food.
Here are a few cooking channels I recommend checking out on Youtube:
- Sam the Cooking Guy
- Kenji Lopez-Alt
- Joshua Weissman
- Tasty
- Not Another Cooking Show
Give all those guys a try and you’ll see how fast you start to pick up some really easy recipes that you can whip up at any time!
Cleaning
With all cooking comes cleaning. Well, cleaning comes with a lot of things… which is why it’s so important to learn!
Here are a few things you should learn to clean as a teenager:
- Dishes
- Your Room
- Laundry
- A Bathroom
- Tabletops, Desks, and Counters
Once you get the hang of it, you’ll see how easy and efficient cleaning can become!
I recommend using the 2 minute rule – if it takes less than 2 minutes, do it now.
Related Post: 15 Things School Doesn’t Teach You
Finance
Finance is one of the best life skills for teenagers to learn as they get older! Here are a few topics you should learn about in finance:
- Budgeting
- Saving
- Credit
- Banking
- Investing
- Taxes
- Frugality
There are tons more topics to learn, but that’s a really great start for beginners!
Resources such as Google and Youtube have opened up a lot of options for you to get your research in quite easily.
Search these topics individually and absorb every single thing you read. Just try not to fall into the trap of any “get rich quick” videos (they’re pretty much all lies).
Organization Skills
An organized room is an organized mind!
Organization will come naturally to some, while others will struggle to get their belongings together properly.
The best way to start is by organizing your desk. The next best way is by having a plan.
Organization also falls into the category of getting your life together too. Write everything down in some sort of planner to keep your schedule organized.
Give everything physical a spot in your room, backpack, etc. That way, you’ll always know where it goes when you have to clean up again.
Car Maintenance
Taking care of a car will never go away. Sure, some things might get easier over time, but you must first be an expert on your car now.
Here are a few car maintenance life skills you need:
- Checking tire pressure
- Changing oil
- Replacing windshield wipers
- Properly cleaning your car
- Replacing lights
- How to pay for registration
- How to get car insurance
Each one of these skills takes a 5 minute video at most for each one and you can do everything by yourself easily!
If you ever want maintenance help on any home/car related issue, definitely check out “Dad, How Do I?” on Youtube. That guy is a legend!
Related Post: How to Be a Successful Teenager
Social Skills
Social skills make for the most important life skills for teenagers to have when going into the real world!
Here are the social skills you can work on:
- Respecting others
- Understanding how other people feel
- Reading body language
- Acting engaged in conversation
- Listening to understand, not to respond
- Showing acknowledgement
- Speaking with confidence
Easier said than done, but the point is to start working on these skills now. Knowing these can eventually land you a dream job or negotiate for things you want!
Once again, Youtube is the absolute king for watching quick videos on these topics.
Self Control
If you can’t control yourself, what makes you think you can control any other part of your life? That’s why it’s a crucial life skill!
Learning self control can be as simple as not raging in a game or how to argue without anger.
Here’s how to practice self control:
- Understand the size of issues
- Think (and pause) before you speak
- Look at the big picture (what’s the end goal)
- Get adequate sleep and exercise
- Have motivation for things you love
- Put yourself in a 3rd party perspective
Teenagers are naturally more inclined to feel emotions that are out of their self control. Those who can conquer those emotions earlier will always be ahead of the game.
Healthcare
No, this doesn’t mean you need to learn how to apply for a healthcare plan. This means that you should learn to take care of yourself!
You should always be working on yourself emotionally, physically, and financially. The hard part is that everyone puts finances first.
Here are a few ways to work on yourself:
- Develop proper hygiene
- Form a workout routine
- Have “me time”
- Reach out to friends
- Eat a healthy diet
- Protect skin (sunscreen, moisturizer, etc.)
- Avoid drugs and alcohol
Take good care of your body, because it takes good care of you everyday!
Related Post: Daily Routine for Teenage Guys and Girls
Time Management
One of the most important life skills for teenagers is time management. It’s essentially what will help you organize your life forever.
Knowing how to better organize your life will save you hours of extra work, procrastination, and overall stress for your whole life!
Here are a few time management tips for students to learn:
- Have long term and short term goals
- Prepare a daily schedule
- Use reminders often
- Get a planner
- Minimize deadlines
Students with better time management skills have resulted in better grades, higher productivity, and even better moods!
Have Tough Skin
The final life skill is a bit of a curveball, but here’s why it’s so important to develop tough skin…
First of all, for those who don’t know what it means, it’s essentially the ability to handle criticism, being made fun of, and rejection without taking things to heart.
I just left my teen years, but I’ve seen an increasing pattern of teenagers becoming less and less tough. Things simply offend them easily.
In order to continue growing as a person you have to risk being offensive and handle and shit that gets thrown your way.
Life is going to be extremely hard if you don’t develop a tough skin.
Here are a few ways to develop tough skin as a teenager:
- Don’t take things personally
- Understand that you can’t control the world
- Know that everyone gets rejected
- Fix relationships as they’re being broken
- Actively face your issues
With many of these tips comes a lot of life experience, but that’s exactly why you should start getting those life skills early!
Trust me, you’ll be a happier person because of it!
Hopefully these 10 life skills for teenagers have taught you something new that you can start implementing into your life now!
If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions leave them down below. Thanks for reading!
