Stephen R. Covey’s, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People is a self-help classic that has effectively transformed and better the lives of millions of people worldwide.
The book is a gold mine of practical and doable productivity and achievement advice. Moreover, it’s an enjoyable read that offers valuable lessons about how one can effectively change bad habits. It’s also a treasure trove of applicable principles to help us find fulfillment in all aspects of our lives.
The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People delivers many strategies and insights to improve its reader’s professional and personal life. With that said, here are 10 of the top life-changing takeaways from the book.
1. Strive to Be Proactive
The first step to achieve any change we desire is to start an internal transformation. We must be ready to make that decision and do the work to change our life around.
In the book, Dr. Covey noted that we could influence the world around us simply by controlling our emotions and reactions, especially to external forces we have no control of. According to him, by simply changing our responses, we gain our freedom from external events and circumstances that affect our lives.
Being proactive is taking charge of your life, so you must have the desire and initiative to make decisions and take action. In short, striving to be proactive is being responsible for your own life. When we are proactive, we think in terms of “I can” and “I will.”
Being proactive means focusing our efforts on what we can control or do something about. In fact, Dr. Covey gave an excellent example of how one can strive to be proactive despite dire and difficult circumstances.
Victor Frankl, a Jewish holocaust survivor, encountered cruelty, death, and deprivation during his time in one of the German concentration camps. His family was either executed in gas chambers or died from the camp’s grueling condition.
However, Frankl soon realized that despite these conditions, he holds one power that can’t be taken away from him – how he responds to the forces around him. In his book, Frankl shared that between stimulus and response is a space, and that small space is where our power lies.
It’s the space where we choose how to respond. So, instead of letting conditions and circumstances negatively affect your mood, decision, and your life in general, you need to accept the responsibility of taking the initiative to change your condition and better your situation.
2. Start With the End in Mind
Begin with the end in mind, which means making plans and decisions based on the ending you want to achieve. After all, the best way to create a future aligned with your goals is to act according to your desired end.
Many of us are trapped in the rat race where we spend our lives tackling whatever is at hand and working aimlessly. This often leads us to forget that to live a fulfilled life is to put forth our effort into something we value and desire.
Goal-setting may be one of the best things to describe this habit. However, the best way to start is to develop your personal mission statement. In this case, your mission statement will be your anchor and your roadmap to achieving a highly effective life.
Here are five steps you can do to help you identify the outcomes you desire based on what’s important to you.
- Know what you really want to achieve
- Be honest in identifying where you are in terms of your goals
- Design the most direct path to take you where you want to be
- Write down your personal mission statement
- Give your full commitment
Overall, to begin with an end in mind is to have a clear vision of your dream personal and professional life. It would help if you made it specific and in tune with your values, principles, and the core of who you are.
That’s why starting this habit with a deep knowledge of who you are and what you really want is the most practical and effective way to go.
3. Prioritize Accordingly
According to the book, to effectively prioritize is to put first things first. This is where you focus and work on what’s truly important to you. When you prioritize tasks that bring you closer to your desired end, you avoid getting distracted by urgent yet otherwise unimportant affairs.
In other words, putting first things first is a lesson on the principles of personal management. To better understand how one should prioritize, Dr. Covey wrote about the four quadrants of the Time Management Matrix.
Quadrant I
The first quadrant is all about the urgent and essential tasks that cause us stress and rob us of our energies. They are activities that suddenly arrive and require our immediate attention. Some examples of these are deadlines, meetings, and other pressing problems.
Quadrant II
The second quadrant includes activities and tasks that provide opportunities rather than predicaments and problems. These are important yet non-urgent tasks that matter and help us move forward towards our goals.
Quadrant III
Quadrant III is composed of unimportant yet urgent responsibilities. The majority of our most common daily activities are composed of activities under quadrant III.
Quadrant IV
The fourth quadrant is the unimportant and non-urgent tasks we do. They are the least imperative things as they are just minor chores that aren’t fundamental to our effectiveness and productivity.
Overall, the key to being more effective is clearly understanding what tasks and activities are worth investing our time and effort in.
4. Think Win-Win
The book also tells us that a win-win mindset is the application of our interpersonal leadership. When making agreements, you should make it a point that all the parties involved are on the winning side.
