All parents aspire for their children to succeed, not only by securing a stable job and a good income but also by finding happiness. Many wonder how to help achieve this.

Here are key skills to foster in your teen:

Planning: The ability to set and achieve concrete goals and plans.
Avoid micromanaging your teen’s life. Establish basic rules like completing homework, ensuring they get seven to eight hours of sleep, and encouraging regular exercise. You may also have additional guidelines, such as attending family meals or religious services.
Let your teen figure out how to follow through, intervening only if the rules are consistently ignored.
For long-term projects, like a research paper or college applications, engage in a conversation about how they’d like to approach them, allowing them to brainstorm before offering ideas.
Involve your teen in planning family activities, vacations, home renovations, or other projects, giving them a role in decision-making, even if you don’t always agree.

Focus: The ability to concentrate on what matters most.
Discuss how social media and the internet can interfere with daily life, including homework, and work with your teen to develop strategies to manage distractions.
Create screen-free times for family meals and activities.
Encourage hands-on, non-screen activities like cooking, baking, crafting, painting, or gardening.

Self-Control: The ability to manage both emotions and stressful situations.
Talk openly about feelings and methods for managing strong emotions, such as deep breathing, stepping away, or even screaming into a pillow.
After a difficult situation, once everyone has calmed down, discuss what could have been handled differently.
Help your teen understand how their actions affect others and the importance of mindfulness.

Awareness: The ability to recognize both people and situations, and how we fit into them.
Take your teen to different places—a walk in nature or a visit to a nearby town—to help them observe things they might otherwise overlook.
Engage in community service as a family, showing your teen how they can make a difference.
Establish rituals of family check-ins, like at dinner, where everyone has the chance to share their day.

Flexibility: The ability to adapt to unexpected changes.
Life often presents challenges, and teens need the skills to adjust.
Avoid being overly rigid with their schedule. Help them prioritize and decide what can be postponed or missed when life changes unexpectedly.
Encourage spontaneity and flexibility—teach your teen to prioritize and avoid being too tied to routines.
Lead by example: be flexible yourself, embracing new plans when old ones fall through.

Every time you give your teen independence, there’s a chance they might fail. Resist the urge to intervene immediately. While it’s important to support them, sometimes failure is necessary for growth. Allow them to attempt problem-solving on their own before stepping in. You may be surprised by their resilience.