The 7 Habits

Thoughts on 158 days of quarantine. 

 

People on Facebook are posting favorite books they have read over the years. I have read so many books that I don’t think I could pick just 20 but I do remember the first self-help book I read years ago by a master teacher, Steven Covey. The 7 Habits ofHighly Effective Peopleis a self -improvement book. It is written on Covey’s belief that the way we see the world is entirely based on our own perceptions.

 

In order to change a given situation, we must change ourselves, and in order to change ourselves, we must be able to change our perception. Who on earth does not remember the 7 Habits of Highly Effective People? We all want to succeed.  And one path to success is identifying the habits that can help us on our journey. What habits do highly effective people have? I have been listening his books with my mom on audible. She loves them! This week, I will go over what the book is about.

 

The books opens with an explanation of how many individuals who have achieved a high degree of outward success still find themselves struggling with an inner need for developing personal effectiveness and growing healthy relationships with other people. 

 

Covey believes the way we see the world is entirely based on our own perceptions. In order to change a given situation, we must change ourselves, and in order to change ourselves, we must be able to change our perceptions. 

 

In studying over 200 years of literature on the concept of success, Cove identified a very important change in the way that humans have defined success over time. 

 

In earlier times, the foundation of success rested upon character ethic (things like integrity, humility, fidelity, temperance, courage, justice, patience, industry, simplicity, modesty, and the Golden Rule.) But starting around 1920s, the way people viewed success shifter to what Covey calls, “personality ethic” (Where success is a function of personality, public image, attitudes, and behaviors.)

These days people look for quick fixes. They see a successful person, team, or organization and ask, “How do you do it? Teach me your technique? But these “shortcuts” that we look for, hoping to save time and effort and still achieve the desired result, are simply band-aids that will yield short term solutions. They don’t address the underlying condition. 

 

The way we see the problem is the problem. Covey writes. We must allow ourselves to undergo paradigm shifts to change ourselves fundamentally and not just after our attitudes and behaviors on the surface level. In order to achieve true change. 

 

That’s where the seven habits of highly effective people come in.

Habits 1, 2, and 3 are focused on self-mastery and moving from dependence to independence. 

 

Habits 4, 5, and 6 are focused on developing teamwork, collaboration and communication skills, and moving from independence to interdependence. 

 

Habit 7 is focused on continuous growth and improvement and embodies all the other habits. 

 

I even attended one of his workshops when I bought my first Franklin Covey Day-planner. They came in three sizes so I decided to get the biggest one of course. It was not too convenient to carry so it became more like my journal. Later I bought a more convenient middle size and each year around December I would get the inserts to use the next year. Those day-planners have been replaced by smartphones but the Covey’s teachings remain forever. 

 

Con amor,

Vero