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About
Published in 1989, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People is a self-help book written by Stephen Covey that has helped shape leaders all around the globe with 25 million copies sold and translated to 38 different languages. This book provides step-by-step actions we can take to achieve holistic effectiveness.

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Chapter Two: The Seven Habits - An Overview

We must understand - that success is not defined by the big moments, but by our habits, the things we do daily. Habit is an intersection of three things:

1. Knowledge (what to, why to)
2. Skills (how to)
3. Desire (want to)

For example, you want to start building healthy habits. You first have to know its importance (knowledge); then you research on the right foods to eat, the proper exercise routine, etc. (skill); lastly, you must really want it. If you do not want it that much, you would quit early - you let the first excuse that pops in your head stop you on your tracks. There will always be reasons WHY NOT, but remember WHY you started in the first place (desire).

"There are a million reasons why not, but there is one good reason why."

Gary Vaynerchuk

Maturity Continuum

The seven habits are sequential, and they work together to achieve personal and interpersonal effectiveness. The habits drive us upward in the maturity continuum:

1. Dependent: the need to be nurtured by others
2. Independent: the ability to sustain one's self
3. Interdependent: the understanding that collective efforts are necessary to achieve something bigger

The seven habits are structured in a way that we achieve our private victories first before our public victories.

P/PC Balance

Before I introduce P/PC, consider Aesop's fable of the goose and golden eggs as narrated by Covey:

This fable is the story of a poor farmer who one day discovers in the nest of his pet goose a glittering golden egg. At first, he thinks it must be some kind of trick. But as he starts to throw the egg aside, he has second thoughts and takes it in to be appraised instead.

The egg is pure gold! The farmer can’t believe his good fortune. He becomes even more incredulous the following day when the experience is repeated. Day after day, he awakens to rush to the nest and find another golden egg. He becomes fabulously wealthy; it all seems too good to be true.

But with his increasing wealth comes greed and impatience. Unable to wait day after day for the golden eggs, the farmer decides he will kill the goose and get them all at once. But when he opens the goose, he finds it empty. There are no golden eggs — and now there is no way to get any more. The farmer has destroyed the goose that produced them.

Being effective is the balance of what is produced (golden eggs) and the capability to produce (goose). You can't value one and disregard the other. For example, it is good for a company to give value (P) to their customers but not to the point where the employees (PC) are worn out.

So, what are the seven habits?

The seven habits as a unit is about self growth and not just a quick fix, but keep in mind:

"What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly: it is dearness only that gives every thing its value. Heaven knows how to put a proper price upon its goods."

Thomas Paine

A quick look on the seven habits:

PRIVATE VICTORY

Habit 1: Be proactive
Habit 2: Begin with the end in mind
Habit 3: Put first things first

PUBLIC VICTORY

Habit 4: Think Win/Win
Habit 5: Seek first to understand, then to be understood
Habit 6: Synergize

RENEWAL

Habit 7: Sharpen the saw

We will be looking at these habits on a deeper level in my future posts.

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Thank you!

Next chapter, we will be looking at the first habit: Be proactive. Make sure that you have read the summary of the first chapter before you proceed!

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