Who's Your Inspiration?

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 look to themselves or their friends as the source of inspiration while young adults are willing to look to a power higher than themselves. Covey calls it “sharpen the saw” (206). Being a young adult is hard work. Sharpening the saw is about refocusing, renewing, and slowing down a little bit. It involves the body, brain, heart, and soul (206). Now, this doesn't mean you waste all your time and never do anything productive, because that's just being a teenager. But it is important to take time to step away from work and take a break. You must have balance in everything in your life. Some people work out building a buff body, but never learn anything. Some people have ripped minds, but never do anything for their body. And some people ignore the spiritual matters. Balance is key.

Andrews' second decision for succes is “I will seek wisdom” (50). Wisdom implies knowledge higher than yourself and is a constant, lifetime search. I started learning about the founding of America when I was 12 years old. At a young age, I was taught by great men of the past as I read their words and studied their lives. I was taught the principles of hard work, self-discipline, and the search for knowledge. James Madison said, “Knowledge will forever govern ignorance; and a people who mean to be their own governors must arm themselves with the power which knowledge gives” (brainyquote.com). Young Adults are self-disciplined so they can seek wisdom and knowledge without always having an adult at their back nagging them on. “I can change the future by changing my actions today. I will change my actions today!” (50).

• What do you do to sharpen the saw? Are you seeking wisdom beyond your own?

Coming up...Forgive and forget or forget to forgive?

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.