The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People

The seven habits

The book is structured around seven habits. Covey intends the first three as a means of achieving independence, the next three as a means of achieving interdependence, and the final habit as a means to maintain the others.

Be proactive

Proactivity is about taking responsibility for how one reacts to life experiences, taking the initiative to respond positively and improve the situation. Covey postulates, in a discussion of the work of psychiatrist Viktor Frankl, that between stimulus and response lies a person's ability to choose how to react, and that nothing can hurt a person without their consent. He goes on to introduce the concepts of the Circle of Influence and the Circle of Concern, advising individuals to focus their responses on the center of their own influence.

Begin with the end in mind

Covey discusses envisioning what one wants in the future (a personal mission statement) so one can plan and work toward it, and understanding how people make important life decisions. "To be effective, one needs to act based on principles and constantly review one's mission statements," says Covey. He asks: Are you – right now – who you want to be? What do you have to say about yourself? How do you want to be remembered? If habit 1 advises changing one's life to act and be proactive, habit 2 advises that "you are the programmer." "Grow and stay humble," Covey says.

Covey says that all things are created twice: Before one acts, one should act in one's mind first. Before creating something, measure twice. Do not just act; think first: Is this how I want it to go, and are these the correct consequences?

Put first things first

Covey distinguishes between what is important and what is urgent. Priority should be given in the following order:

• Quadrant I. Urgent and important (Do) – important deadlines and crises
• Quadrant II. Not urgent but important (Plan) – long-term development
• Quadrant III. Urgent but not important (Delegate) – distractions with deadlines
• Quadrant IV. Not urgent and not important (Eliminate) – frivolous distractions

"The order is important," says Covey: after completing items in quadrant I, people should spend the majority of their time on quadrant II, but many people spend too much time in quadrants III and IV. The calls to delegate and eliminate are reminders of their relative priority.

If habit 1 advises that "you are the programmer" and habit 2 advises to "write the program, become a leader," and habit 3 ”follow the program.” "Keep personal integrity by minimizing the difference between what you say versus what you do," says Covey.

Think win–win

"Seek mutually beneficial win–win solutions or agreements in your relationships", says Covey. Valuing and respecting people by seeking a "win" for all is ultimately a better long-term resolution than if only one person in the situation gets their way. "Thinking win–win isn't about being nice, nor is it a quick-fix technique; it is a character-based code for human interaction and collaboration", says Covey.

Seek first to understand, then to be understood

Use empathetic listening to genuinely understand a person, which compels them to reciprocate the listening and take an open mind to be influenced. This creates an atmosphere of caring and positive problem-solving.

Habit 5 is expressed in the ancient Greek philosophy of three modes of persuasion:

1. Ethos is one's personal credibility. It's the trust that one inspires, one's "emotional bank account".
2. Pathos is the empathetic side, the alignment with the emotional trust of another person's communication.
3. Logos is the logic, the reasoning part of the presentation.

"The order of the concepts indicates their relative importance", says Covey.

Synergize

"Combine the strengths of people through positive teamwork, so as to achieve goals that no one could have done alone", Covey exhorts.

Sharpen the saw

Covey says that one should balance and renew one's resources, energy, and health to create a sustainable, long-term, effective lifestyle. He primarily emphasizes exercise for physical renewal, good prayer, and good reading for mental renewal. He also mentions service to society for spiritual renewal.

Covey explains the "upward spiral" model. Through conscience, along with meaningful and consistent progress, an upward spiral will result in growth, change, and constant improvement. In essence, one is always attempting to integrate and master the principles outlined in The 7 Habits at progressively higher levels at each iteration. Subsequent development on any habit will render a different experience and one will learn the principles with a deeper understanding. The upward spiral model consists of three parts: learn, commit, do. According to Covey, one must continue consistently educating the conscience with increasing levels in order to grow and develop on the upward spiral. "The idea of renewal by education will propel one along the path of personal freedom, security, wisdom, and power", says Covey.