In It to Win It

After reading The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens by Sean Covey and The Young Traveler's Gift by Andy Andrews, I have found nine areas where typical teens are different from productive young adults. In these nine posts, I'll be explaining them and asking you to decide where you are right now and where you would like to be in the future.

Teenagers are in it for themselves. Young adults can look out for others. Covey describes it as “think win-win” (146). Two friends were running away from a bear. One turned to the other and said, “I just realized. I don't have to outrun the bear. I just have to outrun you!” (147). This is thinking win-lose. You win at the expense of the other person. Thinking lose-win is taking the blame for everything, sometimes referred to as being a doormat because you let people walk all over you. Thinking lose-lose is when you say, “If I'm going down, You're coming with me, sucker!” (151). Then there's win-win. The all-you-can-eat buffet. It's all about finding a way for both people to be happy. This habit is further reinforced with Andrew's fifth decision for success which states “today I will choose to be happy” (98). There's always a way to make it a win-win situation, you just need to keep your head up and find it. Choose to be happy. It's all up to you. Nobody can make you be happy or sad. Teenagers often go with win-lose, lose-win, or lose-lose, but young adults know it's all about win-win.

• Can you think of a situation in your life that could benefit from win-win thinking?

Coming up...I'm sorry, what did you say?

Sources:

Andrews, Andy. The Young Traveler's Gift. Nashville, Tenn.: Tommy Nelson, 2004. Print.

 Covey, Sean, and Inc OverDrive. The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens. S.I.: Touchstone, 2014. Print.