18 STEPS TO HELPING YOUNG PEOPLE BECOME SUCCESSFUL, WELL ADJUSTED, FUNCTIONAL HAPPY ADULTS

1.Get yourself up in the morning and ready for the day…Leave for your destination with time to spare. Be on time, don’t waste people’s time.

2. Be able to manage all aspects of living from finding a dwelling, to keeping it up and functional, to responsibly moving out into another dwelling

3. Be self-reliant, self-directed and self-disciplined, and be able to initiate–

“Discipline yourself, so others don’t have to”.* as said to his team by baseball Manager Charlie Manuel.

4. Know how to feel, express and receive gratitude.

5. Accept that you will make mistakes and own them, learn from them, and be willing to change.

6. Support yourself with an appropriate source of income and be dedicated to quality work.  Know when and how to spend, save and give money away.  Pay your bills on time.

7. Know how to turn it all off and take time for yourself. Have a hobby and a passion.

8. Know that there are others in the world who matter as much as you do.

9. Say no and yes at the right time; never put a price on your integrity.

10. Take things seriously, and not personally. (Pull over and let tailgaters go by)

11. Do not abuse or let yourself be abused.

12. Stay away from blame, control, guilt and don’t tell people they are over-reacting or to chill.

13. Know that your words cannot be taken back, so choose them mindfully. Use sparingly, the words “should, shouldn’t but, sorry, try and can’t”.

14. Laugh a lot and cry some.

15. Learn how to be socially compliant in a healthy way. (In other words, be yourself and fit in at the same time.)

16. Offer to help the host of any party in clean-up, especially elders.

17. Don’t inflict your past on others, resolve it or let it go.  You cannot change the past or other people.

18. Be nice, pleasant, and open to change, (including) don’t yell, curse or hit people or animals, make rude gestures.  Have good impulse control.

Last but not least—Know how to successfully plunge a toilet!

c. Rick Concoff, M.A. 2010