“Sow a thought, and you reap an act; Sow an act, and you reap a habit; Sow a habit, and you reap a character; Sow a character, and you reap a destiny”
Charles Reade
In Stephen Covey's ‘7 Habits of Highly Effective People’ he says that our character is basically a composite of our habits.
If you want to achieve your highest aspirations and overcome your greatest challenges, identify the principles or natural laws that govern the results you seek.
He outlined 7 habits of highly effective people, that if we take on board and life by, we too, can increase our effectiveness.
Habit 1 – Be Proactive
The unique ability that sets humans apart from animals is self-awareness and the ability to choose how we respond to any stimulus. It is not what happens to us, but our response to what happens that hurts us.
Proactive people focus their efforts on the things they can do something about. The nature of their energy is positive, enlarging and magnifying, causing their ‘Circle of Influence’ – things that they can influence – to increase.
Reactive people focus their efforts in ‘Circle of Concern’ – things that they cannot influence – such as the weaknesses of other people, the problems of the environment and circumstances that they have no control over.
Change starts from within, and highly effective people make the decision to improve their lives through the things that they can influence rather than by simply reacting to external forces.
Habit 2 – Begin with the end in mind
Habit number 2 is to begin with the end in mind – i.e. to start your day with a clear understanding of your destination. What are the things you want to accomplish?
This habit is based on imagination, the ability to envision, to see potential, to create with our minds what we can’t at present see with our eyes.
Develop and write yourself a principle-centred personal mission statement – who you want to be, what values you stand for and what you want to achieve. Extend your mission statement into long-term goals based on your personal principles.
Habit 3 – Put first things first.
This habit is based on discipline and carrying things out, day in, day out, moment by moment. When you think of everything that needs to be done, Stephen Covey says the most effective use of your time is to focus on the things that are important but not yet urgent. By just focusing on this, effectiveness could increase dramatically.
Parento Principle – 80% of results flow from 20% of action.
‘The successful person has the habit of doing the things failures don’t like to do’
- What one thing could you do (you aren’t doing now) that if you did on a regular basis, would make a tremendous positive difference in your personal life?
- What one thing in your business or professional life would bring similar results?
Habit 4 – Think Win/Win!
This is not a technique but a philosophy of human interaction.
Seek agreements and relationships that are mutually beneficial.
Win/Win grows out of high trust relationships and thrives in supportive systems.
In cases where a “win/win” deal cannot be achieved, accept the fact that agreeing to make “no deal” may be the best alternative. In developing an organizational culture, be sure to reward win/win behaviour among employees and avoid inadvertently rewarding win/lose behaviour.
Set clear expectations from the beginning on both parts and manage expectations as well as accomplishments.
Habit 5 – Seek first to understand, then to be understood
First seek to understand the other person, and only then try to be understood is the key to effective communication. Stephen Covey presents this habit as the most important principle of interpersonal relations. Effective listening is not simply echoing what the other person has said through the lens of one’s own experience. Rather, it is putting oneself in the perspective of the other person, listening empathically for both feeling and meaning to ‘get inside’ the other person’s frame of reference, to see the world the way that they see the world.
Habit 6 – Synergise
Simply defined, it means that ‘the whole is greater than the sum of its parts’.
Through trustful communication, find ways to leverage individual differences to create a whole that is greater than the sum of the parts. Through mutual trust and understanding, you often can solve conflicts and find a better solution than would have been obtained through either person’s own solution. High trust, cooperation and valuing the differences is the essence of synergy.
Habit 7 – Sharpen the saw
This habit basically means preserving and enhancing the greatest asset you have – YOU.
Self renewal process must include balanced renewal in all 4 dimensions of our nature – The Physical, Spiritual, Mental and Social/Emotional. This habit surrounds all the other habits, enabling and encouraging them to happen and grow.
What habits do you want to develop in yourself?