30 of 31 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Superb Workbook to Supplement Life Strategies for Teens, September 27, 2001
This review is from: Life Strategies for Teens (Workbook) (Paperback)
Please realize that the basic book that this workbook relates to is Life Strategies for Teens.... Without that book, this workbook will lose much of its ability to be helpful. My suggestion is that adults or teens read Life Strategies for Teens first. If you like that book, then get this workbook as well.
If you are buying Life Strategies for Teens as a gift for a teenager, I suggest that you also give the workbook at the same time. The workbook provides lots of questions, ways to develop ideas, and helpful projects that are designed to be done between reading fairly small segments of Life Strategies for Teens.
The workbook starts with A Quick Self-Check of 12 revealing questions. You go on to write the story of your life. From there, you list stupid decisions, and consider what directed dreaming inspires you to think about. You self-examine which behaviors are working and not working for you. To help you get it another section focuses you on models, skills you need, relationships, learning about other people, and breaking patterns that dont work well for you.
The fun really begins when you list experiences you would like to have, and begin tracking when you have those experiences. You go on to learn more about what you stand for, reward yourself for doing what needs to be done, and change the way you think about and talk to yourself.
Diving deeper, you will consider how your beliefs may be making you blind to opportunities.
When you are ready, you will start making some important life decisions. Theres plenty of help for improving relationships, if thats part of whats needed.
Having developed that sense of focus, you go on to create your first life plan.
. . . And then the excitement really begins! Youre on your way!
The whole project began with, "Dad, trust me, when it comes to teens, you don't get it!" Thus, Mr. Jay McGraw told his Dad, Dr. Phil McGraw, that Dr. Phil was violating his own first rule for Life Strategies, You Either Get It or You Don't. Mr. Jay had wanted to use Life Strategies to improve his own life, and found that it took him 6 years (from age 13 to age 19) to translate the lessons into a teen perspective that made sense to Mr. Jay. Mr. Jay was naturally appalled when he found that Dr. Phil had a book contract to do a book on Life Strategies for teens. The project was reborn in Mr. Jay's hands.
By the time Mr. Jay was done, he was no longer a teen, having reached the ripe old age of 20. But his memory of teenage perspectives is strong and salty.
Early in Life Strategies for Teens, he candidly points out that the teen did not buy this book. It was a gift from an adult, usually a parent. Thats why I suggested that the book and workbook be given together as a gift.
I suggest that you read Life Strategies for Teens before giving it to anyone. That may be its greatest benefit. Mr. Jay does a good job of taking on the key psychological, social, and developmental challenges of the teenage years. As you visit these points of view, you can begin to see how your teenager might see you.
Life Strategies for Teens follows Dr. Phil's 10 laws. You can also read my reviews of Life Strategies and the Life Strategies Workbook if you want to know more about those resources.
Mr. Jay takes the perspective of what the payoff is from the teenage years. For example, he candidly points out that you can decide not to get good grades. But you have to understand that that means that you will get less respect from everyone, and have fewer choices after high school is over. Coming from a parent, that would have sounded preachy. Coming from Mr. Jay, it just sounds matter-of-fact.
If you have a pretty good relationship with your teen, a possible approach is to start doing Life Strategies yourself. Ask your
teen if he or she would help you with the exercises in that book. As you open up about your issues, hopes, and dreams, you may stimulate an interest in your teen. In the meantime, be sure you have a copy of Life Strategies for Teens and this workbook around the house, and be perfectly open about reading them. Who knows what might develop next? You could possibly start a dialogue by asking your teen to tell you what the three things are that you do that most annoy your teen. Then, see if you can do better.
Communication is the most important bridge to your teenager's development. Keep building that bridge daily, in ways that your teenager likes!
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