Have you ever been in situations where you just don’t know what to do and feel stuck? As a teen, you have to deal with countless responsibilities. The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens by Sean Covey helps to show you how to cope with all the concepts life throws at you. The book guides you by giving real-life examples from people the author met in his life as a teen. He connects each personal story to how you can manage if you happen to be in the same situation. Covey’s way of writing helps you build a strong connection with the book so you can actually listen to what he says. Three reasons I think should read it are to help you learn problem-solving skills, to build your confidence in yourself, and to help others around you.
Covey’s message is that everything starts with you. Each of the seven habits stated in the book has its own checklist on how you can work up to that habit. Covey calls them, “baby steps." These steps help to break down the habit into smaller pieces so it’s easier to make the habits. Covey made these early steps to develop problem-solving skills. When you get to a task that you feel is overwhelming, you can just break it down to can go one step at a time. The novel structure can be a problem-solving skill in itself along with its wise words inside.
This book boosts your confidence in so many ways. Throughout each habit, Covey writes about someone he knows who has a hard time with that habit. Reading it gives you more confidence in yourself because you find out that it’s not just you that has a hard time with a specific problem. Another way Covey guides you to have a better image of yourself is in the seven habits themselves. The whole book teaches you that everything has its own way of coming back to you. The first part of the book talks about paradigms which are, “perceptions about the ways things are,” and most teens have a negative paradigm of themselves. Covey’s message is that everything starts with you and how you want it to turn out. Your confidence in yourself is up to you, but Covey helps you reach a new view of yourself.
After building up yourself, Covey teaches you how to build up the people around you. Another message of the book is that helping others could help you. One of the main things Covey utilizes is the way you talk. Talking positively to others around you could make their day. This could make your day as well by seeing someone happier because of you. Covey says that if you do simple things for someone else, like taking something off of their daily to-do list, it can take a load off their day. Doing things for others helps them as it helps you.
After reading the book, you will feel like you have learned so much. How you use the tools given to you is your choice. Covey’s book will help you so much in your daily life, as much as others too. You must think, “My life is already sort of put together, so what will this do for me?” You will still be surprised at how much you will learn about the people around you. When you understand what other people might be going through, then you’ll be able to help them. Read The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens by Sean Covey because the way you think won’t be the same, changing you for the better.