Last year when Kathy and I were creating our new book, Change The way You See Everything - For TEENS, we had the opportunity to work with some incredible teens all around the country. We came away believing more than ever that Teens have the potential to be our next “Greatest Generation”.

We are passionate believers that teens are more than our future…they are our present. Conventional wisdom has us believe that being a leader, making a difference and creating change requires the wisdom of years, the passage of time and life stage experiences. Not necessarily. Armed with Asset-based Thinking (ABT), today’s teens and youth are ready, right now, to unleash their potential to think big, step into important roles of leadership and step out into their world as never before.

The final section of the book encourage teens to believe in something Big and start something Big. It includes a series of wonderful interviews that Kathy conducted with young people that were honored as Huggable Heroes by Build - A - Bear Workshop. One youngster Kathy interviewed is Zach Bonner who started The Little Red Wagon Foundation when he was 10 years old. He is an amazing young man.

Today CNN just ran a story on Zach in their Young People Who Rock blog featuring his latest endeavor My House To The White House. It is a a 1,225-mile journey to raise money and awareness for the 1.3 million homeless kids in the United States.
At the end of Kathy’s interview Zach served up some advice for teens. Here it is:

Pick a cause and then just start doing something. If you plan and think too much you loose confidence.

Anyone can rally people and be a champion if his or her heart is in the right place.

No one can make you do anything - it has to be your own idea and you have to be committed.

Great advice at any age. We’re proud of you Zach!

Hank Wasiak