Covey’s 7 Habits of Highly Effective People

 

 

Habit 1 Be Proactive.  Take the initiative and make things happen.  Aggressively seek new ideas and innovations.  Don’t let a negative environment affect your behavior and decisions.  Work on things that you can do something about.  If you make a mistake, acknowledge it and learn from it.

 

Habit 2 Begin with the End in Mind.  Know where you are going and make sure all the steps you take are in the right direction.  First determine the right things to accomplish and then how to best accomplish them.  Write a personal mission statement describing where you want to go and what you want to be and how to accomplish these things.

 

Habit 3 Put First Things First.  List your top priorities each day for the upcoming week and schedule time to work on them.  Continually review and prioritize your goals.  Sa NO to doing unimportant tasks.  Focus on the important tasks, the ones that will have impact if carefully thought out and planned.

 

Habit 4      Think Win/Win.  Win/Win is the frame of mind that seeks mutual benefits for all people involved in solutions and agreements.  Identify the key issues and results that would constitute a fully acceptable solution to all.  Make all involved in the decision feel good about the decision and committed to a plan of action.

 

Habit 5      Seek First to Understand, Then to Be Understood.  Learn as much as you can about the situation.  “Listen, listen, listen.”  Try to see the problem from the other person’s perspective.  Be willing to be adaptable in seeking to be understood.  Present things logically, not emotionally.  Be credible, empathetic, and logical.

 

Habit 6      Synergize.  Make the whole greater than the sum of its parts.  Value the differences in the people you work with.  Foster open and honest communication.  Help everyone bring out the best in everyone else.

 

Habit 7 Renewal.  Renew the for dimensions of your nature:

                   Physical:  Exercise, nutrition, stress management.

                   Mental:  Reading, thinking, visualizing, planning, writing.

                   Spiritual:  Value clarification and commitment, study and meditation.

                   Social/Emotional:  Service empathy, self-esteem, synergy.

 

 

 

-Stephen R. Covey