The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People – Stephen R

We stop growing because we stop learning- Intelligent Investor

The best way of learning is reading. Unfortunately, we are so tied up with our day to day activities that we hardly get time to read. Here, I have summarized this wonderful book for you. I sincerely hope you will like the summary and it helps you in your life.

About the Author:

Stephen Covey was an American author. This book sold over 25 million copies, and it is the most famous work of the author.

For writing this book, Stephen Covey immersed himself in some 200 years worth of literature on the topic, starting from 1776.

What do I get from reading this book?

Well, do you wish you were more effective in life? Achieve more at work? 

Or perhaps you’d like to be a more loving and devoted partner?

Whatever it is that you want to improve, you will only get there if you change yourself first. The only assured way is to develop better habits.

Now without wasting any further time lets us start our journey of getting better: 

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First Habit: Be proactive and take control of your own fate.

What distinguishes humans from animals? 

Animals react only the way they are programmed in their nature.

We humans, in contrast, can reflect before reacting, and we can even reprogram ourselves to respond in a specific desirable way.

This means that instead of just reacting to the world around us, we have the ability to proactively influence it.

Still, many people choose to be reactive and allow external circumstances to dictate their behaviour and emotions. 

For example, a reactive person when in bad mood for any reason, treat other people poorly and then we hear him/her say, "It was not my fault" or "It’s out of my hands”

Proactive person, on the other hand, makes his own mood. He/she assumes the responsibility of his/her own life and make conscious choices about his/her behaviour. He/she will say things like "I have decided to…" or "Let us try to find a solution to this problem."

Another way to understand the difference between the two attitudes is to imagine two concentric circles. The outer circle is your Circle of Concern, representing all the things you are concerned about, ranging from the electricity bill to the threat of nuclear war. Inside this circle lies the smaller circle which is called Circle of Influence, which represents all the things you can actually do something about.

Proactive people focus on their Circle of Influence, choosing to work on the things within their control. And this results in the expansion of their Circle of Influence

Meanwhile, reactive people focus on their Circles of Concern, fretting over things which they can’t alter. This results in diminishing their Circle of Influence.

How you respond to a situation is your choice. You can change your behaviour and your emotions. To put this into practice, commit to a 30-day proactivity challenge, whether at home or at work, whenever you catch yourself blaming someone or something external for a problem you face, remind yourself that the root cause is ‘YOUR REACTION’ to the problem. Focus on finding solutions instead of accusing others.

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The second habit: Begin with the end in mind.

Every action is performed twice: first in your mind, when you imagine it and then physically when you actually do it.

Here is a small mental exercise. Imagine that it is three years in the future and sadly; you have passed away. Take a moment to visualize your own funeral. Imagine your loved ones your partner, your best friend, maybe your dearest colleague – giving tributes. Now ask yourself what you would like them to say.

1.      What sort of person do you want to be remembered as?

2.      And for what do you want to be remembered?

Now you will start seeing the difference.

Unfortunately, many people fail to understand the difference between being efficient and being effective.

Being efficient means getting the maximum work done in the shortest amount of time. It is like climbing a ladder that is set against the wrong wall. You are making progress but in the wrong direction.

Being effective, on the other hand, means having your ladder on the right wall, which is, knowing what your destination in life is. Effective people don’t just thoughtlessly pursue things like money and fame; they focus on what’s important to them. Everything else is a waste.

So how can you clarify your destination in life?

One useful method is to ask yourself those above-mentioned funeral questions, and then use answer and write a personal mission statement.

The mission statement is your personal constitution, it will enable you to at least try to align all your actions with it.

As this is a foundational document in your life, you can’t just bang it out in one night. It will require deep introspection and several rewrites before you get it right, and even then it should be reviewed occasionally.

The third habit: Put first things first.

Congratulations, now you have a mission. However, how can you proactively take charge and make it work in real life?

Simple: By living it, day in and day out.

Of course, in the midst of your everyday hassles, roles and relationships, this can be challenging, and it demands good time-management skills.

All we need is better time-management (TM) skills and the good news is we can learn TM by remembering a simple saying “First things First”

Now on, we will give priority to important things and take care of them first and everything else will be delegated or taken care later.

Okay, but how can you tell which things are important?

A good place to start is by categorizing all your tasks according to two dimensions: urgency and importance. This gives you a 2x2 matrix with four quadrants: 

In quadrant, one are tasks that are important and urgent, like crises that need to be dealt with right away.

In quadrant two are tasks that are important but not urgent, like, say, writing your mission statement, building important relationships and planning for the future.

In quadrant three are tasks that are urgent but not important, like say, a phone ringing while you’re working on something else.

And in quadrant four are tasks that are neither important nor urgent – a pure waste of time, in other words.

Of these, the most important quadrant to focus on is number two. When you work enough in quadrant two, you’ll find far fewer crises emerging in quadrant one.

Unfortunately, many people don’t understand the importance of quadrant two

A good first step in implementing this habit in your life is to identify a quadrant-two activity that you’ve been neglecting – one that would have a significant impact on your life if you did it well – and then commit in writing and do it!

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The fourth habit: Think “win-win.”

When you interact with others, what kind of outcome do you usually look for?

Most people’s worldviews are shaped by a strong "win-lose" model. This means they see any interaction with others, whether at work or in their personal life, as competition, and always want the bigger slice of pie.

It is impossible for a long-term positive relationship to form between two people who are constantly in competition with each other.

But if you think “win-win,” you will find yourself building lots of positive relationships because of each interaction strengthens the relationship, rather than eroding it.

A relationship with another person is like an emotional bank account; by putting time, effort and goodwill into it, the balance of the account grows. A healthy balance on your account means that both parties are flexible and any miscommunications are quickly sorted out.

On the other hand, if the balance is zero, there is no flexibility and the relationship is like a minefield; every word has to be carefully chosen to avoid explosive conflict.

So how can you grow your balance?

Payment can be finding a win-win solution. For example: sticking to promises you have made or really listening empathically to the other person.

A withdrawal, on the other hand, would be fighting for a win-lose solution, breaking a promise or only half-heartedly listening to the other person.

To build strong, long-lasting relationships, there are several major deposits you can make: always keep promises, be explicit about what you expect of the other person and be courteous and sensitive even in small matters.

If you do happen to make a withdrawal from the account, have the courage to apologize sincerely. It takes the strength of character to do so, and people are usually more than happy to forgive a repenting person.

I hope this topic has been engaging and effective so far, out of seven habits I have summarised four, working on the summary of the next 3 habits. 
Here is the link to PART II (👈 Link)

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Dear Readers,

This blog is my personal attempt to help you.  If you found this article to be helpful, kindly share it with your near and dear ones.

I would be very glad to hear your feedback, in fact, it will motivate me to continue my journey of, Blog and Teach.

Thanks and I wish and hope you make a lot of wealth from your investments.

All the best!! 👍👍👍

Cheers 🍹

Intelligent Investor