The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen R. Covey – Book Review

You can always improve yourself. There’s always something you can do that can make you better at work, at home, or in life. Stephen R. Covey’s book The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People covers how anyone can adapt themselves to change and to use what life throws at them to their advantage.

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You always reap what you sow, there is no shortcut. You have to water the garden to enjoy the harvest.
 

We can only achieve quantum improvements in our lives as we quit hacking at the leaves of attitude and behavior and get to work on the root.
 

It says if you want to have a happy marriage, be the kind of person who generates positive energy and sidesteps negative. Inside-out approach means private victories precede public victories.
 

Happiness can be the ability to sacrifice what we want now for what we want eventually.
 

You can decide within yourself how all extern al things are going to affect you (or not). You have internal power to exercise your options.
 

“I am what I am today because of the choices I made yesterday.”
 

It is not what happens to us, but our response to what happens to us. Again, what matters most is how we respond to what we experience in life.
 

People that end up with good jobs are the proactive ones who are solutions to problems.
 

You have to go, or you choose to go. NOTICE the language you use. Reactive vs Proactive.
 

Reactive language can become a self-fulfilling prophecy. You’ll end up blaming outside forces.
 

A great way to become self-aware with proactivity is to look where you focus your time and energy.
 

It’s the nature of reactive people to absolve themselves of responsibility.
 

Anytime we think the problem is “out there,” that thought is the problem. We empower that’s out there to control us.
 

The proactive approach to a mistake is to acknowledge it instantly, correct and learn from it.
 

Build your strength of character – making promises, setting goals and being true to them.
 

Be a light, not a judge. Be a model, not a critic. On be.
 

Each day of your life contributes in a meaningful way to the vision you have of your life as a whole.
 

Re-evaluate the screen to see if the are appropriate and wise to keep using. Use your imagination and creativity to write new ones.
 

Innocent pleasure in moderation can provide relaxation, but pleasure per se, offers no deep, lasting satisfaction. It encourages cries for more and more. Get bored and looking for new levels of fun.
 

Think: If I’m in the presence of someone of greater net worth or fame or status, I feel inferior. How do you feel?
 

What one thing could you do (you aren’t doing now) that if you did on a regular basis, would make a tremendous positive differences in your personal or business life?
 

Create a life congruent with your answers.
 

Effective Management is putting first things first. While leadership decides what “first things” are.
 

Those who prioritize, win!
 

Effective people, feed opportunities and starve problems. Think about building relationships, long-range planning, exercising, preventive maintenance, preparation.
 

Quadrant 2 are important not urgent > Quadrant 1 urgent and important. Move more things to Quadrant 2.
 

What’s better than good? Great.
 

The enemy of the “best” is often the “good.”
 

Stephen told a employee to do something, he responded, “Which of these projects would you like me to delay or cancel to satisfy your request?”
 

Those who read books, win.
 

The key is not to prioritize what’s on your schedule, but to schedule your priorities.
 

Tie your weekly goals to your longer-term.
 

Frustration is a function of our expectations.
 

Trust is the highest form of human motivation.
 

An emotional bank account is a metaphor that describes the amount of trust that’s been built up in a relationship.
 

Keeping a commitment or a promise is a major deposit.
 

One important way to manifest integrity is to be loyal to those who are not present.
 

It is more noble to give yourself completely to one individual than to labor diligently for the salvation of the masses.
 

Win/Win means that agreements or solutions are mutually beneficial, mutually satisfying. It’s a better way.
 

The Abundance Mentality – flows out of a deep inner sense personal worth and security. There is plenty out there and enough to spare for everybody.
 

The problem is in the system, not in the people. If you put good people in bad systems, you get bad results.
 

There’s almost always a third alternative. When you only see two alternatives – yours and the “wrong” one – you can look for synergistic third alternative.
 

As we leave external discipline of school, many let our minds atrophy.
 

EXTREMELY valuable to train the mind to stand apart and examine its own program. It is SO valuable to read broadly and to expose yourself to great minds.
 

Recommend starting with a goal of a book a month. Keep a journal of thoughts, experiences, insights, promotes mental clarity, exactness, and context.
 

Organizing and planning represent other forms of mental renewal. See the end from the beginning.
 

The self-renewal process must include the physical, spiritual, mental and social / emotional.
 

The Daily Private Victory – minimum of one hour a day – give yourself time to setup your entire day for success. Create an upward spiral.
 

Choose purposes and principles to live by.
 

What Stephen would do differently as a businessperson, be more strategic, proactive recruiting and selecting. Do more due diligence, think long-term. This will pay off enormous long-term dividends.

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Stephen R. Covey’s The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People