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

This book! what should I say about this book! It has only 300 pages but it took me more than a month to finish reading this. This book was given to me by a friend and I am so thankful that I got this book. I must say it is a very powerful book and whenever you are reading this book, take your sweet time to understand it and to apply it in your life and you will start observing the changes in you and around you. Here not only reading and knowing is important but also applying it in your life is as important to witness the magic. This book emphasis on the principles, on building the character than learning the soft skills. Soft skills are the temporary Band-Aids to your wound (your problem) while the character is the medicine to heal the wound permanently. Soft skills are important to learn but it is useful only if it’s connected with your character.

ABOUT STEPHEN R. COVEY

The author, Stephen R. covey was an internationally respected leadership authority, family expert, teacher, organizational consultant and author who dedicated his life to teaching principle centered living and leadership to build both families and organizations. He also served as a professor of organizational behavior and business management and director of university relations and assistant of the president. This book 7 habits of highly effective people was publised in 1989 and named the #1 Most Influential Business Book of the Twentieth Century and one of the top ten most influential management books ever. It has sold more than 20 million copies in thirty-eight languages throughout the world. Stephen Covey was recognized as one of Times magazine’s 25 Most Influential Americans and received seven honorary doctorate degrees. Dr. Covey was the cofounder and vice chairman of Franklin-Covey Company, the leading global professional service firm, with offices in 123 countries.

ABOUT BOOK

In this book, the author has introduced seven habits that are effective and helpful in making positive impact as an individual, as an organization, in organization, and in family. Whether you are a wife/husband, mother/father, employer/employee, working in an organization or the president of a country, these principles are effective to all. It basically applies to all.

Dr. Covey never took the credit about these principles he has introduced in the book, he said these principles are known before him and all he did was put together, to synthesize them for people. And he believed that those principles are timeless and universal and do affect us everyday in life whether you know it or not. These principles define one’s character. Dr. Covey had introduced 7 habits and out of them the first three habits are about Private Victory Habits, another three habits are about Public Victory Habits and one last habit which renew and reset those six habits.

Each habit will teach you something about yourself. it is like you are on a journey to self discovery and these habits give you the compass so you can figure out the directions. Most importantly it helps you to listen yourself and direct you to go within before you go out.

These habits are the journey from being dependent to independent to interdependent. Interdependence is far more mature and advanced concept and as we continue to grow and mature, we become increasingly aware that all nature is interdependent. and for being interdependent one has to take the journey from being dependent to independent first. Being interdependent can be complex because it includes people and people are usually complex to understand. So the first three habits help you to know and discover yourself, it is all about freedom to choose, to choose and action, it is about “make and keep a promise to yourself” and another three habits involve others in the problem and work out solution together, to respect and understand people and lead to the marvelous creation together. These habits help you to build the character that can heal any wound from the root.

Dr. covey has also accepted that practicing all this habits are not easy and it takes persistence, but start practicing one habit and you will see change in you and around you and one habit leads to another and another. and how to choose the first habit? start with the one which is most difficult for you to follow. This book is worth reading for all those who are on the journey to learn, to know and to grow.

Quoting some of my favorite lines from the book.

“To live with change, we need principles that don’t change.”

“Between stimulus and response, man has the freedom to choose.”

“If I really want to improve my situation, I can work on the one thing over which I have control – myself.”

“It is not what others do or even our own mistakes that hurt us the most; it is our response to those things.”

“If you start to think the problem is “out there”, stop yourself. That thought is the problem.”

“We must not cease from exploration and the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we began and to know the place for the first time.”

“The way we see things is the source of the way we think, and the way we act.”

“You can buy a person’s hand, but you can’t buy his heart. His heart is where his enthusiasm, his loyalty is. You can buy his back but you can’t buy his brain. That’s where his creativity is, his ingenuity, his resourcefulness.”

“No one can persuade another to change. Each of us guards a gate of change that can only be opened from the inside. We cannot open the gate of another, either by argument or by emotional appeal.”

“No one can hurt you without your consent.” – Eleanor Roosevelt

“What matters most is how we respond to what we experience in life.”

“How different our lives are when we really know what is deeply important to us, and, keeping in that picture in mind, we manage ourselves each day to be and to do what really matters most.”

“A good affirmation has five basic ingredients: it’s personal, it’s positive, it’s present tense, it’s visual, and it’s emotional.”

“Without involvement there is no commitment.”

“Organize and execute around priorities.”

“You can’t be successful with other people if you haven’t paid the price of success with yourself.”

“The most important ingredient we put into any relationship is not what we say or what we do but what we are.”

“You can’t change the fruit without changing the root.”

“Seek first to understand, then to be understood.”

“That which is most personal is most general.” – Carl Rogers

“The greatest battles of life are fought out daily in the silent chamber of the soul.” – David O. McKay

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