The seven habits of extremely efficient folks

As a result of I have been driving forwards and backwards from Corvallis to Portland a lot recently to take care of my mom and cousin, I’ve had ample to time to hearken to audiobooks. I discover that I am truly grateful for the chance to “learn” on this trend. (Like many of us, the previous decade has destroyed my consideration span and skill to learn for lengthy intervals.)

I am at present studying Stephen R. Covey’s basic The Seven Habits of Extremely Efficient Folks. (5 stars on Amazon in 5672 critiques!) I learn the guide as soon as lengthy, way back — someday in the course of the mid-Nineties. I’ve referred to it every now and then because the years have passed by, however principally I’ve forgotten its classes.

Or so I assumed.

In actuality, it seems that a lot of my private philosophy is just like the precepts Covey covers. It is surprising, the truth is, simply how a lot of my private and monetary philosophies align with these introduced in Seven Habits. I have not consciously or intentionally emulated his teachings, however I’ve wound up in the identical place nonetheless.

For these unfamiliar, The Seven Habits of Extremely Efficient Folks are as follows:

1. Be proactive. Take accountability to your personal life. Take the initiative and do not merely settle for what you are given. (Listed below are my ideas on changing into proactive.)
2. Start with the tip in thoughts. Have a plan to your life. Know the place you wish to go — and why. Like me, Covey is a proponent of writing a private mission assertion.
3. Put first issues first. Type out your priorities (which is way simpler to do when you have got an finish in thoughts). Focus your consideration on the issues which might be pressing and essential. Covey’s “huge rocks” metaphor comes from this part.
4. Assume win-win. When potential, search mutually helpful options to issues. Do not be adversarial. Assist others obtain their goals as you obtain yours.
5. Search first to undertand, then to be understood. Do not be in a rush to be proper. Take heed to what others are saying. (Really hear.) Follow empathy. I really feel like this can be a seldom-practiced talent in trendy society, which is why I urge folks to follow monetary empathy.
6. Synergize. Discover methods to work with others in an effort to obtain mutual goals and attain issues that you just could not do alone.
7. Sharpen the noticed. Find time for private renewal. Hold your way of life balanced. Pursue self-improvement.

It is also price noting that apparently Covey is accountable for coining the phrases “abundance mindset” and “shortage mindset”. (That is what Wikipedia says, anyhow. I might must do additional analysis earlier than I truly accepted this as a reality.) I too consider strongly that every of us ought to foster an abundance mindset, when potential.

Whereas there’s a lot that is the identical between my philosophy and Covey’s, issues aren’t fully an identical.

Covey talks about dependence and independence, as I do, however he takes issues to a different degree by discussing interdependence. I like this. Independence, Covey says, is superior to dependence. It is higher to be self-reliant than to rely on others to satisfy your wants. However, he says, it is even higher to work collectively to attain widespread goals. The entire is larger than the sum of its elements.

I agree with him, however I have not (but) integrated this perception as a part of my life philosophy. Maybe I’ll within the close to future.

Covey goes down some rabbit holes that I do not discover notably essential. (I simply listened to a half-hour section on the values that make up our private “facilities”. Meh.) Plus, he frequently praises human beings as totally different in “sort” from different animals versus totally different “in diploma”. I disagree with him 100%. (I consider that people are simply one other animal, and there is nothing notably exceptional about us apart from we’re at present the dominant species on the planet.)

Small quibbles apart, I am discovering The Seven Habits of Extremely Efficient Folks to be a exceptional guide exactly as a result of its philosophy is so aligned with my very own. After I learn it at age 25, I dismissed it as self-help pap. I used to be incorrect. Or, extra exactly, I wasn’t able to understand its knowledge.

I am undecided how my philosophy ended up so intently aligned with Covey’s. It’s totally potential that studying this guide 25+ years in the past planted seeds in my unconscious which have grown over time and now have produced fruit that resemble his. Nevertheless it’s additionally potential that my beliefs are merely a by-produce of age and expertise, that many individuals attain these identical conclusions in time.

Anyhow, I am keen to complete my work at present on the household field manufacturing unit. As soon as I run payroll and meet with our accountant, I am going to drive again to Corvallis. And after I do, I am going to hear to a different 90 minutes of Seven Habits. I can not wait!