The Seven habits of Highly Effective teens

(a book by Sean Covey)

A lot of teenagers read books,especially the teenagers at my school. Every time our class will have a discussion about books , I am always in mute, it feels like you are surrounded by Chinese people talking in Greek.Yes, most of the teenagers at our school read books, but I was not one of them.I don not really read books because I often have hard times in imagining or picturing the scenes in the story, that is why television has been my best bud at home,well next to our phone. But my lac k in interest for reading does not mean that I haven’t read any books. I have, but all of those books were non fictional, they talk about life in general. Just like this book that I have read, the book that made a different impact to my teenager life. This book that I am going to share to you caught me in surprise for it was an easy to understand book full of interesting stories. It is easy to relate to stories in the book, despite of our cultural differences. It’s author, Sean Covey has his own way of communicating to the teenagers like me who are not book readers. He knows how to keep his book as a good adventure. I love it and that made me finished that book in only a day.The coauthors of the book “Chicken soup for the teenage soul” have once said that the book by Sean Covey entitled “The Seven Habits of Highly Effective Teens” is a true gift to a teenager’s soul. It’s undoubtedly a true gift for my soul. The book did really made a place in my mind. I will share to you my learnings from that book.
Habit I: BE PROACTIVE
I view life as a very long journey, and always consider myself as it’s own driver. I choose my own road and would always take the responsibility for my decision. Habit # 1,from Sen Covey’s book, surprisingly fits on my perception of life. With this first habit I realized that the failure of somebody should not be blame to others. People who fail are not victims for they were the one who chose their own road and should put no blame to others. The problem with most teenagers , is that , we always react on things that looks so different. We usually jump into conclusions and oftentimes, we cleanse ourselves from failures. We don’t want to accept failures and instead blame it to the people around us. Habit # 1 is simply all about taking responsibility for your own life.
Habit II: BEGIN WITH THE END IN MIND
Teenagers love surprises. We love to handle unplanned things. But trust me this kind of of habit will bring no good to you. Habit # 2 primarily talks about how good it is to have planned things.It sows how comforting it is to think about tomorrows or just simply being ready for our actions’ consequences. Define your mission and goal in life.
Habit III: PUT FIRST THINGS FIRST
Time Management is often hard to achieve, especially in a teenager’s life. Parties, homeworks, TV shows, computer games...uhh can’t somebody y give us a break? Which is Which? It is hard to find the equilibrium of such things when you fail that everything is important. Habit #3 will surely make you realize the importance of proper prioritization of things. This habit is primarily about doing the most important things first.
Habit IV: THINK WIN-WIN
Habit # 4 is a bit hard to achieve especially when one has the attitude of seein life as a vicious competition. Human in nature are win-lose thinkers. We have that belief that if others win then you lose and that if you are going to lose, however, make sure you drag that sucker down with you. Such attitudes are defective in a teenagers development. Thinking win-win will make you feel a winner, no matter how badly you fail. This attitude has an “everyone can win” attitude.
Habit V: SEEK FIRST TO UNDERSTAND THEN TO BE UNDERSTOOD
Habit #5 reminded me that I have two ears and a mouth. It reminded me that before people can understand me, I should be able to understand them first. Listening to people sincerely is the key.
Habit VI: SYNERGIZE
Let’s face it, other people are weird because they are different from you but isn’t it better to have a diversity in a group. In this life, no one will ever succeed without somebody else. People need to interact inorder to survive in this world. People will always need the help of someone else and achieving success, we have to work together to achieve more.
Habit VII: SHARPEN THE SAW
It is simply renewing ourselves regularly.
The book truly defines the seven characteristics that happy and s successful teens have in common. I love that book for I have learned a lot from it.