What Is The 7 Habits Of Highly Effective Teens
Even with my glasses, or is it because of my glasses, I still could not see. In The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens, Sean Covey explains that having incomplete or flawed paradigms about yourself and others is like wearing glasses with the wrong prescription. Taking a first step and walking through a new door can create the beginning to a paradigm shift.
I walked in wearing a wacked pair of glasses. Those jacked-up glasses kept telling me that I could not, would not, and did not fit in. The glasses ranted to me all throughout the day, when I went to bed and when I woke. Thinking about how I was to be taken seriously, seriously? I was not even from the area. My home in Maricopa is a good 40 minutes away and that’s not considering traffic. …show more content…
We are a small town. As my dad will point out, there is no Home Depot in Maricopa. There are no a lot of things in this town. Kids like me want to run from the C and D rated schools of Maricopa, only to arrive at an A rated school of another area feeling incompetent, unprepared, and just plain less than.
Two weeks prior to the start of freshman year, I walked in the band room a day late to band camp. I did not know anyone there when I opened that door a day behind, literally and figuratively. I stepped in awkwardly with my head down as I did not really want to be noticed. Not being noticed was not an option. Mr. Hargrove, our band director, instantly knew by my strange face and the saxophone I carried who I was. He introduced me to friendly and smiling faces. My new teammates embraced me with not only acceptance, but enthusiasm. I heard someone comment right off how awesome it was that I played the saxophone. I was instantly befriended by the saxophone players and others as well.
Covey writes about statements that at one time sounded intelligent, but with the passing of time, come to be known as idiotic.
“First, they are all perceptions about the way things are. Second, they are all inaccurate or incomplete, even though the people who said them are convinced they’re true” (Covey 13). I got a paradigm shift and threw out those idiotic lenses I had walked in that first day with. My new lenses see that my band members, like most of the kids in my school, in every school, are just young people like me (with some insecurity) that are learning and growing to become the best they can be. I had worked hard in band for the past two years of middle school in Maricopa. I was dedicated to doing the hard work of being a contributing part of this high school marching band. I was worthy. My band members were looking at me through a correct lens prescription when they saw me come through the door on that first day.
Conclusion:
Lee Atwater is quoted as saying, “Perception is reality.” We paint our reality with the colors of our perceptions. Our perceptions are often ruled by our choice of how to perceive. In their song “Change Your Mind”, Sister Hazel sings, “If you want to be somebody else, if you’re tired of fighting battles with yourself, if you want to be somebody else, change your mind.” Change your mind, walk through the door, grab a new pair of glasses and shift your
paradigm.
I walked in wearing a wacked pair of glasses. Those jacked-up glasses kept telling me that I could not, would not, and did not fit in. The glasses ranted to me all throughout the day, when I went to bed and when I woke. Thinking about how I was to be taken seriously, seriously? I was not even from the area. My home in Maricopa is a good 40 minutes away and that’s not considering traffic. …show more content…
We are a small town. As my dad will point out, there is no Home Depot in Maricopa. There are no a lot of things in this town. Kids like me want to run from the C and D rated schools of Maricopa, only to arrive at an A rated school of another area feeling incompetent, unprepared, and just plain less than.
Two weeks prior to the start of freshman year, I walked in the band room a day late to band camp. I did not know anyone there when I opened that door a day behind, literally and figuratively. I stepped in awkwardly with my head down as I did not really want to be noticed. Not being noticed was not an option. Mr. Hargrove, our band director, instantly knew by my strange face and the saxophone I carried who I was. He introduced me to friendly and smiling faces. My new teammates embraced me with not only acceptance, but enthusiasm. I heard someone comment right off how awesome it was that I played the saxophone. I was instantly befriended by the saxophone players and others as well.
Covey writes about statements that at one time sounded intelligent, but with the passing of time, come to be known as idiotic.
“First, they are all perceptions about the way things are. Second, they are all inaccurate or incomplete, even though the people who said them are convinced they’re true” (Covey 13). I got a paradigm shift and threw out those idiotic lenses I had walked in that first day with. My new lenses see that my band members, like most of the kids in my school, in every school, are just young people like me (with some insecurity) that are learning and growing to become the best they can be. I had worked hard in band for the past two years of middle school in Maricopa. I was dedicated to doing the hard work of being a contributing part of this high school marching band. I was worthy. My band members were looking at me through a correct lens prescription when they saw me come through the door on that first day.
Conclusion:
Lee Atwater is quoted as saying, “Perception is reality.” We paint our reality with the colors of our perceptions. Our perceptions are often ruled by our choice of how to perceive. In their song “Change Your Mind”, Sister Hazel sings, “If you want to be somebody else, if you’re tired of fighting battles with yourself, if you want to be somebody else, change your mind.” Change your mind, walk through the door, grab a new pair of glasses and shift your
paradigm.