The Seven Habits is a million dollar worth book which sow the seeds of effectiveness in the reader’s mind. The seeds grow large as the reader proceeds reading. The main message of the book is the 7 habits which every highly effective people possessed.
“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then is not an act, but a habit.”
Habit 1- Be Proactive
Being proactive means recognizing our responsibilities to make things happen. This habit tells us to do whatever is necessary and consistent with correct principles. Work on the things which are in our influence to extend the circle of influence and spend less energy on the center of concern.
Habit 2- Begin with the End in Mind
Begin with the end in mind means to know where we are going so as to understand where we are now, and take our next step in the right direction. The best way to start is to develop a personal statement which describes what we want to be(character) and to do(achievement). Everybody wants to center his life on correct principles because principles don’t change. We can depend on them.
Habit 3- Put First Things First
This habit involves self-leadership and self-management: putting first things first. Leadership decides what the ‘first things’ are, and management is the discipline of carrying out your program.
“We don’t manage time. We can only manage ourselves.”
According to quadrant rule, do things first which are urgent and important, then the things which are important but not urgent. After that things which are urgent but not important, and then all other things which are neither urgent nor important.
Habit 4- Seek First to Understand, Then to Be UnderstoodListen is the most important tool for this habit. Listen but not with intent to reply or to convince. Listen to simply understand, to see how the other party sees things. Empathy is the skill need to develop for this habit.
“Empathic listening is with the ears, eyes and heart- for feeling, for measuring.”
Habit 5- Think Win/Win
Think win/win habit entrails making an important deposit in another person’s Emotional Bank Account: finding a way both of us can benefit by our interaction. All the other possibilities- win/lose, lose/win, lose/lose- are ineffective either in short term or long term.
Habit 6- Synergize
The exercise for all other habits prepares us for the habit of synergy. Properly understood, it is the highest activity of life. Through it, we create new, untapped alternatives- things that didn’t yet exist. We unleash people’s greatest powers. We make a whole greater than sum of its parts. The basis of synergy is that two people can disagree, and both can be right. It’s not logical. It’s psychological.
Habit 7- Sharpen the Saw
To sharpen the saw means renewing ourselves, in all the four dimensions of our nature:
·Physical- exercise, nutrition, stress management;
·Mental- reading, visualizing, planning, writing;
·Social/Emotional- service, empathy, synergy, security;
·Spiritual- spiritual reading, study, meditation;
To exercise in all these necessary dimensions, we must be proactive. No one can do it for us. It’s a quadrant IV activity.
“To become strong, renew the spirit.”
Conclusion
The first three habits take us towards “private victory” - the journey from dependence to independence by taking responsibility for our lives. Next three habits lead us towards “public victory” to the path of interdependent to succeed with other people. The seventh habit allows us renewing ourselves in mind, body and spirit.
I would like to recommend this book to all those people who want to live their life fully, amazing and joyful.