The 6 Most Important Decisions You'll Ever Make: A Guide for Teens

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MAKING SMART CHOICES IN CHALLENGING TIMES

The challenges teens face today are tougher than at any time in history: academic stress, parent communication, media bombardment, dating drama, abuse, bullying, addictions, depression, and peer pressure, just to name a few. And, like it or not, the choices teens make while navigating these challenges can make or break their futures.

In The 6 Most Important Decisions You'll Ever Make, Sean Covey, author of the international bestseller The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens, gives teens the strong advice they need to make informed and wise decisions.Using real stories from teens around the world, Sean shows teens how to succeed in school, make good friends, get along with parents, wisely handle dating and sex issues, avoid or overcome addictions, build self-esteem, and much more. Jam-packed with original cartoons, inspiring quotes, and fun quizzes, this innovative book will help teens not only survive but thrive during their teen years and beyond.

Building upon the legacy of The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens, this is an indispensable resource for teens everywhere.

Customer Reviews: Read 29 more reviews...

5 out of 5 stars

Sean Covey has come a long way...now he certainly stands taller than the old man with this new book! October 18, 2006
66 out of 67 found this review helpful

The 6 Most Important Decisions You'll Ever Make: A Guide for Teens
by Sean Covey

I have always been impressed by the published works of Stephen Covey, starting with his '7 Habits for Highly Effective People' which I read in the late eighties, followed by 'First Things First' & 'Principle-Centred Leadership' around the mid-nineties. I have yet to read his 'The 8th Habit'.

The most productive assimilative experiences for me from his success philosophies are essentially the first three habits (Be Proactive, Having the End in Mind, & First Things First) plus the last one (Sharpen the Saw).

Because of my work with teens, I came to appreciate also his son (Sean Covey)'s published works, mainly '7 Habits for Highly Effective Teens'.

In my strategy consultancy work, plus creativity classes with adult professionals & training in the schools with secondary students, I often recommend '7 Habits for Highly Effective People' & '7 Habits for Highly Effective Teens' respectively as mandatory reading. The feedback I get from them is always tremendously positive.

I have come to know about Sean Covey's new book quite by chance while surfing the net. I manage to grab a copy from my local bookstore.

The book is again targetted at a teen audience. In a nut shell, the principal theme of the book is how to make smart decisions for life's journey from teeny hopper to adulthood. The book starts off with a timely refresher on the 7 Habits as well as a fun & cool experiment, The Ten Year Time Travel Experiment. It covers the six critical areas:

- school: what are you going to do about your education?;
- friends: what type of friends will you choose & what kind of friend will you be?;
- parents: are you going to get along with your parents?;
- dating & sex: who will you date & what will you do about sex?;
- addictions: - what will you do about smoking, drinking, drugs & other addictive stuff?;
- self-worth: will you choose to like yourself?;

Personally, I enjoyed digesting the following three specific chapters, which I thought have been superbly crafted by the author. They correspond to the above critical areas.

School:

Here, I find the '7 Secrets to Getting Good Grades' exposition, especially Secret #7: Developing Smart Study Habits, to be an excellent piece. I often like to recommend to students to read the author's '7 Habits for Highly Effective Teens' & Adam Robinson's 'What Smart Students Know' in conjunction with developing smart study habits.

The author goes beyond just schooling. I marvel at his graphic illustration of four important circles: each representing TALENT (what are you really good at?), PASSION (what do you love doing?), NEED (what does the world need that I can get paid to do?) & CONSCIENCE (what do I feel I should do?), overlapping each other as a process for finding your niche.

To me, finding your niche is doing what you love & loving what you do!

Parents:

The 'Getting to Know You' Questionnaire, with one for teens & one for parents, is a marvellous idea for creating the opportunity for teens to talk to their parents & vice versa.

I also like the author's 'Getting to Synergy Action Plan', which is a five step process (with a built-in 'First Seek to Understand' & Think Win-Win') for teens who want to resolve disagreements in a mature manner with their parents & vice versa. This is really good!

Self Worth:

The author makes a fine distinction between 'self esteem' & 'self worth'. He says, "self esteem is your opinion of yourself. It goes by other names, including self image, self confidence or self respect." He obviously prefers the term 'self worth' best because he thinks "it says something the other terms don't. What is your self worth? Get it?"

There is even an appropriate quote to go with the above argument:

"Although how you esteem yourself may rise & fall, what you're really worth never changes!"

The author even goes to the extent of using an inspiration from the L'Arc de Triomphe (The Arch of Triumph) in Paris to create his novel conception of 'The Self Worth Arch of Triump. Bravo! An inspirational masterpiece!

This is how it looks like: On one side, the left side, you have the foundation stones of character:

- integrity;
- service;
- faith;

On the other side, the right side, you have the foundation stones of competence:

- talents & skills;
- accomplishments;
- physical health;

At the top you have the key stone, SMART DECISIONS or CHOICES, which holds the whole structure together. Wow! What a wonderful way to summarise the principal theme of the book & put all the pieces together at the end. The author argues, the smart decisions or choices you make will boost your self worth. Putting it in another way, self worth is the result of you being smart about the five earlier decisions (school, friends, parents, dating & sex, addictions).

I want to highlight this: This entertaining & inspirational book is jam-packed with incredible stories from teens all over the world, original cartoons, inspiring quotes, fun assessments, useful checklists & probing questions.

