Review on the 7 habits of highly effective people:I’ll try here to say the things I think were really important to me while listening to the audio book.
The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People embody many of the fundamental principles of human effectiveness.
These habits are basic; they are primary. They represent the internalization of correct principles upon which enduring happiness and success are based.
When I heard Steven covey’s audio book he started it with a really weird thing, he said if you want this book to be of a value for you the most important thing for you is to teach it cause when you listen and only listen you won’t be interested but imagine you teaching this book to many people your way of thinking will change.
Paradigms: Covey starts his book with a definition of Paradigms or the way we see the world that’s what he call it, for example when he told us to make sure you’ll teach this book all he did was a total SHIFT in my paradigm to the book, my paradigm was that I’m going to read it only but this shift in paradigm he did when he said you’re going to teach it made me listen more carefully and in much more attention
He says: Our Paradigms are the way we "see" the world or circumstances -- not in terms of our visual sense of sight, but in terms of perceiving, understanding, and interpreting.
Emotional bank account: Covey speaks about the story of the goose and the golden egg we all know it when a farmer found every day a goose that lays him a golden egg and in the end he said I wonder if I kill the goose and take all the golden egg inside it we all know he killed it and found nothing.
The reason for that example was that in our life we have a goose whether it’s our company, wife and resources. These things lay us golden eggs everyday but instead of feeding them we simply hurt them till they are killed and then we have no eggs from them. Covey urges us to feed the goose by creating an emotional bank account which will stand for us simply emotional bank account is a way to feed the goose care for it don’t kill it.
-Six ways 4 emotional bank1- Simple courtesy "thank you , how are you today"
2-Honesty
3- Keep promises
4- Managing expectations
5-Loyalty "Be loyal to who's absent"
6- If you blow any of the above say, sorry
Emotional bank needs constant feeding to be effective.
Before we state the 7 habits Covey divided people characters to 3 types:Dependant: The kind of person who always depends on others he always say: ”I blame you” he actually needs other people in order to achieve.
Independent: The total opposite of dependant these people are self reliant "can get what they want he always say:” I can do it”
Interdependent: WE CAN DO IT “together we can make a difference”
The main aim from habits 1,2,3 is to change the person from his dependant characters to independent characters cause we can’t reach the inter dependent level if we have in our team dependant character so our main aim from the first 3 habits is to be Independent.
The main aim for habits 4,5,6 is to change us from independent attitude to interdependent
Habit 1 Be Pro-active:It's awareness that you're indeed in control
Take responsibility for your self stop blaming conditions it’s the ability to choose your response.
Effective people their behavior is product of their own decisions Reactive people blame environment
“I'm able to choose my own response to what's happening to me...”
You change yourself don’t try to change others ...
"They can't take away our self respect if we don’t leave it to them"
Liberty is condition of environment freedom is condition of person
Habit 2: Begin with the End in Mind:
What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us
-- Oliver Wendell Holme
-Covey starts to differentiate between leaders and mangers and say how both are important the best description for this difference when he said
We manage things to lead people
Leadership means directions and management means speed
-He states the story of CEO of a large company who changed his paradigm from management to leadership and how this caused dramatic changes in the company sales simple because he left management and daily objectives to other people who are fit enough to do so and he just freed himself to plan directions for the company.
He urges us to write a powerful mission statement and reinforce what you want inside it.
-----HOW TO CREATE POWERFUL MISSION STATEMENT
You must get centered around a set of values
Mission statement can take a year it must involve every one
You have to believe that you're a programmer before you write the program which means you have to reach the independent state to start writing your mission because you now believe in YOU and that you’re in control simply you’re the programmer now
1-Set a goal and you're in control
2- Make a promise to achieve it
He gave then a really weird example he said imagine you’re attending a funeral of someone and you sit beside the people sitting there change your paradigm now imagine it’s your funeral and you wish to see 4 people to speak about you.
Now choose 4 different persons:
1-From your family: what do you want to hear your wife father and brother say about you what do you wish to hear from them.
2-From your friends: do you want a friend; who say he used to be my best friend
3-From your work: Achievements in work
4-From your community: whether it’s a charity work community service what would you like to hear about your self.
Back to reality you’re now alive choose those 4 people and start working to achieve in all 4 fields don’t make work comes over family or community; work as hard as you can to achieve in those 4 fields
Habit 3: Put First Things First TM -- Principles of Personal Managemen habbit 2 is stating ur mission and goals habbit 3 is ur scheduling around these goals
your time tool is your servent not master
simply use this diagram to organize your time i'm the one who drew it on paint while listening so dont kill me :D
Urgent=Things that happened right now and you have to do it like the ringing phone you have to answer now..
hab 2 needs imagination and consience detect and invent meaning write ur own mission own roles and goals
as you can see
