Habits that Changes Lives

Mark, Best wishes in your upcoming college days. Our prayers go with you. The T______s.

I found that inscription inside of my copy of “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People.” It had been given to me by family friends – friends of my parents really. Thirty years later the lessons I learned still stick with me and are used to this day.

Dad, you’d be proud to know that yesterday I had an interview and I brought up ‘beginning with the end in mind.’

My son shared that with me last week. I’m blessed to have three wonderful kids. When each of them turned 13 years old, they received a copy of “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective TEENs.”

For each of the three of them, when it was their time, I would sit down with them and create a plan to read the book. We would agree to read a chapter or number of pages and then talk about what we read.

A few habits they learned included:

• Habit #2 – Begin with the End in Mind
• Habit #3 – Put First Things First
• Habit #5 – Seek First to Understand and Then to Be Understood

The teen version of the book also related to them where they were and what they would be facing as they entered high school. It created a natural opening for a conversation about peer pressure, and short-term and long-term impacts of decisions like engaging in drugs, alcohol and sex.

I was grateful for the opportunity to have these conversations with each of my three kids. I’m also very proud of them for the decisions they’ve made in their life so far. I heard it once said, “Parent them at 13 for how you want them to be when they are 30.” It means to help them develop the skills and values to make solid decisions on their own.

Is giving a book a habit you've adopted?

I’m so grateful for the couple that gave me my 7 Habits book as I entered college. You never know whose life you might impact when you give a book.

It was for just such a reason as this that I originally wrote “Dad’s Little Book of Wisdom: Earn More, Achieve More & Live a Good Life” – to share wisdom with those starting out in life.

Mark Fennell?–?Mark has over 25 years of sales, speaking, and leadership experience. He is the Business Development Manager for CM3 Building Solutions, a building solutions company where he aids schools, municipalities, universities and states identify, develop and implement infrastructure improvements that lower energy and operating expenses while mitigating risk. He is also the author of Dad’s Little Book of Wisdom. Mark’s personal views are his own and do not represent the company’s views. ?

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