Best of all, each chapter is prefaced with The TOP TEN things you oughta know about...(the six critical areas) & ends with Baby Steps, i.e. small, easy steps that you can do immediately to help you apply what you have just read. Frankly, I really appreciate authors who take the trouble to incorporate reader-friendly textual & graphic aids in their books, thus making life easy for readers to follow their train of thoughts & then put all the ideas to work systematically. In this case, kudos to the author!

As an avid reader, I want also to highlight what the author writes at the end of the book:

"Keep reading books. It's brain food, you know. And never forget the words of P J O'Rourke: Always read stuff that will make you look good even if you die in the middle of it."

Let me conclude this book with a great quote from the book: "You can only become truly accomplished at something you love. Don't make money your goal. Instead, pursue the things you love doing, & then do them as well that people can't take their eyes off you. (Maya Angelou)"

This book is definitely an indispensable guide for teens, as well as as for parents or any adult who influences teens.

2 out of 5 stars

Unimpressive and Slanted Book May 18, 2007
18 out of 42 found this review helpful

To say nothing of the book's content, Sean Covey opens the text with an almost subtextual level of condescention; perhaps he truly intended to be friendly, but his introduction speaks down to anyone who has surpassed an early adolescent reading level. This is both the genre's fault (for perpetuating the myth that a writer should make friends with his readership) and the author's (for falling prey to this myth).

Although I am still within the age bracket to which the book is marketed, I found it terribly unappealing. Could this be because I am at the very end of my adolescence and long finished with my secondary education? Perhaps. But even when I was fourteen, I believe I was old enough to read books without pictures and flashy graphics.

In addition to the flaws in Covey's tone and design, the content of his book is slanted. Throughout the chapter on sex, he emphasizes -- albeit without saying it outright -- that the only "right" decision is abstaining until marriage. All the teens whose letters and stories were printed either regretted their past sexual encounters or were praised for their abstinence. I would respect Covey far more if he said outright that HE believes waiting until marriage is the best option rather than implying it throughout. Where were his sources when he claimed that teenage sex leads to depression? And who is he to say that long-term high school relationships are not commitments? Certainly, they lack the depth of adult relationships, but he noted that he met his wife in college and university students are hardly full adults.

His reliance on the "gateway drug" theory regarding marijuana is fallible, given (again) his selectiveness in printing only the stories that pushed his agenda forward. That he expanded the theory to include alcohol and tobacco only makes it more ridiculous; because he never discusses his definition of "drinking," the undiscerning reader might infer that even the occasional glass of wine sets him or her down the path to depravity and weak self-esteem (the "low road," in Covey's vernacular). Again, where are his sources? And where are the moderate stories? Just as it is possible to be a healthy and sexually active adolescent, it is possible to smoke or drink moderately and succeed in life.

The slant and the author's dishonesty regarding it, as well as the unimpressive writing and childish design made it a wholly unappetizing read. I recommend it only to people discerning enough to detect its flaws who want a good laugh.

5 out of 5 stars

The 6 Most Important Decisions You'll Ever Make November 26, 2006
10 out of 10 found this review helpful

This is the best book for young people I have ever read. Sean has shown amazing insite and has a unique way of relating to our young people.

For the last few weeks I have gathered my family and spent time reading this book to them and everyone has enjoyed it.

Thank you Sean for writing something that is helping kids and parents throughout the world

Sam Bracken

5 out of 5 stars

Great gift for teens... April 11, 2007
10 out of 10 found this review helpful

I got this book for my 14 year old brother, and flipped through it before giving it to him. I was impressed with the style of writing, and the pictures/cartoons, which are fun and enthusiastic, but don't seem childish. I bought several other copies to give to other teens that I know. My brother said that he really enjoyed the book. I wish I would have had a copy of this book when I was a young teen...there's great information to help teens in any situation.

4 out of 5 stars

Sean Covey's 6 Most Important Decisions May 18, 2007
6 out of 6 found this review helpful

"The 6 Most Important Decisions You'll Ever Make" is a very informative book. It give great insight to teenagers who are facing hardships. The book is directed towards young individuals and is formatted with an interesting style. The book will help you to deal with problems in your life.

Sean Covey believes there are 6 important decisions that you will make in your life. They are decisions about school, parents, friends, dating and sex, addictions, and self-worth. Each section goes into great detail to explain each area.

Throughout the book, there are hilarious cartoons, graphics, famous quotes, and thoughts from other teens. Sean Covey did not just use his ideas and opinions. The book is filled with statistics, experimental studies, and professional reports which show that it is a quality book. The book never seemed offensive, and would not turn away teenagers who are facing problems that are talked about in the book.

I thought the specific examples of struggling teenagers was something great to use. Each section had multiple stories, positive and negative, about teenagers and how they have dealt with the 6 decisions in their lives. It really makes the decisions seem real and makes you think about how you have made those decisions in your life.

I thought it was very interesting to see that one of the teenage stories was about a student from my school in Ohio. My principal was also acknowledged in the thank-you section of the book. This book is widely published and having my school mentioned in the book made me feel connected to the book.

I would recommend this book to students in junior high. I think this would be very beneficial for students to read prior to high school. Although I did not read it until my Senior year in high school, it was still worthwhile and gave me good advice to use for the rest of my life.

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