A Teen's Guide to Success How to Be Calm, Confident, Focused

Chapter 1     Becoming Yourself
 
Your teenage years don’t have to be chaotic or miserable.
They are the threshold to the rest of your life.
They’re the best time to get yourself ready to be fulfilled and successful by learning to be calm, confident and focused. 
Redefining success as being fulfilled by being your highest self.
 
Chapter 2     Where Are You?
Self-diagnosing: how calm, confident and focused are you? 
Thinking about yourself in different contexts:  at home, at school, in other situations. 
What are your habits of relating to yourself and others.
Defining “productive” and “unproductive” habits. Making the case for being calm, confident and focused.
 
Chapter 3     Stress and How to Deal with It
The relationship between stress and “performance” (living successfully).  
Stress in the body, mind and spirit. 
The three-legged stool:  a strong platform by developing productive habits.
Your responsibility in this process (not your parent’s or your teacher’s). 
If you want to be treated more like a young adult you have to act like one.
 
Chapters 4-6  provide the 3 legged stool model: how to be calm, confident and focused.
 
Chapter 4     Being Calm
Uses specific vignettes to illustrate what not being calm and being calm feel and look like.
Cultivating your awareness of your body (how do you know when you’re not calm? where do you feel tense?).
Using the awareness as the signal to use the tools.
The three tools for calming down: Breathing; Grounding; Sensing.
 
Chapter 5     Remaining Confident
Vignettes illustrate what being confident looks and feels like: thinking positive (and accurate!) thoughts about yourself. 
Cultivating awareness of your negative thinking (“I can’t handle this”) and using you awareness as the signal to use the three tools for remaining confident: 
Confide; Reflect; Envision.
 
Chapter 6     Staying Focused
What does staying focused look and feel like? (vignettes).
What does “focused” mean? (Having a goal and taking actions that get you to it).
What are your goals? Are they really your goals. How do you become distracted? 
Cultivating your awareness of when a goal isn’t important to you, and when you become distracted.
Using the three tools for staying focused:  Stop; Listen; Fulfill.
 
Chapter 7-10 offer situational vignettes and what-would-you-do? examples. Each of these chapters will start off with exercises for the reader to state his/her goals in the particular context.
 
Chapter 7     Successful in School
Focuses on the academic aspect of school.
The tools to succeed in class, doing homework and on tests.
Vignettes and brief examples to show productive and unproductive habits. 
Covering such topics as tests, test anxiety, time management, procrastination, classroom participation, dealing with teachers, competition and comparing yourself with others.
 
Chapter 8     Happy at Home
Using the tools at home.
Covering such topics as dealing with your parents, siblings, other significant others in your family. 
Committing yourself to being happy by being calm, confident and focused. 
What to do when things go wrong (abuse in the home)
Vignettes to illustrate productive and non-productive habits at home.
 
Chapter 9 Comfortable Socially
Vignettes to show the use of the tools in social situations: with your friends (one-on-one friendships;  groups), in new situations (moving to a new place, starting in a new school). 
Social issues: social media; cliques; bullying. 
 
Chapter 10   Other times and places
After school activities (athletics, music/theater performance, hobbies, volunteer work).
Part-time jobs. Current events.  Covering topics such as: practicing, competition, dealing with coaches and teachers; how current events effect you.  Vignettes.
 
Chapter 11   Give Your Parents This Chapter
Directed to parents: you have to learn to be calm, confident and focused yourself. Your teen’s goals may be different than yours. Life doesn’t have to be a fight or burdensome struggle between you and your team. How to use the tools so that you and your teen can collaborate to reach his or her goals.
 
Chapter 12   On Your Path
Covering such issues as: getting into college; physical and mental health; sex; drugs.
Finding meaning and the role of spirit in life: developing a connection to something greater.
The biggest challenge of life is to continue to grow. To be and become yourself.  To take your place in the community and to make your contribution. 
Resources
Web-based resources for teens and their parents