7 Habits Paper

The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People is a self help book that was written by Steven Covey and originally published in 1989. The 15th anniversary addition of the book was released in 2004. The book takes us on a journey through the stages of dependency, independency, and interdependency by way of the following seven habits; 1) Being Proactive, 2) Beginning with the End in Mind, 3) Putting First Things First, 4) Thinking Win/Win 5) Seeking First to Understand, Then to be Understood, 6) Synergizing, and 7) Sharpening the Saw. Covey did not invent the seven habits that he discusses in his book rather emphatically believes that if they are followed they will lead to personal success. The first part of the book is Paradigms and Principles. This is where Covey lays the foundation for the creation of the habits. The second part of the book is Private Victory. Private Victory encompasses the first three of Covey’s seven habits, being proactive, beginning with the end in mind and putting first things first. These three habits, once mastered, help one to move from a state of dependency, or relying on others for care, to a state of independency, or making our own decisions and taking care of ourselves. The third part of the book is Public Victory. Public Victory discusses the next three habits of thinking win/win, seeking to understand before being understood and synergizing to help us move from a state of independency to a state of interdependency, or cooperating with others to achieve something that cannot be achieved independently. The final section of the book focuses on renewal or “sharpening the saw.” This section discusses the process of self improvement and taking time out from production to work on production capacity.

The Private Victory section of the book focused on the first three habits and focused on helping one move from being dependent to being independent. The first habit is being proactive. I remember a long time ago being given the suggestion to deal with problems proactively rather than reactively and I pride myself on the fact that I do try be proactive. When a problem arises at work or in my personal life I firmly believe that it is a true waste of time to complain and try to place blame. I would prefer to deal with the problem at hand swiftly by strategizing how to overcome the problem before strategizing on how to prevent the problem from occurring again. This is about the extent to which I have thought about being proactive rather than reactive but there are several other things to consider about being proactive. Covey discusses how proactive people take responsibility for everything in life. They have an internal locus of control and believe they make their own breaks. He discusses how Viktor Frankl, a holocaust survivor, developed this theory while in a Nazi camp. Frankl realized that while everyone else with him in the camp resigned themselves to the fact that they were totally helpless, he could control the time between stimulus and response and that no one could take that from him. This gave him the power not to be affected by his circumstances. The other point that I took away from Covey in this section of the book is how reactive people allow their environment to control them. For example, I have always been one to say “The weather is miserable today and I am having a difficult time getting motivated.” Covey helped me realize that this is a form or being reactive rather than proactive. He says that a truly proactive person carries their own weather with them at all times. This point was definitely thought provoking for me. I read this passage at a time when the sun hadn’t been out in weeks and everyday in the upcoming forecast was to be gray and dismal. I truly did begin looking at things differently and trying not to let external factors in my environment control my attitude and behavior. The second habit in this part of the book is to begin with the end in mind. This section discusses how all things are created twice. First something is created mentally and then it is created physically. The mental stage is the “blueprint” for one to follow during the physical stage. This translates into the need for creating a personal mission statement and setting goals, both short term and long term. Covey states that many people fail to begin with the end in mind because they don’t bother to define the “end”. He goes on to state that one must have a personal vision, or a long term goal that they are working towards to truly understand what their “end” is. I consider myself a “planner” and I have both long term and short term goals written down that I refer to quite often to ensure that I am on track to reach them. The last habit in the Private Victory section is putting first things first. This habit focuses on time management and prioritization. Covey introduces a matrix