The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen R. Covey presents a holistic, integrated, principle-centred approach for solving personal and professional problems. Using insightful anecdotes, Stephen Covey reveals a step-by-step pathway for living with fairness, integrity, honesty and human dignity -- principles that give us the security to adapt to change, and the wisdom and power to take advantage of the opportunities that change creates.
The 7 habits are summarised as:
Take initiative - be proactive, not reactive
Focus on what you have control over rather than reacting to external stimuli you can’t control.
Focus on goals - begin with the end in mind
Visualize the end result you want in your mind first and steps needed before you engage in an activity
Identify and set priorities - put first things first
Prioritize what is most important in your life and work on those items first.
Introduces the four-square quadrant of urgency and importance
Cultivate a win-win paradigm
Seek win-win solutions and be empathetic.
Communicate - work at understanding first, then work at being understood
Trust is built when people feel understood and this requires listening to understand not to respond.
Practise cooperation - synergise by practising openness
Synergy exists when the contributions of a group add up to more than the individual contributions i.e. The whole is greater than the sum of all its parts
Reflect on and repair your weaknesses - 'sharpen the saw'
Analogy of lumberjack needing to continually sharpen his saw. be aware of what you need to do to sharpen your four key saws: physical health, spiritual health, mental health, and social/emotional health.
If you would like to know a little more about this book watch this animated summary on YouTube:
The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen R. Covey Animated Summary
