The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens Book Analysis Essay Sample

Thinking about what to write and how to respond to certain things can be hard. The book The 7 Habits of highly effective teens, written by Sean Covey, made it easy to think and respond to questions I was being asked. In the book the author talks about certain things you should try to work on which he called “baby-steps”. However, that is not the only thing he talks about, Covey talks about how to lead your life in an effective way while learning about confidence, how to be proactive and learning how to prioritize things. These three concepts are something I work on everyday. 

Being confident has always been a struggle for me, especially growing up and seeing so many standards for womens bodies, especially on the internet. Most women I know body shame themselves and see themselves as “fat.” In the book “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens” Covey talks about habits you can do to make you feel more confident in many ways. Part IV claims” It's all about how you feel, not how you look… As you’ve probably noticed, our society is hung up on looks.” Covey continues and says, “The important thing is feeling good physically—and not so much your appearance.” This has helped me with my confidence and overall self-esteem because it taught me that as long as I feel healthy, appearance doesn’t matter. Loving yourself isn’t as easy as some people make it seem, people on the internet appear to make it seem incredibly easy and as if it's not a challenge but for most people it is. 

Being proactive means many things which include, being aware of the words you use, thinking ahead, setting goals, taking responsibility and (or) action. I am not the greatest at being proactive, I struggle with setting goals and Covey has helped me realize that in order for me to get where I want to be in life I have to push to get to where I want to be. In Habit 1 Covey states, “If you think you can-do, and you’re creative and persistent, it’s amazing what you can accomplish… To reach your goals in life, you must seize the initiative.” This really spoke to me because I am very creative and take initiative with what I want to do. For example I really enjoy styling hair and working with hair so I am taking the time to complete cosmetic schooling next year to get my degree. I plan to complete some of the “baby steps” covey tells us readers to help us become more proactive. Some of the baby steps include, If you get into a fight with someone, be the first to apologize, if someone flips you off, give them a peace sign, ect; Basically be the bigger person. 

Learning how to prioritize things is a very tricky thing to do because you want to do so many things such as hang out with friends or go shopping when those things are not important. Prioritizing means putting the most important things first, such as getting a job, doing homework and going to school. When you complete all the important tasks, you will feel more balanced and feel as if you have more control of your life. In Habit 3 Covey claims, “My stress level has decreased because I am no longer constantly trying to remember what I have to do a few days ahead. Now I can just pull out my schedule and I’m all set.”  I started planning a few days after school started and overall, and it has helped me tremendously with stress, work and time management. Although I still am terrible at procrastinating, a planner has helped me to not leave out anything throughout the day. I know what I need to do and what my main  priority is.

Overall, I have learned a great amount of things from the book “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens,” which resulted in me learning how to feel more confident daily, helped me become proactive, and how to prioritize my daily life. All of these concepts are incredibly useful and helpful life skills to have especially as you are growing up and becoming an adult. Baby steps into all of these traits helped grow in each category. Push towards your goal and never give up on what you know you can do.