By: Chad Wooters
This book has an amazing approach to living life to achieve personal and professional effectiveness. It breaks down 7 habits that play a considerable role in different ways in our life and why they are ordered the way they are.
The First 3 are Intrinsic or Private Habits:
- Being Proactive
- Having the End in Mind
- Putting First Things First
The Second 4 are Public Habits or Extrinsic Habits:
- Think Win/Win
- Seek First to Understand, then to be Understood
- Synergize
- Sharpen the Saw
Since going into detail on each habit would have to be a series of post, you’ll just have to buy the book for now. Here are a couple of thoughts on these ideas.
Trying to be effective will almost always involve others, but it starts with you. If we cannot privately have success by understanding ourselves, what motivates us, what “forward” looks like, and prioritize correctly, how can we truly be effective anywhere?
If we do not understand what private success looks like, then who we are and how we act would just be a mask, a guise to show people so they think of us in a particular way.
You are fearfully and wonderfully made, so own it, and “do you”! If you want success, then you need to understand what that means to you and don’t let anyone tread on that. But always be willing to grow.
Personal Application and a Review
At the end of every chapter, I took a few moments to digest the information, journal, and reflect to consider all the information that is presented. Not all of my personal applications are included here, but here are a few.
NOTE: Take some time to review each section of the book and reflect on what you thought about it and how you can better yourself; unless you’re perfect. In that case, I wish you the best of luck!
You can check out Stephen Covey’s website to learn more from him! Click here to visit the Website
Steven Covey goes through an example you must read from his book. The short version is:
Imagine you are at a funeral, you feel like you know the person who everyone is remembering and you can’t help but think about what each of these people are saying. If this is your funeral, what would they be saying? What do they remember about you?
You can read more about what Stephen Covey says Here
Putting First Things First
I have been told I might have ADHD because I go a mile a minute and I like to do lots of things. Because of a tendency to be busy, I found that I would get so busy that I would not put things in the proper order.
2 main reasons this happened:
- Listening to people that did not have the same values I did
- Being too busy and not having discipline in other areas that were causing me to deal with urgent tasks versus an important task.
Basically, the phone would ring and I would rush away from something else that was more important but less urgent just to answer the phone. The funny thing is that as people we tend to prioritize the urgent things even if they are less important.
Thinking Win/Win
WIN/WIN is ACTUALLY Possible
How many times have you thought “Win/Win is just impossible”?
Before reading this, we would have been in total agreement. After investigating various situations there was a pattern of stubbornness that showed my unwillingness to see a different perspective. When you read this section, be prepared to visit it frequently so as not to forget this basic principle.
This perspective was more effective when conversations were handled with active listening. Or otherwise stated as: “listening with the intent to understand rather than with the intent to reply.”
It is amazing what happens when you stop thinking about what you’ll say next and just focus on what people are saying. (P.S. Most people are usually SAYING more than they are expressing verbally, which is something you discover when you really listen.)
Understanding Synergy
“Synergy is what happens when one plus one equals ten or a hundred or even a thousand! It’s the profound result when two or more respectful human beings determine to go beyond their preconceived ideas to meet a great challenge.” ~Stephen Covey
Did you know that 1 + 1 can equal 4? If you have ever heard Michael Cowen’s story then you know that is the story of how his beautiful family came to be. Just like growing a family, when two or more people gather to share ideas, amazing things can happen.
Giving “your team” the opportunity to share and collaborate, while respecting their ideas and truly working together to create something amazing, is how synergy works. There is so much to share on this topic, but the bottom line is some of the biggest opportunities that you have are sitting in the minds of people you see everyday. They are just waiting to be heard, shared, and built on.
Your team refers to anyone who is in your life moving with you. This could be family, friends, coworkers, business partners; those who do life with you, moving in the same direction as you.
Sharpen the Saw
Have You Ever Tried Cutting a Tree Down With a Dull Axe?
Sleep and rest are critical to our everyday lives. Awaken2Sleep is one of many companies who have published articles on the topic and one thing is clear:
Without rest we are not living our life to its fullest potential.
If we don’t take time to take a day off once in a while, get 8 hours of sleep, or relax at some point in our day, we will face the consequences. These consequences can be gaining weight, headaches, memory loss, marital issues, and many more!
Click the buttons to check out some of the articles our team has written on the importance of getting sleep and the impact of neglecting rest!
There is obviously more to learn than these quick notes. Don’t take our word for it, go buy the book; it changed my life. I hope it helps you too!
