Blaze Your Own Trail invites teens to consider their values, goals, and interests, and take steps toward building the life—and blazing the trail—they want for themselves. Teens follow the three sections of the book—the inner path, the outer path, and the onward path—to explore a breadth of topics, from developing a vision for their future and boosting their self-regulation strategies and emotional intelligence to making time for rest, practicing gratitude, and connecting with others.
This student-facing partner to The Balanced Teacher Path presents teens with ideas for seeking purpose, joy, and balance in their lives. To enrich and inform the book, award-winning teacher Justin Ashley surveyed the teens he’s worked with. Blaze Your Own Trail gives teens the freedom to read what’s most relevant to them in the moment with short, easy-to-digest chapters.
Far from a prescriptive guidebook, Blaze Your Own Trail supports teens in their journey to creating their own path—and destination.
Blaze Your Own Trail is now available.
The book Blaze Your Own Trail is most important for teenagers with feelings they want to control. The book is crucial, as it will teach you things and give you experiments to help you live a better life. I’d recommend it because the essential details mixed with the comedic parts are peak book writing!
-Gavin B., 12-year-old
Justin Ashley explores different ways for teenagers to pave their paths in life, some that may not have even crossed their minds. Ashley mentions the smallest details and includes his own life experiences to relate to teens on a deeper level. Every teenager should read this book to become an independent and trailblazing individual.
-Keya P., 15-year-old
Justin Ashley is so in-tune with teens! His keen awareness of the need for solid mental and physical health in youth is well grounded in his personal and professional experiences. Ashley’s book is full of wisdom and practical strategies to help teens understand and appreciate their own “weirdness.” Justin offers multiple pathways for students to learn to be healthy, happy, and productive. I highly recommend Blaze Your Own Trail: Ideas for Teens to Find and Pursue Your Purpose.
-Richard Cash, Author of Advancing Differentiation and Self-Regulation in the Classroom
Justin Ashley 