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7 Habits of Highly Effective People Summary

The 7 habits of highly effective people was one of the best books I have ever read. If you haven’t read it go and buy it right now. Once I finished reading the book I searched everywhere for a 7 habits of highly effective people summary but nothing I found met my standards. After reading a book I always like to refresh my memory once in a while, so rather than re-reading the book I find it handy to find a quality summary online. I decided that I would write a quality 7 habits of highly effective people summary for you to enjoy and review often to refresh your memory on the concepts in this timeless classic.

Here is my own personal 7 habits of highly effective people summary for everyone to enjoy:

Habit 1: Be proactive (7 habits of highly effective people summary) – True change starts from within us. Highly effective people are proactive and focus on the things they are able to influence. Steven Covey describes this as operating within our circle of influence.  Here is a useful diagram to illustrate this point:

There are 2 mindsets according to the book. The circle of concern and the circle of influence. We can’t control what is in our circle of concern. The circle of influence on the other hand is comprised of the things in our lives in which we can change. What the author advocates doing is to operate within our circle influence and smile and accept the things in our circle of concern. As a result we focus on what we can influence in our lives rather that reacting to circumstances and events. This is habit one in becoming a highly effective person.

Habit 2: Begin with the end in mind (7 habits of highly effective people summary) – This habit is referred to as the habit of personal management. In this chapter covey discusses developing a personal mission statement. For those of you that have read think and grow rich the two books have many similarities especially in the development of a personal mission statement. We get clear on exactly what it is that we want and let that vision guide us along the way. You can go one step further and read this mission statement every morning and night. Each time you read it feel the words and visualize yourself already having achieved whats in your mission statement.

Habit 3: Put first things first (7 habits of highly effective people summary)- These are the principles of time management. Stephen teaches us how to focus our time on non urgent important tasks. By doing so we avoid wasting time and also avoid crises and pressing problems. Here is a visual to illustrate this point:

Stephen advocates spending the majority of your time in quadrant II. This in turn will avoid quadrant I problems, and help us from wasting our time with activities that aren’t of importance. Time management is a key component of become a highly effective person.

Habit 4: Think win/win (7 habits of highly effective people summary) – Covey calls this the habit of interpersonal leadership. We must ensure that all of our interactions benefit both parties and that both individuals feel as if they “won”. The abundance mentality we advocate at Alpha Lifestyle is essential to this habit. The basis of this habit is that there is enough to go around for everyone and success is found in a co-operative manner rather than a selfish win/lose manner. If both parties don’t win, in reality both parties actually lose.

Habit 5: Seek first to understand, then to be understood (7 habits of highly effective people summary) – Everyone wants to be understood and feel as though other people understand them. Before you yourself seek to be understood first seek to understand the other person. Genuinely try to see their point of view and put yourself in their shoes. Only after you genuinely understand the other individual should you seek to be understood. Covey sums this up well in the following statement “diagnose before your prescribe”.

Habit 6: Synergize (7 habits of highly effective people summary)- The whole purpose of the 7 habits of highly effective people is to move us from a state of dependence to a state of interdependence. The key of interdependence is synergy. This is the habit of creative co-operation. His philosophy is that the the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. When we work with others to achieve an end the process is much more effective that if we do it alone.

Habit 7: Sharpen the saw (7 habits of highly effective people summary) – This is the habit of self renewal. In order to sharpen the saw we will be providing you with daily articles here at alpha lifestyle to keep yourself in a constant state of growth and improvement.

I hope you enjoyed my 7 habits of highly effective people summary. If you haven’t already read the book I strongly suggest that you do. If you have read it then I’m sure you found this summary useful.

Here at Alpha Lifestyle we have made these 7 habits of highly effective people summary a part of our paradigm. Everything we advocate comes from a paradigm of interdependence. We will be writing many more useful articles which will discuss the principles of the 7 habits further.

Until next time…

Cheers,

bigP

PS: If you enjoyed this 7 habits of highly effective people summary be sure to check out my rich dad poor dad summary as well!

7 Habits of Highly Effective People Summary