‘7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens’ Updated for Digital Age

The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens by Sean Covey is something I could have used as a kid.

There was very little direction in my house and I just drifted from class to class in high school. If you pictured my life as The Breakfast Club, I was Brian. The difference was, while he got too much direction and pressure from his parents, I didn’t get enough. It doesn’t sound that bad – but it wreaks havoc with your confidence.

The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens are the same as the 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, which makes sense as Teens author Sean Covey is the son of Stephen Covey who wrote the adult version. The difference is this spins all of the habits in a way that is more relatable to teens. How? It’s very interactive – so much, in fact, that there is a personal workbook devoted to all of the activities that go with the book. The first part is my favorite: What are your great habits? What is great about you? That’s good stuff. People need to keep thinking about what they are good at as well as what they need to improve.

This latest edition (5 million already in print) is updated with tips and stories for the digital age. Overall, I would say that this book is extremely effective if you can just get your child to read it. There is so much negativity toward teens going on in the media – from relatively new issues like social media and gaming to the more traditional issues like sex, drugs and alcohol — that we should add positivity to balance it out in our kids’ day-to-day lives. If we want them to grow up and be happy, productive people we have to get them in the mood.

Editor’s Note: A version of this article first appeared on Daddy Mojo.