Last updated: January 5, 2018 at 1:38 am
I recently finished reading The Seven Habits Of Highly Effective People in its entirety. It is one of the best books that I have ever read on the topics of self-help, self-growth, and several other related topics. This article is a brief summary of The Seven Habits Of Highly Effective People, specifically of the main ideas and topics.
Introduction
The introduction of the book talks about the foundations of the 7 habits and emphasizes that all of these habits are sequential. One cannot skip any of them. You must first do habit 1, then habit 2, and so on. A person who is not independent (successful with habits 1-3) cannot work on interdependence (habits 4 – 6) effectively.
As the chapter progresses, Covey talks about developing character, and that character takes time to develop in all aspects of our lives. He then introduces the concepts of what he calls the personality ethic and the character ethic and gives a brief history of them. The personality ethic is, in part, about positive thinking, and learning how to influence people very well, without necessarily having a good character. Potentially it includes manipulating others for your own gain.
The character ethic on the other hand, is about values and ethics, and how a good person should live his or her life. We can never get something for nothing. “The character ethic is based on the fundamental idea that there are principles that govern human effectiveness—natural laws in the human dimension are just as real, just as unchanging and unarguably “there” as laws such as gravity are in the physical dimension.” pg 32
He gives the example of a student in university. You might get good grades and not put in much effort, but if you don’t put in the time to master whatever it is that you are studying, or what you want to become, you will end up cheating yourself. Pg 22
“Did you ever consider how ridiculous it would be to try to cram on a farm – to forget to plant in the spring, play all summer and then cram in the fall to bring in harvest? The farm is a natural system. The price must be paid and the process followed. You always reap what you sow; there is no shortcut.” pg 22
He defines effectiveness, the most important term of the whole book, in terms of Aesop’s fable of the goose and the golden eggs. “True effectiveness is a function of two things: what is produced (the golden eggs) and the producing asset or capacity to produce (the goose).” pg 54
“Effectiveness lies in the balance – what I call the P/PC balance. P stands for production of desired results, the golden eggs. PC stands for production capability, the ability or asset that produces the golden eggs.” pg 54
He basically defines a habit as the intersection of 3 things: knowledge (what to, why to), skills (how to), and desire (want to). Pg 48
My article on there being no quick fixes in life, here, was in part inspired by many of these ideas.
(Habits 1 -3 Independence)
Habit 1: Be proactive
We can’t control exactly what will happen in our lives or what other people will do or do to us, but we can choose how to react to people and events in our lives. An amazing thing that we have as human beings is the freedom to choose our reactions, and how we interpret things.
If we are proactive, it means we are not reactive. Reactive people drift through life, and simply take what life throws at them. Proactive people on the other hand, do the best to accomplish what they want, no matter what kind of struggles or obstacles life throws their way.
We can take the initiative and try to be as optimistic as possible. Another way he basically said the same thing was that we have the choice to act or be acted upon.
“Look at the word responsibility – “response-ability” – the ability to choose your response. Highly proactive people recognize that responsibility. They do not blame circumstances, conditions, or conditioning for their behavior. Their behavior is a product of their own conscious choice, based on values, rather than a product of their conditions, based on a feeling.” pg 71
The most notable quote for me in the whole chapter was “we are ultimately responsible for our own effectiveness, for our own happiness, and ultimately, I would say, for most of our circumstances.” pg 93
Habit 2: Begin with the end in mind
Covey begins the chapter talking about imagining yourself at your own funeral. What would you like your friends and family to say about you, and what do you want your legacy to be after you have passed away? You should work towards some ultimate purpose in your life.
“’Being with the end in mind’ is based on the principle that all things are created twice. There’s a mental or first creation, and a physical or second creation to all things.” pg 99
After having the reader imagine his own funeral, he talks about goals. Begin with the end in mind means that we think about what we want to accomplish, but we don’t necessarily know how we are going to get there. For example, if we go hiking, and want to go a certain location (our goal), we might not know exactly how we will get there, but at least we will know exactly where we want to go.
One can think of your goals like a map. You can use the map as a guide to get to where you want to go, but you might not necessarily know exactly how you will get to the location. Having the map is the first step.
For Habit 2 vs Habit 3, the author gives an analogy of people cutting through a jungle. Habit 2 is being in the right jungle. Once you know which jungle you should be in, habit 3 then is then getting through the jungle in the most efficient way. If you are in the wrong jungle, it doesn’t matter how efficient you are cutting through it. You must know what you want, and why you want it before you can go after it in the most efficient way.
In addition to goals, he brings up the idea of having a personal mission statement. Covey basically defines a personal mission statement as a set of principles that you will live your life by, and what you want your life to be governed by. He gives various examples, and encourages the reader to come up with his or her own mission statement.
Habit 3: Put first things first
Put first things first is about prioritizing your life in general, and your day-to-day tasks. It is about being efficient, but also about being truly effective. He begins the chapter talking about the history of time management techniques. He then transitions into the most important part of the chapter, which he calls “The Time Management Matrix” and talks about it on page 151.
| I: Urgent and important | II: Not urgent but important |
| III: Urgent but not important | IV: Not urgent and not important |
In the above quadrant, urgent means that the deadline for the task is very soon, and important means that the task will help us with our life goals or life in general.
Category I tasks are emergencies or just things we must do immediately: Life and death situations, pressing problems, etc.
Category II tasks are things which help us with our long-term goals, but the the deadline is not soon.
Category III tasks are basically trivial things like email, phone calls, some meetings, but aren’t important in the long term.
Category IV tasks are basically just a waste of time. They include leisure activities, busy work, etc.
We should try to minimize category III and category IV tasks as much as we can. Though, we will probably always need a little bit of category IV items to stay healthy, just don’t indulge.
While we can never completely get rid of category I tasks, we can work on minimizing them. If we spend too much time in category III and IV tasks, we will have an unnecessary amount of category I activities to deal with. We will probably be a lot happier, and have a lot less stress, if we work on preventing category I items by working on category II items.
He talks again and again about putting most of our effort into category II: things that are important for our long term future, but aren’t urgent. Once we have habit 2, being with the end in mind, we need to work on short term goals and long term goals.
He also talks about why he thinks it is better to do weekly planning rather than daily planning. Covey suggests this, in part, to allow for more flexibility in our schedules. Near the end of the chapter, he gives sample weekly schedules that the reader can use.