Tools I wish I had when I reached 18

Choices, most of the years growing up I was told what to do. I don't believe I was given choices. I made choices, not based on sound experience but based on doing what I wanted despite what my parents said I should do. Some of my most profound mistakes in life were based upon poor choices. The only way to make good choices is to have experience when you are young, making choices. A good book on this is called "Blink" it is about peoples choices and illustrates how we make important decisions quickly and unimportant decisions we worry over. So my first tool would have been experience making decisions when I was younger so I could make better choices when I was older and the choices had a bigger impact. For example, if you want to ride your bike until 10 pm you won't get any dinner because dinner is at 6:30, what do you want to do? Instead, I was told you have to come in now because dinner is ready. The follow on to this tool is tough love. You now made the choice, live with it. I told you at 4 pm that if you choose to ride your bike until 10 pm you wouldn't get any dinner, that includes a sandwich. My parents always tried to minimize the impact of my poor choices. Hum, Choices/Consequences. There are times and circumstances that minimizing might be the right thing to do. Most of the time living with your choice is the right thing to do. At 60 years old I have to live with my choices, no one shields me from having the electric turned off if I don't pay my bill. Why should I have been shielded from my poor choices at 12 years old. We have an obligation to teach our children to be self-sufficient and know that they should not only consider what the best choice would be but consider what the consequences will be. The last tool kind of ties it all together, experiences. How would I know what I wanted without experiences. I don't mean experiences like smoking pot, but experiences that make my life richer. One example would be going to a rodeo, or visiting a military academy, or an art museum. Most people learn through experience. I have tried to teach my children this way. They didn't always like it, but they are better adults because of it.