Regarding this, Dr. Covey wrote that “if both people aren’t winning, both are losing.” Having both sides of the argument ensures that you and the other person know exactly where you are coming from.
This awareness not only provides short-term victory but has an everlasting impact on your future successes. Moreover, a win-win situation is mutually beneficial because both resolutions are for the good of both sides.
Today, our idea of success often means getting ahead of others. Because of this, we are in constant competition with others, so that we neglect the actual value of thinking win-win. In fact, we are dominated by competition and comparison that success often equals to us winning and others losing.
However, this habit of continuously fighting over the larger piece of the cake is detrimental to our maturity, integrity, and abundance mentality.
The lack of this mentality can hinder us from becoming the best versions of ourselves. It can also damage our relationships and sabotage our contentment and overall happiness.
Therefore, in the book, Dr. Covey encourages us to develop a habit of seeking mutual benefits through cooperation. It cultivates humility, understanding of other people’s needs and helps us nurture authentic and long-lasting relationships.
5. Understand to be Understood
“Seek first to understand, them to be understood” is a principle on interpersonal relationships. As social creatures, we thrive in families, groups, and communities wherein effective communication drives healthy, harmonious, and fulfilling relationships.
With that said, the key to effective communication is through listening and understanding. So, this principle calls on us to notice how we always have the urge to jump in with what we have to say when others speak.
Dr. Covey’s habit five also helps you reign in your thoughts and what you have to say and forces you to listen and genuinely connect to the person you are talking to. By simply listening with empathy, you work your way into understanding the person deeper, thereby significantly improving your relationship.
It’s inherent for us to seek understanding in what we say and what we do. After all, it affirms what we have to say and allows us to be vulnerable and show our true selves to others.
So, when you sincerely listen to the ideas and feelings of others, you see things from their vantage point, gaining new insights and understanding.
6. Create Synergy
According to the book, synergy is finding the best solution to a problem by creating a conducive environment where everyone can freely share their ideas, experience, and expertise.
This approach produces quality results because of combined knowledge and effort instead of one individual giving the solution. In fact, think about the cliché, “two heads are better than one.”
In this case, the collective sharing of ideas is the most efficient avenue to come up with the best solutions to problems. However, for synergy to work, everyone should value and respect inevitable differences.
Unfortunately, we are naturally wired to always be on the defensive and protective mode. So much so that practicing this habit can be quite a challenge.
With that said, below are the three levels of communication we have to understand to help us apply synergy in our lives.
Defensive Communication
This is characterized by defensiveness and protective language. Since we are always on the defense mode, we exude low trust that hinders effective communication and collaboration.
Respectful Communication
This is where we compromise and work to a win-win agreement. We show respect, honesty, and trust when we are working with others.
Synergistic communication
This is the ideal form of collaboration and communication. The outcome of synergistic communication is often way better than we could have thought of.
Although there are circumstances when synergistic communication can seem impossible, making sincere attempts to practice it can still give you a more effective and acceptable compromise.
7. Sharpen the Saw
You are your most valuable asset, and sharpening your saw is the ongoing and continuous effort to improve who you are and become the best version of yourself. Regarding this, Dr. Covey said that sharpening the saw is the preservation and enhancement of your greatest asset: you.
He also further discussed that to become your best self, you need to constantly improve the four dimensions of your life. They are as follows:
Physical
The physical area deals with taking care of your physical body. Your physical well-being is important because it is the vehicle you need to take you where you want to be.
Moreover, a healthy physical body is a vital resource for effectiveness and productivity. Dr. Covey emphasized the importance of exercise and good nutrition to maintain a healthy and fully functional body.
Mental
The mental aspect of improving oneself involves activities and habits that can sharpen our minds and help our brain function more effectively. For example, reading can be an excellent habit for keeping your brain in shape.
Likewise, other mental activities to help improve focus and concentration and keep our mental state in shape are organizing and planning, playing puzzles and word games, and taking new courses.
Spiritual
Our spiritual well-being is as vital as our physical and mental health. Our spiritual dimension helps us find our greater sense of meaning and purpose. Therefore, the spiritual aspect of our lives is an invaluable area that can significantly affect how effective, fulfilled, and happy we can be.
There are many activities you can try to keep your spiritual state healthy. Among them are meditation, spending time with nature, and praying.
