The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People

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Most of us learn to base our self-worth on comparisons and competition. We think about succeeding in terms of someone else failing—if I win, you lose; or if you win, I lose.

By adopting a win-win approach, we can build stronger relationships, enhance teamwork, and achieve more sustainable and long-lasting results.

The Habit of Mutual Benefit

What observations have you made regarding Habits 1, 2, and 3?

Habit 3 is the practical fulfillment of Habits 1 and 2. Habit 1 says, “You are the creator. You are in charge.” Habit 2 is the first mental creation, based on imagination, the ability to envision what you can become. Habit 3 is the second creation, the physical creation.

Habit 4: Think Win-Win

The Habit of Empathic Communication

If you’re like most people, you probably seek first to be understood; you want to get your point across. In doing so, you may ignore the other person completely. Why do we do that?

Habit 3: Put First Things First

The Habit of Personal Management

Because most people listen with the intent to reply, not to understand. You listen to yourself as you prepare in your mind what you are going to say, the questions you are going to ask, etc. Consequently, you decide prematurely what the other person means before they finish communicating. Do any of the this sound familiar?

Habit 5: Seek First to Understand, Then to Be Understood

The Habit of Personal Vision "Build Your Mission Statement"

Habit 2: Begin With the End in Mind

Habit 6: Synergize

Synergize: to combine or work together in order to be more effective.

"All things are created twice"

If you don’t make a conscious effort to visualize who you are and what you want in life, then you empower other people and circumstances to shape you and your life by default.

Valuing differences is what really drives synergy. Do you truly value the mental, emotional, and psychological differences among people? Or do you wish everyone would just agree with you so you could all get along?

Differences should be seen as strengths, not weaknesses. They add color to life.

Synergize is the habit of creative cooperation. It is teamwork, open-mindedness, and the adventure of finding new solutions to old problems. But it doesn’t happen on its own. It’s a process, and through that process, people bring all their personal experience and expertise to the table.

The Habit of Personal Responsibility

The Habit of Daily Self-Renewal

Habit 1: Be Proactive

Habit 7: Sharpen the Saw

Proactive people recognize that they are “response-able.” They don’t blame circumstances or conditions for their behavior.

Sharpen the Saw means enhancing the greatest asset you have—you. It means having a balanced program for self-renewal in the four areas of your life: physical, social/emotional, mental, and spiritual.

Reactive people, on the other hand, are often affected by their physical environment. They find external sources to blame for their behavior

THE 7 HABITS OF HIGHLY EFFECTIVE PEOPLE

Every day provides a new opportunity for renewal—a new opportunity to recharge yourself. All it takes is the desire, knowledge, and skill.

Sharpen the Saw keeps you fresh so you can continue to practice the other six habits.

Stephen R. Covey