“The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People”, written by Stephen R. Covey, embodies many of the fundamental principles of human effectiveness. These habits represent the internalization of correct principles upon which enduring happiness and success are based. Here are the 7 habits Covey has identified in his book.

Habit 1 – Be Proactive

Highly proactive people recognize responsibility. They do not blame circumstances, conditions, or conditioning for their behavior. Their behavior is a product of their own conscious choice, based on values, rather than a product of their conditions, based on feeling.

Proactive people can carry their own weather with them. Whether it rains or shines makes no difference to them. They are the value driven; and their value is to produce good quality work, it isn’t a function of whether the weather is conductive to it or not. Proactive people work on the things they can do something about. The nature of their energy is positive, enlarging and magnifying, causing their circle of influence to increase.

Habit 2 – Begin with the End in Mind

This means to start with a clear understanding of our destination. We must know where we’re going so that we can better understand where we are now and the next steps we take will be in the right direction.

The most effective way to begin with the end in mind is to develop a personal mission statement or philosophy or creed. It focuses on what we want to be (character) and to do (contributions and achievements) and on the values or principles upon which being and doing are based. The important application is to identify roles and long-term goals as these will provide the foundation for effective goals setting and achieving when we manage our life and time.

Habit 3 – Put First Things First

This is the physical creation. It’s the fulfillment, the actualization and the natural emergence of habits 1 and 2. It’s the exercise of independent will toward becoming principle-centered. It’s the day-in, day-out, moment-by-moment doing it. We cannot become principle-centered without first being aware of and understanding how to shift them and alight them with principles. We cannot become principle-centered without a vision of and a focus on the unique contribution that is ours to make.

Habit 4 – Think Win/Win

Win/Win is not a technique; it’s a total philosophy of human interaction. It is one of six paradigms of interaction; the other five paradigms are Win/Lose, Lose/Win, Lose/Lose, Win, and Win/Win or No Deal.

Win/Win is a frame of mind and heart that constantly seeks mutual benefit in all human interactions. It means that agreements or solutions are mutually beneficial and mutually satisfying. With a Win/Win solution, all parties feel good about the decision and feel committed to the action plan. Win/Win sees life as a co-operative, not a competitive arena. Most people tend to think in terms of dichotomies; strong or weak, hardball or softball, win or lose. But that kind of thinking is fundamentally flawed. It’s based on power and position rather than on principle. Win/Win is based on the paradigm that there is plenty for everybody, that one person’s success is not achieved at the expense or exclusion of the success of others.

Habit 5 – Seek First to Understand, Then to be Understood

We have a tendency to rush in to fix things up with good advice. But we often fail to take the time to diagnose, to really understand the problem first. Most people do not listen with the intent to understand; they listen with the intent to reply. They’re filtering everything through their own paradigms, reading their autobiography into other people’s lives.

Habit 6 – Synergize

Synergy is the highest activity in all life. The highest form of synergy focuses on the four unique human endowments, the motive of Win/Win, and the skills of empathic communication on the toughest challenges we face in life. What results, is almost miraculous. We create new alternatives – something that wasn’t there before.

Synergy is defined as the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. It means that the relationship that the parts have to each other is a part in and of itself. It is not only a part, but the most catalytic, the most empowering, the most unifying, and the most exciting part.

Valuing the differences is the essence of synergy – the mental, the emotional, the psychological differences between people. And the key to valuing those differences is to realize that all people see the world, not as it is, but as they are.

Habit 7 – Sharpen the Saw

This is about renewing the four dimensions of our nature – physical, spiritual, mental, and social/emotional. “Sharpen the saw” basically means expressing all four motivations and exercising all four dimensions of our nature, regularly and consistently in wise and balanced ways.

The physical dimension involves caring effectively for our physical body – eating right kinds of foods, getting sufficient rest and relaxation, and exercising on a regular basis. The essence of renewing the physical dimension is to exercise our bodies on a regular basis in a way that will preserve and enhance our capacity to work and adapt and enjoy.

The spiritual dimension is our core, center and commitment to our value system. It’s a very private area in life and a supremely important one. It draws upon the sources that inspire and uplift us and tie us to the timeless truths of all humanity.

Most of our mental development and study discipline comes through formal education. Education continually honing and expanding the mind – is vital mental renewal. Sometimes it involves the external discipline of the classroom or systematized study programs.

The social and emotional dimensions of our lives are tied together because our emotional life is primarily, but not exclusively, developed out of and manifested in our relationships with others.

Source: “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People” by Stephen R. Covey. Published by Pocket Books, UK.