Relationships
Our relationships are the social and emotional dimensions of our being. The positive relationships we cultivate with other people be an advantage to promote social and emotional health. Similarly, positive and meaningful interactions with others provide opportunities for us to practice empathy.
Overall, successfully renewing ourselves can boost our capacity to handle complex and challenging situations effectively. In this case, the key to getting optimum results is to enhance and improve all four aspects of our lives.
8. Turn Knowledge to Action
This principle may not be one among the seven habits discussed; yet, this is still one of the major takeaways from the book. In this case, knowledge and learning are one thing, and putting them into action is another.
So, aside from serving as a worthwhile read, the book also suggests doable steps to help you apply what you have learned. Most of us are guilty of absorbing too much knowledge through reading, studying, and listening to various self-help podcasts and shows.
However, when it comes to turning knowledge into action, we often fall short. This is because we equate learning something to actually doing it.
After all, our knowledge is only valuable when we start doing something with it. When you have the knowledge, whether you acquired it through formal training, personal experiences, or others, you are in an advantageous position than those who have none.
With that said, here are five tips to guide you in transforming your knowledge into action.
Examine Your Thinking
To effectively put knowledge into good use, you need to study how to apply this knowledge to serve you well. So, follow your intuition and common sense in incorporating what you know into your daily tasks and responsibilities.
Stop Procrastinating
Procrastination is the greatest enemy of putting knowledge into action. In fact, too much procrastination can be paralyzing. Delays in deciding when and how to use what you know can limit your potential to succeed.
Trust Yourself
Sometimes, we get too fixated on thinking about the consequences if we finally take the leap and apply what we know. As a result, we may feel scared of the possible outcomes and start to lose confidence.
However, according to this book, you should trust yourself and have faith in what you can do and what you can become.
Seek Help
If there are some things you are unsure about, it’s best to find someone who can help you. For example, you can work with a coach, an industry expert, or an accountability buddy to have someone to turn to when everything seems daunting.
Share Your Knowledge
The most effective means of putting your knowledge into action is by generously sharing what you know with others. When you share the learnings you acquired, you can help others by giving them the means to know and discover new things, which can also improve their lives.
9. Focus on Circle of Influence
Dr. Stephen Covey used the phrase “Circle of Influence” to denote the things we have some power over. These are the concerns in our lives that we can do something about.
Although this is one of the valuable teachings in the first habit, this takeaway deserves a more in-depth discussion. In this case, the things, people, and situations around us that we have some control over are those that are in our Circle of Influence.
Therefore, effective individuals choose to focus their time and energy on their Circle of Influence because these can positively impact their current or future situations.
With that said, here’s how you can harness your own Circle of Influence:
- Choose Your Words Wisely
- Stay Reliable and Consistent
- Think Outside the Box
- Practice Empathy
- Accept Responsibility
- Have a Purpose
- Stay Focused
Overall, we can influence circumstances around us when we show trust, sincerity, and respect towards others and to ourselves.
10. Wise Time Management
The four generations of time management is another valuable lesson from the book. It provides wise insights into how our mind works and what we can do to maximize our productivity.
The four generations of time management expound on the principle-centered viewpoint of successful time management. Each generation in the matrix has its place in our lives.
Still, successful people integrate the fourth-generation approach into their lives. With that said, the four generations of time management are:
First Generation time management is an approach where you take things as they come. People who use first-generation time management feel a sense of control by writing to-do notes and checklists.
Second Generation time management involves people using calendars and planners to plan and prepare for their activities and manage how they spend their time.
Third Generation time management combines the scheduling and planning technique of the second generation while prioritizing tasks according to their level of importance.
Fourth Generation time management is different and ideal because instead of time management, it focuses on self-management. In this case, rather than focusing on time and things, the fourth generation focuses on enhancing and preserving relationships while accomplishing results.
In the book, Dr. Covey provided a well-founded method to manage our lives, emphasizing that we must learn to live by the compass and timeline of principles rather than focusing on the clock. He also underscored the need to focus on the essential things and not just the urgent ones.
Final Thoughts
The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Dr. Stephen Covey is undeniably a masterpiece. After all, it has inspired millions of people to work on positive personal changes and live more fulfilling lives.
Related: The Top 10 Key Takeaways from the Book: Rich Dad Poor Dad
