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Bweian Ninjine

Mr.Snell

English 3 Period 1

17 May 2017

What it Takes to Be a Highly Effective Teen

Interested in becoming a better and more effective teen? well keep in tune then.

According to a book written by Sean Covey, the author enlists steps that helped teens become

more efficient from all over the world. In the book 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens, Sean

Covey describes the steps to improving and overcoming an individual's bad habits. In the book

7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens, by Sean Covey, the author explains the steps to becoming

an effective teen by improving bad habits such as poor listening skills, and being less reactive,

while encouraging good habits like taking care of your soul.

One of the most bad habits teen adolescents do is having poor listening skills and not

doing anything about it. According to Sean Covey, Spacing out is when someone is talking to us

but we ignore them because our mind is wandering off in another galaxy. They may have

something very important to say, but were caught up in our own thoughts.We all zone out from

time to time, but do it too much and youll get a reputation for being out of it, (Covey 170). The

author wrote this to inform the reader that spacing out is a common habit teens have. For

example, during the summer, there was a guy who was talking to me, while the guy was talking

to her, he gave her direct eye contact and stood a few inches across from her. Now a person

might think Ill learn the lesson and not space out when the same guy is talking to me again, but

I still havent learned it until the 3rd time.This shows that a person shouldnt be wasting their

time talking to someone who wont lend an open ear. Therefore, spacing out is a bad habit that
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prevents you from making a genuine connection with others. Working on your poor listening

skills can help you be aware of what others are actually saying and using the right words to

handling the situation.

There are two types of teens who handle situations differently; theres the overactive and

then theres the underactive. Based on 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens, the author uses

Adreanas story as an example. Even my boyfriend falls into the white-man-is-holding-me-

back attitude. When he was recently trying to purchase a car and the sale didnt go through, he

remarked with frustration, The white man doesnt want us to get anything. I almost lost it and

confronted him with how silly that kind of thinking was. But it only resulted in him feeling that I

was taking the side of the white man. I remain convinced that the only person who can hold you

back is yourself, (Covey 60). Covey wrote this as an example to demonstrate how being

reactive in situations can make you appear as an ignorant fool who not only has no self- control,

but also make themselves appear immature. For instance, during the first few games of softball

season, there was a catcher (aka: me) I didnt react well when balls dropped from my glove,

sooner or later I started to learn to not let my disappointment get in the way of my performance

and I need to start communicating with the pitchers. However, as the season progressed, I

learned to accept and deal with the fact that balls will drop, and I started communicating with her

pitchers, releasing stress and anxiety from them. This shows that if a person reacts to a situation

poorly, theyre just holding themselves back from doing better. Therefore, instead of reacting to a

situation like a baby, a person should handle the situation like a mature adult and move on with

their day.

One habit that most teens dont commit to doing is taking care of their souls, which

sometimes causes them to feel emotionally unstable. As Sean Covey mentioned in the book,
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During high school, I went through a dark period where it seemed that everything just caved in.

Thats when I found the river hole. It was just a bank off in some trees in the back of an old

farmers place and didnt look like much. But it became my escape. There was no one around,

you couldnt hear people. It was beautiful. Just swimming around made me feel at peace with

nature. Anytime I was stressed out Id go there. It was like my life could come back to normal,

(Covey 232). The author wrote this to inform teens that getting in touch with nature is one of the

best ways anyone can take care of themselves and their souls. For example, I recall a time when I

was so mad, I wanted to stab someone and gouge their eyes out. Thankfully though, I snuck

outside to the stairs, sat down and looked at the stars. Going outside made me feel so much better

that I no longer felt the need to harm someone as I felt like I was in peace. This shows that

instead of breaking the walls or the mirror, going outside of your house is a healthy way of

calming down and can prevent you from doing bad things as well. Therefore, going outside and

sniffing in that breeze doesnt only take care of your soul but can also make you a happy person.

Taking care of your soul can help a person be productive as they find more healthy and stable

ideas to handling situations.

In the book, 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens, it depicts the steps for teens or anyone

of youth to better themselves. In other words, Sean Covey wrote this for teens to improve bad

habits such as poor listening skills thats connected to spacing out. While he encourages good

habits like Listening to your language which helps you be more productive. And lastly, taking

care of your soul which helps a person take better care of themselves. If you have an interest for

becoming a more highly and efficient teen, you might as well start reading the book.
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