The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People

I have heard about the book by Stephen R. Covey “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People” pretty much my whole life but I have never read it. For class this week, I read a summary of it highlighting the 7 habits. The habits are  

1. Be Proactive – self starter

2. Begin with the end in mind – goals

3. First things first – stepping stones

4. Think Win/Win – everyone benefits

5. Seek to understand, then to be understood (what is winning to them)

6. Synergy – teamwork

7. Sharpen the saw – regroup

All these things equal trust. Trust in yourself and in others. As I was reading this, I realized that I was agreeing with all these points and realized that I have tried to implement all these habits in my life already. I have always tried to think win/win. I hate the feeling of doing something that makes someone else feel bad or that their ideas weren’t valued. I love the sense of teamwork and collaborating all our ideas to come up with something that everyone is happy with. On my mission I tried to always understand people, because once I understood them, I could better teach to their needs.

Something that I noticed while I was reading this was the quote “Reactive people are swept away by the heat of the moment. Proactive people are driven by values that are both well thought out and internalized.” I see a lot of reactive people on social media getting carried away in the heat of the moment. Everyone tends to be a wordsmith to defend themselves, but I rarely see anyone apologizing or being genuinely interested in what others have to say even if they don’t agree. I rarely engage in social media banter because it usually winds up being supercharged with reactive comments. I like the quote from the book, “It is not what happens that is important. It is our responses to whatever happens that makes all the difference.” In the Book of Mormon, when Christ comes to visit, His message is basically “Whatever you do, don’t fight or argue. If someone offends you, just smile and nod. And if they keep doing it, just keep smiling and nodding. Just. Don’t. Fight.” The message from the Apostles and Prophet is basically the same, root out contention and don’t engage in harmful conversations on social media.

So I appreciate reading this summary of the book because it helped pinpoint what I have been feeling and doing pretty much my whole life, and I know now that I am on the right path.