Skills parents forget: 6 essential lessons for daughters

Breaking rules when they make no sense

Teach your daughter to question senseless rules and be able to influence change. This is called leadership.

What it provides:

• the ability to disappoint people by disagreeing

• skill of respectfully disagreeing

• readiness to swim against the current

• honesty and elegance in actions

Why it works: if you want to change your job, family, and community, you must be prepared to occasionally take risks and annoy people.

No one is coming to save her

Forget about fairy tales with princesses rescued by princes. Teach your daughter to manage money, parallel park, and change a tire.

What it provides:

• independence and self-reliance

• confidence in her own strength

• ability not to wait for 'hero'

• selectivity in choosing a partner

Why it works: a somewhat bold position means she will be selective about whom she spends her life with. She will be strong enough to do everything on her own and won't need a hero.

Other people will judge anyway

Teach your daughter to make choices based on her values rather than the number of followers on social media.

What it provides:

• understanding of one's own values

• ability to build life on a solid foundation

• resilience to others' opinions

• conscious choice

Why it works: research showed that family, faith, and love are the most common core values. What you say, how you say it, and who you associate with is much more important than 'likes' or GPA.

Fear is an inappropriate emotion for decision-making

Do not worry about your daughter stepping outside the group. Teach her to take responsibility for her choices and ignore the opinions of others. Psychotherapist Leanne Avila recommends: ''Affirm the positive choices your child makes. This is how they learn to navigate the world they live in.''

What it provides:

• fearlessness in decisions

• creativity and resourcefulness

• ability to follow her own path

• self-confidence

Tip: one teacher said, "If it makes you throw up in your mouth a little, it's probably the right choice.''

Intuition is smarter than ego

Our ego does not make us happy. And every victory for ego can be a crushing defeat for the soul. Coach Samin Razzaghi explained, ''Girls are told by our culture that what they know to be the right choice for themselves is illogical or irrational. But intuition is a powerful way to avoid peer pressure.''

What it provides:

• ability to hear inner self

• capacity to avoid toxic relationships

• understanding of one's own boundaries

• protection from manipulation

Why it works: our inner self is always smarter than the one performing for adults, bosses, or lovers. If a girl feels it's wrong, it's wrong, even if it comes with a trophy.

Solitude is better than compromise on standards

Life coach Kelly Rudolph noted: "Becoming your own best friend is extra important because attracting positive female friendships may take some time.You may need to go alone to social functions occasionally until you attract the friends you seek.''

What it provides:

• self-confidence

• ability to be alone without discomfort

• careful selection of friends and partners

• quality relationships instead of quantity

Why it works: few true friends or noble colleagues are all that's truly needed.