7 Habits of Highly Effective People summary: What are the key takeaways?
Do you like reading motivational books? If you do, you might have encountered 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Richards Covey. He was an educator, author, businessman and keynote speaker from the United States. He died aged 78 in 2012, leaving a legacy hard to fill. Among his publications include The 8th Habit and Leader in Me. But his most popular and best seller, 7 Habits, still has garnered fans worldwide. So what is the book all about? And, what is the 7 Habits of Highly Effective People summary?
Source: UGC
Book reading is a culture that is slowly dying in the digital age. However, some avid readers still exist, though some consume content through various means like podcasts or audiobooks. Regardless, what matters is the content. If you have ever come motivational books, none resonates best like 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. So, why is it popular? And what are the key takeaways from the book?
7 Habits of Highly Effective People summary
The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People is a business and self-help book by Stephen Richards Covey, an American educator, author, businessman, and keynote speaker. The book covers various approaches in business and life used to attain the desired goals. The book has sold over 40 million copies worldwide since its first publication.
You might wonder about the hype if you have not read the book. What is the concept of the book? And what is the main idea of the 7 Habits of Highly Effective People? Below is a summary of the Seven Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey.
1. Be proactive
Being proactive is the first habit of the seven. The book explains that humans can examine characters, distinguishing them from all other animals. Humans decide how to view themselves and their situations and have control of their effectiveness.
According to the author, you are in charge of your life, and you should choose the script by which your life takes. Use this self-awareness to be proactive and take responsibility for your choices. To be effective, one must be proactive.
Reactive people take a passive stance and believe the world is happening to them. While proactive people recognise they have a responsibility.
2. Begin with the end in mind
Source: UGC
Begin with the end in mind means visualising what you want in the future so you can work and plan for it. Understanding how people make important life decisions is also included. With this habit, you must act on principles and constantly evaluate your mission statements to be effective.
According to the author, you should create everything twice, so think about yourself before acting. Measure twice before you start anything.
3. Put first things first
To manage effectively, you must prioritise. Be disciplined to prioritise your daily actions based on what is most important, not most urgent.
According to the author, priority should be in the order listed below:
- Urgent and critical (Do) - critical deadlines and crises
- Not compulsory, but crucial (Plan) - long-term progress
- Important but not urgent (Delegate) - deadline-related distractions
- Not urgent or significant (Eliminate) - frivolous diversions
According to the book, order is crucial. People should spend most of their time in quadrant two after completing items in one, but many spend too much time in quadrants three and four.
4. Think win-win
To think win-win, you must commit to creating win-win situations to establish effective interdependent relationships.
According to the author, you should seek mutually beneficial win-win solutions or agreements in your relationships. Valuing and respecting people by pursuing a win-win situation for all is a better long-term solution than benefiting only one person. In summary, win-win is a character-based code for human interaction and collaboration, not about being nice.
5. Seek first to understand, then to be understood
This habit copies the Rogerian argument strategy, which uses empathising with others, seeking common ground and mutual understanding and learning as a principal.
When you use empathy to understand someone, they feel obligated to reciprocate and keep an open mind. This method creates a caring and positive environment for problem-solving.
This habit, according to the author, is expressed in the ancient Greek philosophy of three modes of persuasion:
- Ethos: Using one's credibility to gain the trust of others.
- Pathos: The alignment with the emotional confidence of another person's communication when using the empathetic side.
- Logos: This is the presentation's logic or reasoning.
6. Synergise
Synergising involves combining the power of a group of things working together to achieve a more significant result than when they worked separately. This cooperation enables people to generate new alternatives and explore new possibilities. It allows people to agree to replace old scripts with new ones.
With this habit, you will value differences in others to broaden your perspective. It will assist you in avoiding negative energy and looking for the good in others.
Furthermore, you will show courage in interdependent situations by being open and encouraging others to be genuine. Finally, by looking for a third alternative, you will catalyse creativity and find a better solution for everyone.
7. Sharpen the saw
Source: UGC
According to the author, you should balance and renew your resources, energy, and health to create a sustainable, long-term, practical lifestyle. Exercise for physical renewal, prayer, and reading for mental renewal is a bonus.
The book mentions the upward spiral model, focusing on conscience and meaningful and consistent progress. Using this model will result in growth, change, and continuous improvement.
What are the key concepts of habit 7? Habit 7 is about balance and energy renewal. The author encourages physical and mental exercises to enable longevity and health.
How can you apply the 7 Habits of Highly Effective People in your life?
You can apply the habits by being consistent and focused. Though changing your mental state might be difficult initially, the result will be satisfactory.
What do the 7 habits teach?
According to the author, the seven habits are branches of the maturity continuum. The continuum includes dependence, independence, and interdependence, the three stages of maturity. The first three habits promote independence, while the next three focus on interdependence.
The final seventh habit capitalises on aiding and maintaining the accomplishments of all six practices.
The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People summary is a breakdown of business and self-help concepts published by Stephen Covey in his best-selling book. The habits bring out the best in you and ensure that you become the successful person you were born to be. The book is widely used and regarded as a pioneer in motivational content for the masses.
What is the largest hotel in the world with the highest number of rooms? Yen.com.gh published an informative article about the world's largest hotel. This hotel currently holds the title of the world's largest, with a room capacity of over 7,000.
From the Burj Khalifa in Dubai to the Londoner in Macau, the world has had its fair share of large hotels. These hotels are some of the best in the world and offer a variety of amenities not found in your typical one. So, what is the world's largest hotel?
Source: YEN.com.gh