Just to let you know, this article is not meant to point out flaws and criticize any parents in general. Just like you, I am sure that they have always done what they could for us to grow up strong, secure and independent, allowing us to be that unique being that we are.

If you think about it, our parents are our first mentors in life. They teach us, correct us, direct us. Their role is so important that it helps to define who we will be in the future.

As it generally happened to generation X, my parents come from a workaholic lineage, who have always put work in front of their necessities. This happened because they have been taught that their positions were the most significant goal in life. For millennials, this can give chills, but for my parents, the millennials also end up being incomprehensible. Therefore, rather than discussing and identifying who is right and who’s wrong, I would first list five things my parents didn’t teach me and now I would like them to know:

Saying no

Imagine the situation: your peers or leaders arrive with another project for you. The deadline is tight, and they gave it to you because they knew you wouldn’t deny it. You are not obliged to accept everything that is thrown at your table and one thing you may not know if you say no sincerely, you’ll even earn more respect.

Say yes

This is for the 5 minutes looking at the sun that you denied to do because you had so many tasks ahead of you. It was the chocolate bar in the shop so close to the office. Your happy hour beer with friends at 6 pm. Those little treats will give you more energy and will help you to relax. Sometimes we need to say no to work that can be done later, to say yes to ourselves and our mental health.

Procrastinate to take better actions

Here the doer will have to give in because it’s good to procrastinate, only when you don’t feel guilty and it is responsible! How many ideas come after we let them mature? I guess we might miss amazing good opportunities by not saying: “Let me speak with my team about it and come back with a solution”.

Stop overthinking

Do not try to interpret what others think or would be the outcome of a situation if you had done something different. Honestly, doing this is a waste of time. Whenever try to read people’s mind or struggle to understand what he/she meant by that comment, we no longer care about what we feel or think. And in reality, the times when we hurt someone we do not even realize that it happened.

Don’t get tired of adapting yourself

The classical “we have always done it this way” should be avoided at all ends, we know. But when we bring it to a singular person’s perspective, being able to accept criticism in an adult way and improve on that is not something learned easily. I believe parents should always be very realistic with their children, and show them why it is so important to accept that you have flaws and that is important to keep progressing, every day.

After working in 3 different countries and with so many different cultures, I had the opportunity to open my mind and start respecting even more whoever thinks and acts unlike me. As a result, I was able to learn the lessons I now would like to share with my parents.

Being human sure is not an easy task, but is it parenthood, really? If we look to others with empathy, we will be more relaxed. Respect everyone above all.

Thank you for reading

We really do want to hear from you! Get in touch

Monday is a Business Design Consultancy based in sunny Lisbon. We believe in the power of brands and we work side by side with our clients transforming their customer experience. This core philosophy stands at the center of everything we create. Clients include: Snickers, Red Bull, Twix, Philips, M&M’s, Guloso…