The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People

Habit No. 1: Be proactive. 
“Self-awareness enables us to stand apart and examine even the way we ‘see’ ourselves — our self-paradigm, the most fundamental paradigm of effectiveness. It affects not only our attitude and behaviors, but also how we see other people. It becomes our map of the basic nature of mankind.”

Habit No. 2 Begin with the end in mind.
“This habit 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.” In other words, visualize what you want as if it already happened and the universe will begin to work wonders.

Habit No. 3: Put first things first.
This habit is about personal and time management. Covey writes: “Management, remember, is clearly different from leadership. Leadership is primarily a high-powered, right brain activity. It’s more of an art; it’s based on a philosophy. You have to ask the ultimate questions of life when you’re dealing with personal leadership issues. But once you have dealt with those issues, once you have resolved them, you then have to manage yourself effectively to create a life congruent with your answers.”
---------------------------------

---------------------------------

Habit No. 4: Think win/win.
According to Covey, “This is a frame of mind and heart that constantly seeks mutual benefit in all human interactions. Win/win means agreements are mutually beneficial, mutually satisfying… Most people think in terms of dichotomies: strong or weak, hardball or softball win or lose. But that kind of thinking is fundamentally flawed.”

Habit No. 5: Seek first to understand, then to be understood.
“We have such a tendency to rush in, to fix things up with good advice. But we often fail to take time to diagnose, to really, deeply understand the problem first… This principle is the key to effective interpersonal communication.”

Habit No. 6: Synergize.
On synergistic communication, Covey writes: “You begin with the belief that parties involved will gain more insight, and that the excitement of that mutual learning and insight will create a momentum toward more and more insights, learning, and growth.” Another gem: “Synergy is almost as if a group collectively agrees to subordinate old scripts and to write a new one.”

Habit No. 7: Sharpen the saw.
“It’s renewing the four dimensions of your nature—physical, spiritual, mental, and social/emotional.” Covey writes about continuous self-improvement. Commit, learn, and do.

Below are 10 quotes from Stephen Covey that have the power to completely change the direction of one’s life.
1)      The key is not to prioritize what’s on your schedule, but to schedule your priorities.
2)      The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing.
3)      Live out of your imagination, not your history.
4)      Trust is the glue of life. It’s the most essential ingredient in effective communication. It’s the foundational principle that holds all relationships.
5)      Most of us spend too much time on what is urgent and not enough time on what is important.
6)      I am not a product of my circumstances. I am a product of my decisions.
7)      You have to decide what your highest priorities are and have the courage—pleasantly, smilingly, nonapologetically, to say “no” to other things. And the way you do that is by having a bigger “yes” burning inside. The enemy of the “best” is often the “good.”
8)      I teach people how to treat me by what I will allow.
9)      Love is a verb. Love – the feeling – is the fruit of love the verb or our loving actions. So love her.
10)   Live, love, laugh, leave a legacy.