I wasn't planning on reading the actual summer read assigned, “7 Habit of Highly Effective Teens”; I planned to get away with a kick-ass blog post I wrote based on a book summery I googled. It wasn’t as much laziness as it was disinterest. I’ve never felt like I learn anything I haven't heard before in this sort of “self help” books. They’re always embellished life lessons structured in a smarter way than when my mother or teacher first told them to me, making them sound eye opening and revealing. For once, I decided to ignore my skepticism and give this book a try. “If Mr. Bon and the entire class, who by the way have already finished writing their blog post, claim it to be good, then it must be”, I thought. Turns out I was wrong, about them being right I mean. I didn’t find the book to be anymore than a well-dressed version of my mother’s lessons. I found it to be an easy and somewhat entertaining read though— I’ll give my classmates that. I could easily write a suck up blog post where I praise Sean Covey for writing “the last word on surviving and thriving as a teen and beyond.” But I refuse to rave about the book being a distilled sound advice, which changed my life for the better, when I believe it to be a bunch of clichéd advice and rehashed common sense I’ve heard ceaseless times before. Now, I wish to clarify Covey does gives good advice, teens should follow the seven habits, they’re simply too universal—too repeated. Covey is no Aristotle. He’s not offering anything new; this book contained no miracles that will transform my way of thinking, living nor perceiving life. However, it did give me a time of reflection, a time for cogitation. It made me think of how my life doesn’t just happen; of how I’m the one who either consciously or unconsciously designs it.
I’m no Aristotle either and you’ve probably heard the following before, I know I had, but I chose not to listen. It's my one takeaway from reading this book, a piece of advice that suddenly clicked: Get to know yourself and how you work; get a grasp on how to use the tools you’re given. When you meet someone—woman, man or children—to deal with them you try and get to know and understand them. It’s the same with you. Get acquainted with yourself; you are the only one with the power to let yourself down. You choose failure, you choose sadness, and you’re the only one with the power to change your choices. Choose success, choose happiness. Learn to use what you have to make the right decisions.
1 Comment
Bon
1/19/2016 12:12:50 am
Dani, this blog post is entertaining especially because we all know how turned off we can get at times we cliched ideas. The transitions here are very smooth and ideas flow naturally. In that last part of the blog you could have made more personal connection to the idea of designing your life. Why did you choose that one? Why does it matter to you and your life?
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Daniela Ontaneda16 year old Junior at Colegio Franklin Delano Roosevelt who's taking the IB diploma program. Archives
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Future Blog Posts:
-Free to Learn by Peter Gray reflection
- If you could change someone's life - If you could change one thing about yourself - Should students be allowed to grade their teacher - What happens after death? - Are precognitions and deja vu different? - Mysteries of the mind - Mentalism - The positive of experiencing pain - What is existentialism -Impact of media on society |