#1 Endure the Drought
In life, we undergo 'four seasons' of transformation: winter, spring, summer and fall. Winter very often comes during our teenage years; it is a time drought and uncertainty but it sets the stage for spring; a time of real growth. Instead of engaging in self-destruction during winter, teenagers must endure the drought until spring arrives with new opportunities for them.
#2 Sow Seeds Everyday
What you do during your teenage years (winter season), can either make or break the rest of your life. Between 15 and 30, most teens and adolescents make some of the most critical decisions in life like college education, career choices and choosing a spouse. Such decisions are like investments into the future. In winter, farmers spend time planning on what they will do in spring. Instead of losing time, they spend their time thinking, sorting, planning, mapping or sowing the seeds of tomorrow 's success.
#3 Soil your Hands
Teenagers are like farmers. They can't grow peanuts, pumpkins and potatoes without ever having to soil his or her hands in cultivating the crops. In like manner, teenagers can't get far in life without ever staking or 'soiling' their hands in learning new skills that will earn them decent incomes when they become fully grown adults with responsibilities.
#4 Find an Oasis in your Desert
In every desert, there is an oasis; a place with water that can support growth of crops. In every city, village or hamlet, there are opportunities for teenagers who search for the 'fertile creeks.' While some farmers choose to search, others simply give up looking for the fertile areas or oasis where they can plant their crops. Teenagers today, must persist in finding supportive environments where they can learn, free from distractions.
#5 Sacrifice Time
Just like farmers sacrifice pleasure for work, teenagers too must make sacrifices like time, effort and imagination in pursuing personal and professional growth that is sustainable and resilient. Making a sacrifice means giving up certain things and pleasures like Tv time, movies, hanging out too frequently at the expense of more important personal goals.
#6 Go an Extra Mile
On the extra mile, there is no traffic. By sticking to challenges that others avoid, a teenager grows personally and professionally. Teenagers who push themselves will find that there is less competition on the extra mile because all the laggards have fallen behind. Thus, it is pointless being part of a bandwagon that leads to nowhere. It is better to follow your intuition in doing things that matter to you or volunteering time to help others ie giving more than it is expected of us.
#7 Invoke your Silent Counsel
Although parents, educators, guardians and counselors can help teenagers have breakthroughs, they can't do it for them. At the end of the day, only the teenager himself or herself has to think, reflect, and make the last decisions on whether to act or not to act. Only by listening to their inner voice can they own an issue and take it from idea to realization. Some of the best innovators of the world had their best ideas during the teenage years; thus it is smart to put your teenage thoughts to action.
#8 Reach out to your Lifelines
A lifeline is someone who can help a farmer to have a breakthrough during a tough time or season. Sometimes, the lifeline can be banker or a friend, or business partner that comes to the rescue of the farmer during winter. By the same token, a teenager can seek help from a parent, teacher or counselor to have a breakthrough during tough times. Lifelines are of critical importance during the teenage years.
#9 Do Crop Rotation
Sometimes farmers plant leguminous plants like beans to enrich the soil with nitrogen or nitrates that fertilize the soil for other crops that require more nitrates to grow. At other times, they rotate from one crop to another so that that the soil continues to be rich in fertilizers. Teenagers can learn from farmers by switching fields or changing the ideas that do not work, instead of feeling hurt by the failure to succeed in one particular thing of field. By trying another idea, location or school can give a breakthrough.
# 10 Grow Cash Crops
Every cash crop is different. Every strength and ability too is different. By being thoughtful and using their strengths, teenagers can tap into their youthful ingenuity. By seeking advice on what works best and combining that with their strengths, teenagers can overcome adversity and have surplus yields like a farmer thus in good years. The key is to know or ask what they are good at and doing it to their very best regularly.
