• Blog
  • About
  • Contact
  • Disclosure

TeensGotCents

Why wait to live a centsible life?

  • Common Cents
  • Job Cents
  • Shopping Cents
  • College Cents
  • Mom Cents
  • Blog Cents

Seven Habits – Be Proactive

by Eva 1 Comment

I have been reading Stephen Covey’s The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People lately, and I have been really concentrating on the seven steps that make people better and more successful. One of the foundation steps is to ‘be proactive’ or to choose your attitude about the circumstances of your life. Taking initiative can be powerful and can be a force to change your life for good. Here’s the takeaway for teens looking to make the most out of their lives.

Part 2 of a series about Stephen Covey’s The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People.

The foundational habit that Stephen Covey begins with is ‘Be Proactive’.  This simply means that you have the power to choose your attitude about the circumstances of your life.  Your life is a product of your values and not your feelings, of your decisions not your conditions.  You can take the initiative to make good things happen and you are the creative force in your life.  As teens, many may think that we are too young or too hormonal or too immature or whatever.  But you and I know that this is not the case.

*ADDITIONAL RESOURCES FOR TEENS*

The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People Personal Workbook

 

The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens

 

seven habits be proactive

Which do you choose?

Adults and teens alike struggle to respond well when bad things happen to us.  Mr. Covey explains that there is an important space between stimulus (what happens to us) and response (what we do about it).  It is in this space that we choose how to respond to the current situation.  Let me give you an example from my own life.  We do not have tv in our house.  (Can you believe it?)  Which means that I didn’t get to watch the Grammy’s last night.  (I really wanted to see Taylor perform because she is notoriously BAD in live performance and I was rooting for her to knock it out of the park for once.)  Mom and I thought that we had found a place where we could watch it online.  When the time came for the show to start we realized that it was one of those scam type of sites, and we would have to give them a credit card number in order to see anything.  Well.  There was no way my mom was giving them her credit card number, so I sat there in silence as I imagined every single other teenager in the entire country enjoying (or not) Taylor Swift’s Grammy performance…sigh.  In that moment, I had a decision to make.  I could stomp around and be mad at my mom, or be mad at the internet, or be mad at anything, and allow it to ruin my whole night, or I could get over it and realize that it was really not a big deal.  Last night, I chose to get over it, and we went on to have a really nice evening.  I will admit that I don’t always make that choice.  But the bottom line is that my response to things not going my way is entirely MY responsibility.  We have the capability to choose how we respond to every single thing that happens to us and we do not have to be controlled by our feelings.

I have been reading Stephen Covey’s The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People lately, and I have been really concentrating on the seven steps that make people better and more successful. One of the foundation steps is to ‘be proactive’ or to choose your attitude about the circumstances of your life. Taking initiative can be powerful and can be a force to change your life for good. Here’s the takeaway for teens looking to make the most out of their lives.

Covey uses Viktor Frankl, an Austrian psychiatrist who was placed in the Nazi death camps because he was Jewish, as an example of someone who is proactive.  During his time in the camps Dr. Frankl observed that some people acted like animals and some people acted like saints even though they were all in the exact same circumstance.  His experience led him to later say the highest value of all is to choose your attitude in situations over which you have no control.  We have the freedom to choose that response.    By exercising his own will, he experienced true freedom as he alone could choose his response even in the midst of the horrific conditions of a concentration camp.  Dr. Frankl wrote a book about his experiences Man’s Search For Meaning.  And yes, I am aware of how ridiculous my Taylor Swift example sounds in comparison with Dr. Frankl’s story.

seven habits be proactive

What is in your circle of influence?

The next point that Mr. Covey makes regards our ‘circle of influence’.  This covers the parts of our life that we can do something about – our health, family relationships, schoolwork, etc.  But there is another larger circle and this is the ‘circle of concern’.  These are things that you can do absolutely nothing about such as the weather, international events, decisions other people make, etc.   Where do you focus as a proactive person?  On the circle of influence.  The reactive person focuses on the circle of concern – things they can do nothing about!  That just doesn’t make sense does it?  We should spend our time working on things that we can actually change.  As we do that, we will experience the joy that come from taking responsibility for our own life.

