The 7 Habits Of highly Effective Teens

Part 1​- The Set-up

Get In The Habit

They Make You or Break You
Page 3-11
The first few pages of “The 7 Habits Of highly Effective Teens” are unique. The author uses the
pronoun “you” which makes the reader feel as if the author is directly talking to them. The
beginning of the book talks about advantages and disadvantages of habits. It introduces 7 habits
that guide a teenage through their journey of life.

Paradigms and Principles

What you See Is What You Get
Page 11-31
Paradigms: “Your point of view” (page 13)
This book was written over a decade and a half ago, before I was born. Although society and
beliefs have changed, the information in this book has been kept unaltered. The reason for this is
because the book doesn’t hold information, it holds the truth. No matter what happens the truth
will always be kept the same. These few pages discuss the topic of Paradigms and Principles. A
paradigm is the way you view the word, others and yourself. By being “principle Centered,
(natural law)” (page 24), your paradigms will be more clear. This is because you will start to
realize how much distress and pain the world is living in. Once you understand how it’s not
worth living in a false way, you will begin to live in pure honesty because it's the most simplest
way of living. You end up being happy, because you have stopped depending on others, you
have stopped using others as resource of comfort and you have finally felt free of
disappointment, because you do what you want to do the way you want to do it.

Part 2​- The Private Victory

The Personal bank account

Starting with the man in the mirror
Page 31- 47
In this section the author talks about conflict. He talks about how this life is a battle between
yourself and you. The hardest battle you will have is you. Our mind is a complex system that
thinks over thousands of thoughts each and everyday. These thoughts are positive and negative.
They can make you feel amazing or aweful. These thoughts are powerful. That's why the author
calls it “The Personal Bank Account”, “How you feel about yourself is like a bank account”
(page 34). Making a deposit is the same as making a commitment and breaking that commitment
is like a withdraw.

Habit 1- Be Proactive
I Am the Force
Pages 47- 73
This section of the book talks about the first habit, which is “Be Proactive”. These few pages talk
about control, choice, and reacting. We all love having control, when we don’t, we get fearful.
Fear leads to anger, which most of the time causes us to react to situations in an inappropriate
way. In Order to react appropriately we must make a choice. This choice is sometimes made
without thinking about it. The author explains how we do have control, but not for everything.
One thing that we do have power over is the way we react.

Habit 2- Begin with the end in Mind

Control Your Own Destiny Or Someone Else Will
Pages 73- 105
This section of the book talks about how every action has a consequence. When we do
something or say something, we might not understand how much of an effect it has on others.
This is the reason why we should try and do everything in a positive manner. We have to think
about the impact our actions will have on others and on ourselves. For example, when we
workout, we generally become happier and healthier. The action of working out effects our body
in a positive way. We have to train our minds to think about the end result. This is why we
should think about what we do before we do it.

Habit 3- Put First Things First

Will and Won’t Power
Pages 105- 131
This part of the book talks about prioritizing your time. It makes sense to put urgent and
important things first, but having the mind sense of urgency can be helpful, yet unhelpful. Many
people these days mistake everything to by urgent. This generation of ours wants everything
“now”. By thinking this we confuse urgent and important which often leads us into trouble. This
section also talks about not caving into peer pressure. Now-a-days, being influenced is very easy.
We might think that our friends are always giving us helpful advice, but you can never trust
anybody or anything, but yourself. Although peer pressure can put you in trouble, it can help you
to become stronger and teach you to say “NO”.
Part 3- ​The Public Victory

The Relationship Bank Account

The Stuff That Life Is Made Of
Page 131- 145
These few pages talk about respect. Respecting yourself, others, and the relationships you have.
“The RBA represents the amount of trust and confidence you have in each of your relationships”
(page 132). A deposit is when you do something that helps strengthen the relationship you have
with someone and a withdraw is when you break their trust. This section is about making sure
your needs are all met before you go on helping others, because you truly cannot help someone
else if you cannot help yourself. By making sure that you are happy and healthy, you will have
more energy in helping others with their self care.

Habit 4- Think Win Win

Life is an All-You-Can-Eat Buffet
Page 145- 163
In this part of the book the author talks about the win-win situation. You must train your mind to
have a win-win mindset. In this mindset all of the people in the situation are happy. For example,
by putting others first not only do you help them, but it also makes you feel good for doing a
good deed. Although this seems as if having this mindset is simple, it is quite difficult. Many
tend to think lose-win. They think that by pleasing others not themselves is the way to go, but by
making yourself unhappy in order to make another happy is not worth the fight. We need to treat
ourselves just as respectfully as we treat others. We also cannot fall into the mindset of win- lose.
This tends to happen when competition takes control over someone. Competition can be a
healthy thing, but when you use it to make someone or yourself unhappy, it can become a
technique that leads you or others to sadness.

Habit 5- Seek First To Understand, The to be Understood

You Have Two Ears and One Mouth… Hel-lo
Page 163- 181
Your voice is a very powerful weapon, it can cause people pain and pleasure without you
meaning to. This is the reason why we must a have the patients to listen. Listening is a much
more powerful tool than your voice because it takes more courage to stay silent and understand
rather than speak and have no respect for the words of others. Many these days jump to
conclusions without taking any facts into consideration, one of the many reasons why our world
is in so much distress and pain. If someone listens to you and empathizes and sympathizes, you
feel heard, you feel understood, which is why you should treat others the same. Now there are
many ways to listen and understand. As the author states, “First listen with your eyes, heart, and
ears” (page 171).
Habit 6- Synergize
The “High” Way
Page 181- 205
Synergizing is creative group cooperation. “Alone we can do so little; together we can do so
much”- Helen Keller (page 182). This section talked about the three different profiles people in
this world have. The first one is “Shunners profile”, which is someone who is afraid of
difference. The second one is “Tolerators profile, who is someone who believes that everyone
has the right to be different” (page 185). The third one is “Celebrator’s profile”who is someone
that appreciates and truly values another's difference. The author talks about open mindedness
and how one should not be self centered or people centered. Many get obsessed really quickly,
which can lead to mental distress. This is the reason why we should not obsess over people or
things. Moderation is the key to life.

Habit 7- Sharpen The Saw

It’s “Me Time”
Page 205-243
This is a habit that is the most important. The author talks about “Me Time”, which is giving
yourself a break from you and others. We often get so caught in emotions, school, grades, etc.,
that we often forget what life is and what is important to us. If we don’t get a chance to
understand and express ourselves than how will we be able to be happy. Everybody in this world
is searching for happiness. It's not hard to find, we just make it hard. We have to love ourselves,
it may sound cheesy, or make you cringe, but that’s life, learning to love ourselves. Once we
master that, we will be able to love others. All we need to do is “Sharpen The Saw”.

Keep Hope Alive!

Kid, You’ll move Mountains
Page 243- the end
Some of the most successful lives out their went through or are going through loss and
disappointment. Loss and disappointment is like pain, inevitable. During these hard times, our
hope is tested. As humans hope is like oxygen for our spiritual mind. It's the only thing that can
keep us from drowning in our life, especially in our generation. This is why we must, “Keep
Hope Alive”.