Advice for Demanding Parents: If Your Teen's Career Choice Reveals a Genuine Issue with Goals, Motivation, Ambition, or Willpower

No, we won't pay for a year of lounging around in Cannes. Well, it depends—if it's for a long-term internship...

These tips might seem obvious to you if you're demanding and realistic, but for others who have been swayed by different kinds of advice, I hope this will make them think again.

My Tip #1: Have your teen think strategically and structured about what they want to do professionally. And not locked away in their room with a gaming console.

In the meantime:

My Tip #2: Have them get a job. It will give them a dose of reality.

My Tip #3: Have them start a project. With a precise timeline, of course—we're not fools.

My Tip #4: Have them start implementing their future choices concretely in their daily life. To learn, they don't need to wait for a teacher to read them a book.

They can pick up a book and start on their own. Tomorrow. Not next month.

The rest of the advice I see floating around raises my eyebrows. I'm very critical of the educational value, which seems only superficially justifiable.

But if you're starting to know me, you know I've already begun to dig deeper. Stay tuned, i'm on new theory of career development.