Teens Can Make It Happen: Nine Steps for Success [School & Library Binding]

Stedman Graham (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 2000

The teenage years are filled with growth, promise, trials, and tribulations. During this time, one may be faced with life-changing decisions and challenges. And often these dilemmas are not easily answered. In Teens Can Make It Happen: Nine Steps to Success, prominent businessman and author Stedman Graham guides readers to a better understanding of themselves, their strengths, and their desires, while helping them to devise and achieve plans for realizing their visions. In an entertaining and interactive style, Graham bridges the gap between education and the real world, and provides teenagers with the means to boost self-esteem, avoid peer pressure, and handle the daily stresses that come with being a young adult. As founder of Athletes Against Drugs, an organization created to combat drug abuse and promote youth leadership, Graham knows how to talk to teenagers. Teens Can Make It Happen is filled with relevant and practical wisdom for today's young adults. Its hands-on approach and personal style make this engaging handbook a must-have for teens as well as for parents, grandparents, and anyone else who influences young people.

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Prominent entrepreneur, educator, and author Stedman Graham writes, "More than anything, Teens Can Make It Happen is about showing young people how to discover the hope and self-confidence they need to lead productive, healthy lives. This book is designed to help them develop lifestyles and processes that will prepare them for a lifetime of intellectual, emotional and physical awareness and well-being. Every chapter shows that you are not your circumstances; you are your possibilities." Graham, author of the bestselling You Can Make It Happen: A Nine-Step Plan for Success , writes for teens in a straightforward, no-nonsense manner, no talking down, no vague promises. After chapter 1, "The Success Process," one chapter is devoted to each of his nine steps: check your ID, create your vision, develop your travel plan, master the rules of the road, step into the outer limits, pilot the seasons of change, build your dream team, win by a decision, and commit to your vision. Graham reveals some of his personal trials and tribulations in finding his identity (can you imagine how hard it would be to hang onto your own identity if you're also Oprah Winfrey's boyfriend?) and reaching for success even when people have told him he couldn't make it. In his motivational style, Graham makes it crystal-clear that he believes in the teens of today and the adults of tomorrow. Filled with relevant examples and practical, hands-on wisdom, this book should help teens move beyond their circumstances and become their possibilities. (Ages 12 and older) --Emilie Coulter --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

About the Author

Stedman Graham is chairman and CEO of S. Graham and Associates, a management and marketing consulting firm based in Chicago. He is the author of ten books, including two New York Times bestsellers. Graham lectures and conducts seminars for businesses and organizations around the country. He is a former adjunct professor at Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University, and is currently a visiting professor at several other universities. Active in philanthropy and community work, he is on the international board of Junior Achievement, is founder of Athletes Against Drugs, and is a member of the Economic Club of Chicago. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 12 and up
  
• School & Library Binding: 250 pages
• Publisher: Turtleback Books: A Division of Sanval (September 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0613877780
• ISBN-13: 978-0613877787
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.2 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #6,800,519 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars UNDERSTANDING WHO YOU ARE!, February 17, 2002

By 

Dorothy Weiss (ORLANDO, FLORIDA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Teens Can Make It Happen: Nine Steps for Success (Paperback)

Stedman Graham's book is both powerful and practical.He meets teens on their own turf, and seeks to empower them by helping them believe in themselves. Mastering the "rules of the road" is essential. His tips include discipline, good attitudes, working hard on the things you are passionate about, overcoming procrastination, and understanding who you are. He emphasizes the value of who you are is how people identify you. He warns of the pitfalls inherent in today's society; that is, people telling you what you can't do, - and people inflicting their pain on you. He understands that there are people who will always try to "knock you down", but stresses that you can be successful based on yourself. "Sometimes the things you don't do are more important than what you do do", he offers, and further implores teens to do what adds value to you. Mr Stedman's concept of a responsible partnership between parents, the system and the child is commendable. After you finish this remarkable perspective, read "Don't Sweat The Small Stuff", by Richard Carlson. Both books are survival fare with a focus on teens, but anyone of any age wcould benefit from the information they contain.

27 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great guide for success!, September 24, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Teens Can Make It Happen: Nine Steps for Success (Paperback)

This is a great book! It talks about all of the important issues that I wish I thought about while I was a teen. I have recommended this book to several of the students at the high school where I teach. For students that are college-bound the DayStar Guide to Colleges for African American Students, by Thomas Lavist is a perfect companion to this book. This book will help students to get your "head right" and help you to figure out what you want to do. And then the DayStar College Guide will tell you how to do it.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars YES TEENS HAVE CHOICES!, July 10, 2005

By 

Margaret Lobenstine "www.ToGetUnstuck.com" (Central Massachusetts USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Teens Can Make It Happen: Nine Steps for Success (Paperback)

I liked this book because the author clearly respects the teens he is addressing. Too often these days references to teens are negative. Or teens life plans are pigeon-holed by an author's implicit assumption that "What do you want to be when you grow up?" has only one answer. From my coaching practice, I have seen that many teens are Renaissance Souls (people who have too many interests to pick just one.) To limit advice to how to pick the one right career path or college or job is to leave them hanging and frustrated. Fortunately Graham's advice does not fall into that trap.