As a teenager, there are many things in my circle of influence.  The relationship that I choose to cultivate with family members, how I do in school, my progress as a rock climber, my level of involvement in my church.  These are the things that are important to me and I do have control over these areas.  The choices that I make are my responsibility and it is my goal to become more and more proactive in my life.

Now.  Any ideas on where I can see a replay of that Taylor Swift Grammy performance?  Anyone?

Check out the rest of the series! 

#1 Be Proactive

#2 Begin with the End in Mind

#3 Put First Things First

#4 Think Win/Win

#5 Seek First to Understand, Then to be Understood

#6 Synergize

#7 Sharpen the Saw

 

Share the Wealth!

You May Also Like These

One of the best habits of highly effective people is to synergize, or cooperate! As a teen, this can mean learning to work together on group projects or coordinating on a blog post. Even my mom and I are awesome at synergizing and working as a team. When you know how to work with one another, you can get more done in a shorter amount of time and less energy spent! Sounds like a win to me.7 Habits – Synergize!Interview with Stephanie Halligan of The Empowered DollarDo you love writing? Do you have any idea that writing an essay can save up your tuition? Check out how Hannah had her tuition for FREE just by writing scholarship essay!How One Student’s Essay Earned Her Free Tuition

Join thousands of other teens on the path to a secure financial future!

Get my eBook Seven Days to Centsible Savings when you sign up for my FREE email newsletter!

< Previous Post Should I Give My Teen An Allowance – The Allowance Question
Next Post > Goodbudget Review – Digital Envelope System

Leave a Comment Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published - required fields are marked *

Hi guys, I’m Eva!

Welcome to TeensGotCents, my name is Eva Baker and I founded this site when I was sixteen. I'm a complete money nerd and I love helping teens learn how money works. Also, I watch too much Netflix. Although I still have a lot to learn about personal finance I hope you will use my successes and failures to help reach your own goals whether you want to go to college debt free, get a part time job, work on a fun DIY project that will save you money or just read about ways you can learn to manage your money well as a teen. So glad you're here! Read more about my story here.

Become a subscriber

Get my eBook Seven Days to Centsible Savings when you sign up for my FREE email newsletter!

Be sure to check out these popular posts

Landing your first job often means going through the most dreaded part: the interview. Being nervous is totally normal, but there are some simple ways you can overcome your nerves and impress a future boss. From practicing common interview questions to dressing for the role, you can up your chances of being hired by following these must-do steps for nailing your first in-person interview.

Interview Tips for Your First Job

A few years ago, I interviewed college student Tim Ciello about how he managed to land a full-ride scholarship to his dream school. Now, he’s back (and graduated) to talk about what life without student loan debt is like and what his scholarships ended up not covering. While he admits that he hasn’t exactly figured out money as an adult yet, he has learned tons of valuable money and life lessons during his time as a student.

Is Student Loan Debt Worth It?

Are you looking for some teen bedroom makeover ideas? Look at the great (and affordable) things I found at IKEA!

Teen Bedroom MakeOver Ideas from IKEA

When you’re busy raising a teen, it can be easy to let money lessons slide. But one valuable lesson you cannot forget is teaching your teen how to save money. It doesn’t have to be too detailed or complicated. In fact, you can just sit down and have your teen promise to save a percentage of their first paycheck or put aside a portion, or even all, of their allowance. I cover some of the easiest ways to teach a teen to become a money saver with these practical and easy tips to get the conversation started.

Practical Tips – Teaching Your Teen To Save

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Google Plus
  • Pinterest
  • Instagram
  • Blog
  • About
  • Contact
  • Disclosure

Copyright © 2019 Teens Got Cents  |  All Rights Reserved  |  Site Design by Emily White Designs