“The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People”
This book is written by Stephen R. Covey.
In this book, the writer has emphasized the principles of good versus bad habits. And also recommended putting them into practice. The very first thing to know is the paradigm.
According to a great speaker, a “paradigm is nothing but a multitude of habits, and a habit is nothing but an idea that is fixed in our subconscious mind. When you place an idea in your subconscious mind through repetition, it will take root, become fixed, and a fixed idea is a habit.
“A habit is something we automatically do without any conscious mind.”
Through this, you understand what a paradigm shift and habit really are. On the other hand, a paradigm shift is when your perception and behavior shift into another form.
In this book, there is a small story about a paradigm shift. The writer said that one morning on the subway, all people were sitting quietly.
Suddenly, a man entered with his children who started yelling, so a disturbance spread in the subway. I went to him and said, “Your children are making a disturbance.” He looked at me and said, “I am sorry.” He said that they were coming from the hospital where his wife died in hours. He said, “I don’t know how to control them.”
The writer said that I suddenly saw things differently, thought, felt, and behaved differently. That’s how his paradigm shifted. The 7 habits are based on it.
Habit No 1: Be Proactive
There are two ways of behavior: one is “reactive,” and the other one is “proactive.” Having a reactive manner is very bad.
Most people react to everything without understanding. They do not understand the person and situation. On the other hand, proactive people ready themselves for every battle, for every storm before their arrival.
Proactive people always get their problems solved first, reach their goals, and find peace at last. While reactive people become entangled with problems because they react to them instead of understanding, so they never get out of these.
Habit No 2: Begin with the End in Mind
It is the principle of personal leadership. To develop your personality, when you start something, be with it until you accomplish it or get the result.
Put your desires and goals ahead of this. But for this, you have to create a mission statement. For example, if you have a mission, create your own statement to reach the peak of your desire according to your mission.
Habit No 3: Put First Things First
It is based on personal management. “Put first things first” means to do the work as you planned or complete the first thing first.
Never put the first thing last, as that is a very common behavior of youth. Basically, it is based on the management of time and work.
Effective people focus on things that are not urgent but important, while losers focus on things that are urgent but not important. It means they put important things last and do work out of time, which is a waste of time and energy.
However, effective people create a “long-term organization.” For instance, make your mission statement, define your roles, and reach your goals.
Habit No 4: Think Win/Win
It involves the principle of interpersonal leadership.
- Win/Win: If you think you have to win something, put a thought in your mind that by winning, others do not have to lose. There are many people who think differently. Some are under:
- Win/Lose: If I win, others have to lose.
- Lose/Win: I will lose for that person if I can’t, so they can’t win.
- Lose/Lose: If I cannot win, the other cannot win.
- Win: Just I have to win, for example, “Me,” “I,” “Myself.” Due to these four, you can lose relationships, lose trust, and put yourself in competition. You start to compare yourself with others. There is a line in the book that Win/Win seems like a cooperative, not a competitive, area. These types of people do not get upset about others winning. Make a model of Win/Win thinking within you. If you can’t do good for someone, don’t even think bad.
Habit No 5: Seek First to Understand, Then to Be Understood
First, you have to understand, then make others understand. To understand the situation, you have empathetic and listening.
Most people do not listen with the intent to understand; they listen with the intent to reply. Actually, they do not focus; they prepare to speak. The best way is to listen empathically, identify the problem, and then provide your prescription.
Try hard to understand, and then you can clearly help people understand. This is the best way to make relationships lasting.
Habit No 6: Synergize
It involves the principle of creative cooperation. Synergize is defined as the whole being greater than the sum of its parts. For example, if you’re a businessman, you can’t run your company alone; you need creative people.
Take the example of your common life; you’re a student. You never get anything just from your side. Because you’re based on ideas that are just inside you, but when you combine with knowledgeable people, you get new ideas.
Habit No 7: Sharpen the Saw
The last habit is that if your work is not being completed your way, bring a change. Vast your knowledge, make unity, courage, understand things, be proactive, think good for everyone, and find the purpose of your life.
So, sharpen the saw if it is not working. You’re too concerned about what happened to you, but you never think of others. You want good for yourself but not for others. You want others to do something good for you, but you’re not ready to reciprocate.
These are the habits of weak people, while effective people are the opposite of these. If you do nothing else, just think positively because thinking leads to actions. At the end, I just recommend this book, which helped me a lot to change my bad habits.
By: Bakhtawar Ahmed Ali