The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens

This is the first How-To book I have read. At first I didn't think that it would do me any good to read this book, I thought my habits were already 'highly effective'. But once I started I realized how wrong I was. There is a quote at the beginning of the book that reads:

"If The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens doesn't help you, then you must have a perfect life already."

I didn't realize how right that was until I really began reading the book. I have not actually finished it, but I couldn't keep from posting about the book any longer, so I decided to give mini-reviews on each section/habit.

Get in the Habit

Sean Covey starts the book in a very friendly, open manner that has carried through the rest of the book. He tells you basically what to expect, and what not to expect. In this section Covey tells us what the 7 habits of highly effective teens are:

the 7 habits of highly effective teens

1: Be Proactive
Take responsibility for your life

2: Begin with he End in Mind
Define your mission and goals in mind

3: Put First Things First
Prioritize, and do the most important things first

4: Think Win-Win
Have an everyone-can-win attitude

5: Seek First to Understand, Then to Be Understood
Listen to people sincerely

6: Synergize
Work together to achieve more

7: Sharpen the Saw
Renew yourself regularly

These habits build on each other so that you cannot have habit 4 before you have mastered habit 3, 2, and 1. If you really think about it, it makes a lot of sense.

Habit 1 is at the bottom, and habit 7 is at the top; you must use habit one as foundation, roots, for the rest of the habits.

The entire book is full of pictures, comics, quotes, stories, and lots more. One of the quotes Covey gives in this section about habits is from writer Samuel Smiles:

"Sow a thought, and you reap an act;
Sow an act, and you reap a habit;
Sow a habit, and you reap a character;
Sow a character, and you reap a destiny."

The writing is easy to understand, and presented in ways I have not commonly seen. I actually write in the margins and I have begun to change some of the ways I think. I agree with the quote above: you must have an absolutely perfect life (family, friends, school, church...) if this book does not help you in some way, shape or form.