Adults of Reddit, what would you advise a teen NOT to do?

Piss around figuring out what you want to do with your life.

There are lots of people on reddit who want to tell you to take your turn and (for some reason) kids shouldn't be asked to decide what they want to do with their life so young. Bullshit. Sure, you can start college or a trade when you are 25...but realize that you've just lost around five years of earning power and professional development you'll never get back. You'll always be five years behind everyone else.

And, sure, that may be worth it, if those five years were productive. But if you spend five years "finding yourself" or bouncing around no-skill jobs...well, that's perfectly fine, if that's what you want to do with your life. But you'll then always be behind everyone else who got their shit together, and you'll have no right to complain.

Sixteen year olds are old enough to be getting an interest and researching and facing the realities of the job market. Sixteen year olds have so many opportunities to find out about careers and experiment with disciplines.

And college degrees are flexible! (Trades not so much, but they should be researched as well!) For most (though not all) jobs, the simple act of getting a degree is enough, regardless of discipline. Having a piece of paper that shows you were committed to a four-year endeavor puts you miles ahead of everyone else. I do spreadsheets all day, and I work with an engineer who hated engineering and a premed biology major who didn't really want to get into medicine, and we're all doing fine. Yes, some majors aren't like this, but most are.

Most teenagers don't, because they'd rather fuck and play video games. Too bad. Don't live a sub-optimal life because you're lazy and demotivated.

/r/AskReddit Thread