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The way we see the problem is the problem. In The Seven Habits Of Highly Effective People, author Stephen R. Covey presents a holistic, integrated, principle-centered approach for solving personal and professional problems. With penetrating insights and pointed anecdotes, 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 Seven Habits Of Highly Effective People embody many of the fundamental principles of human effectiveness. These habits are basic; they are primary. They represent the internalization of correct principles upon which enduring happiness and success are based. It's an "inside-out" approach to personal and interpersonal effectiveness. "Inside-out" means to start first with self; even more fundamentally, to start with the most inside part of self—with your paradigms, your character, and your motives. Effective people are not problem-minded; Sharing with you the lessons I've learned from the 7 Habits Of Highly Effective People. I hope you will learn something from this blog post. Enjoy and be blessed! Habit 1: Be Proactive This is the ability to control one's environment, rather than have it control you, as is so often the case. Self-determination, choice, and the power to decide response to a stimulus, conditions, and circumstances. "Proactivity" Defined It means more than merely taking initiative. It means that as human beings, we are responsible for our own lives. Our behavior is a function of our decisions, not our conditions. We can subordinate feelings to values. We have the initiative and the responsibility to make things happen. Look at the word responsibility—"response-ability"—the ability to choose your response. Highly proactive people recognize that responsibility. They do not blame circumstances, conditions, or conditioning for their behavior. Their behavior is a product of their own conscious choice, based on values, rather than a product of their conditions, based on feeling. Our basic nature is to act, and not be acted upon. As well as enabling us to choose our response to particular circumstances, this empowers us to create circumstances. Taking initiative does not mean being pushy, obnoxious, or aggressive. It does mean recognizing our responsibility to make things happen. Proactive Language
Circle Of Concern or Circle Of Influence Another excellent way to become more self-aware regarding our degree of proactivity is to look at where we focus our time and energy. There are some things over which we have no real control and others that we can do something about. By determining which of these two circles is the focus of most of our time and energy, we can discover much about the degree of our proactivity. Proactive people focus their efforts on the Circle of Influence. They work on the things they can do something about. The nature of their energy is positive, enlarging, and magnifying, causing their Circle of Influence to increase. Habit 2: Begin With The End In Mind Covey calls this the habit of personal leadership—leading oneself that is; towards what you consider your aims. By developing the habit of concentrating on relevant activities you will build a platform to avoid distractions and become more productive and successful. What lies behind us and what lies before us What It Means To "Begin With The End In Mind" Begin with the end in mind is to begin today with the image, picture, or paradigm of the end of your life as your frame of reference or the criterion by which everything else is examined. Each part of your life—today's behavior, tomorrow's behavior, next week's behavior, next month's behavior—can be examined in the context of the whole, of what matters most to you. By keeping that end clearly in mind, you can make certain that whatever you do on any particular day does not violate the criteria you have defined as supremely important, and that each day of your life contributes in a meaningful way to the vision you have of your life as a whole. To begin with the end in mind means to start with a clear understanding of your destination. It means to know where you're going so that you better understand where you are now and so that the steps you take are always in the right direction. Habit 3: Put First Things First Covey calls this the habit of personal management. This is about organizing and implementing activities in line with the aims established in habit 2. Covey says that habit 2 is the first or mental creation; habit 3 is the second or physical creation. The way you spend your time is a result of the way The key is not to prioritize what's on your schedule but to schedule your priorities. Organize your next week. "Start by writing down your roles and goals for the week, then transfer the goals to a specific action plan. At the end of the week, evaluate how well your plan translated your deep values and purposes into your daily life and the degree of integrity you were able to maintain to those values and purposes. Commit yourself to start organizing on a weekly basis and set up a regular time to do it. Habit 4: Think Win/Win Covey calls this the habit of interpersonal leadership, necessary because achievements are largely dependent on co-operative efforts with others. He says that win/win is based on the assumption that there is plenty for everyone, and that success follows a co-operative approach more naturally than the confrontation of win-or-lose. We have committed the Golden Rule to memory; Be gentle. Be kind and helpful. Listen to people. Habit 5: Seek First To Understand, Then To Be Understood One of the great maxims of the modern age. This is Covey's habit of communication, and it's extremely powerful. Covey helps to explain this in his simple analogy "diagnose before you prescribe." Simple and effective, and essential for developing and maintaining positive relationships in all aspects of life. The heart has its reasons Communication is the most important life skill. We spend most of our waking hours communicating. But consider this: You've spent years learning how to read and write, years learning how to speak. But what about listening? What training or education have you had that enables you to listen so that you really, deeply understand another human being from that individual's frame of reference? Habit 6: Synergize Covey says this is the habit of creative co-operation—the principle that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts, which implicitly lays down the challenge to see the good and potential in the other person's contribution. Think about a person who typically sees things differently than you do. Consider ways in which those differences might be used as stepping-stones to alternative solutions. Perhaps you could seek out his or her views you are likely to hear. Make a list of people who irritate you. Do they represent different views that could lead to synergy if you had greater intrinsic security and valued the difference? Identify a situation in which you desire greater teamwork and synergy. What conditions would need to exist to support synergy? What can you do to create those conditions? The next time you have a disagreement or confrontation with someone, attempt to understand the concerns underlying that person's position. Address those concerns in a creative and mutually beneficial way. Habit 7: Sharpen The Saw (Principles Of Balanced Self-Renewal) This is the habit of self-renewal, says Covey, and it necessarily surrounds all the other habits, enabling and encouraging them to happen and grow. Covey interprets the self into four parts: the spiritual, mental, physical, and the social or emotional, which all need feeding and developing. Sometimes when I consider what tremendous consequences come from little things. "Sharpen the saw" basically means expressing all four motivations. It means exercising all four dimensions of our nature, regularly and consistently in wise and balanced ways. To do this, we must be proactive.
Make a list of activities that would help you keep in good physical shape, that would fit your life-style and that you could enjoy over time. Select one of the activities and list it as a goal in your role area for the coming week. At the end of the week evaluate your performance. If you didn't make your goal, was it because you subordinated it to a genuinely higher value? Or did you fail to act with integrity to your values? Make a similar list of renewing activities in your spiritual and mental dimensions. In your social-emotional area, list relationships you would like to improve or specific circumstances in which public victory would bring greater effectiveness. Select one item in each area to list as a goal for the week. Implement and evaluate.
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