I’M SO UNLUCKY TO BE IN THIS FAMILY

I’m 16 and really resent my family because all of them (my parents and two siblings) are only concerned with achieving in life. For them you don’t count if you don’t perform well in academics or sport, and aren’t interested in putting your nose to the grindstone.

I’m a happy-go-lucky type of person who’s lazy and doesn’t enjoy studying. Many people get through life like this so I don’t understand why my family keep pushing me to perform. Charles, email

The truth about life is that you can’t be financially comfortable if you don’t get a job that will earn you a decent living. It doesn’t have to be an academic qualification like becoming a doctor or a lawyer – it could be more skills-orientated such as becoming a plumber, panel beater or electrician, or arts-orientated such as a being a singer or actor. Learning to do any job – as well as actually doing that job – requires dedication and commitment.

The bottom line is that if you want to be relatively free of financial worries, it will require effort on your part. Your family know this and that’s why they’re pushing you. So it’s really because they love you and are concerned about your future.

Being lazy and happy-go-lucky isn’t a profession, and there’s great satisfaction in finding work you really enjoy and are interested in and that gives your life meaning.

‘When dealing with people, remember you’re not dealing with creatures of logic but creatures of emotion’ – US AUTHOR DALE CARNEGIE