The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens

The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens by Sean Covey was first published in 1998 but was revised in 2014 to meet the changing needs of its audience of tech-savvy teenagers. (This study guide refers to the 2019 Simon and Schuster trade paperback edition.) While the genre is self-help, the book’s focus on young adult readers is evident from Covey’s informal tone, which he uses to narrate entertaining stories about teenagers, as well as the book’s visually appealing format, incorporating humorous cartoons, easy-to-remember lists, and accessible graphics. The book has been an international bestseller, just like the “adult” version of the book, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, written by the author’s father, Stephen Covey. The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens has been translated into 20 languages and has sold over five million copies worldwide. Sean Covey is also the author of The 6 Most Important Decisions You’ll Ever Make, The 7 Habits of Happy Kids, and The 4 Disciplines of Execution.

From Covey’s Introduction, inviting readers to redefine their lives by understanding and applying the seven habits he outlines, to Covey’s farewell at the end of the book, in which he urges his readers to embrace fulfilling lives, the book goes through each of Covey’s seven habits, defining each and then giving many examples of how various young people have applied the habits in their own lives.