The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People

THE SEVEN HABITS OF HIGHLY EFFECTIVE PEOPLE
The seven habits of highly effective people, principles discovered by Stephen Covey, are habits which when established lead to interdependent “effectiveness”. The first three habits (“private victory”) are personal and take an individual from dependence to independence, or self-reliance. Habits four through six (“public victory”) are related to working effectively with others, shared victories, and lead to interdependence, aligning individual needs with those of others that results in the ability to create effective relationships and teams. The final habit results in renewal and self-improvement.

Habit 1: Be proactive. Take action and be responsible. Being proactive means taking initiative as opposed to being reactive, or responding passively. You have the opportunity to use your free will to change yourself and your circumstances. Efforts should be focused on long-term consequences.
Habit 2: Begin with the end in mind. Consciously plan out and visualize your actions (visualize where you want to go). Set goals that will allow you to make progress towards the end result. Use creative thinking and images before starting something to plan it out. Formulate a personal mission statement of one’s purpose in life.
Habit 3: Put first things first. Prioritize work to achieve long-term goals. Focus on benchmarks and results rather than detail work. Decide which of your values and goals are most important, then determine steps to achieve those goals. This habit deals with effective time management.
Habit 4: Think win/win. Seek mutually beneficial solutions in interactions rather than negotiating from a competitive mindset (“I win, you lose”). This liberates individuals from the effort of persuading the opposing party to compromise or shift ground.
Habit 5: Seek first to understand, then be understood. Empathetically/actively listen to another person’s concerns before stating your viewpoint to establish effective communication, collaboration and exchange of ideas.
Habit 6: Synergize. In work, open yourself to others to work effectively in teams. Apply collaborative decision-making. Build on divergent strengths with others to create a synergistic effect where the whole is greater than the sum of the parts.
Habit 7: Sharpen the saw. Relax, revitalize. Focus on body/mind/spirit self-renewal through exercise, reading literature, listening to music, and meditation/inner reflection. Rejuvenate yourself for more effective future work.

When the seven habits are established, achievements come from people working at the highest, or third level, interdependence. This is when people have the capacity to work together to achieve a common goal. Interdependence is the stage of human development of greatest maturity and power, which results in the greatest human achievements. For more information contact Dr. Richard Browne at (305) 595-9500.