Articlepedia: 7 Habits of Highly Effective People

Thank to Stephen R. Covey, who wrote one of the bestselling book on success and motivation “The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People: Restoring the Character Ethic”, which revealed the secrets of success of big business tycoons first time for the general public. It brought a revolution in thinking of the general masses that being successful and in the list of worlds richest is not a rocket science. All the richest and successful people have something in common in terms of their habits and rituals at work. It was being concluded in that book that success is the sum of some regularly practiced habits, and nothing more. And today, I’m going to discuss those habits of highly effective people to start our own journey towards that destination.

1. Be Proactive

We are living free life and have the will power to choose what we want to do or not. We have the power of controlling a situation by causing something to happen rather than waiting to respond to it after it happens. Productivity, then, means that we are solely in charge for what happens in our lives.  So stop blaming anyone or anything else. Therefore we must decide what is meant to be valuable, productive and gets the sense for us.

2. Begin With The End In Mind

Whatever you’ve intended to do in life, start by imagining end of the show in your mind that, what you will accomplish at the end and then take your flight to start. It will give your mind an image of the final picture that you want to draw along with understanding of the consequences. Use this frame of reference to make all your day-to-day decisions so that you are running toward your most meaningful life goals.

3. Put First Things First

Being successful is all about managing your time, money and resources wisely. To be successful we must manage our lives effectively, by keeping the mission statement in mind, understanding what’s important as well as urgent, and what is neither important nor urgent.

4. Think Win/Win

In all areas of life, everyone wants to be benefited at any cost without caring the others, but it doesn’t prove to be a lifelong policy to succeed. We must in our agreements and conversations approach the ways that are mutually beneficial for all the parties by keeping in view the needs of every group. For that purpose we all must cooperate to find all the alternatives that can be found to be mutually beneficial.

5. Seek First To Understand, Then To Be Understood

Listening is an art not a complex science. But most people don’t listen while having that sense. People just listens the speaker and start acting, devising solution or giving feedback even though without understanding what has been said. You’ll be more effective in you relationships with people if you sincerely try to understand them fully before you try to make them understand your point of view. For this purpose prepare to listen, focus, screen out distractions, concentrate on the message and ask questions to clarify before you dive into the conversation to present your point of view.

6. Synergize

Synergizing is the working together of two or more things to produce an effect greater than the sum of their individual effects. The whole is greater than the sum of its parts.  In practice, this means you must use “creative cooperation” in social interactions.  We must value differences, because it is often the clash between them that leads to creative solutions and it is quite useful.

7. Sharpen The Saw

This is the habit of self-renewal, which has four elements.  The first is mental, which includes reading, visualizing, planning and writing.  The second is spiritual, which means value clarification and commitment, study and meditation.  Third is social/emotional, which stress management includes service, empathy, synergy and intrinsic security.  Finally, the physical includes exercise, nutrition and stress management.

Hope you enjoyed reading!