The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People

Description

Anyone who thinks the audiocassette adaptation of Stephen Covey's bestseller, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, is a shortcut to reading the book has another thing coming. As a preview, the cassette is worth every one of its 90 minutes; as a substitute for the original, it will only leave you wishing for the rest. There's a reason 7 Habits has sold more than 5 million copies and been translated into 32 languages. Serious work has obviously gone into it, and serious change can likely come out of it--but only with constant discipline and steadfast commitment. As the densely packed tape makes immediately clear, this is no quick fix for what's ailing us in our personal and professional lives.
The tape opens to the silky-smooth, overtrained voice of the female narrator, who's responsible for tying together audio clips from actual Covey seminars. Leaving aside the occasional attempts at promoting Covey and his institute, her script does a first-rate job of making sense of Covey's own intense, analogy-rich style of explaining his habits. There's nothing simple about his approach to becoming an effective person. The first three habits alone--which have to do with personal responsibility, leadership, and self-management--could take years to master. Yet the last four are unattainable, the narrator insists, if you can't acquire the personal security--the "inner core," says Covey--that presumably comes from a mastery of the foundation.

Throughout our lessons, Covey's presence is both learned and thoroughly appealing. He drops references to the likes of Socrates, T.S. Eliot, and Robert Frost with the aplomb of an English professor. And his knack for mixing everyday stories with abstract concepts manages to clarify difficult issues while respecting our intelligence. You could argue that the cassette is nothing more than a clever marketing tool for selling another few million copies of the book. But, even at that, it's worth the investment in time and concentration: in the

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Shared by: K. Phillip

Tags

Stephen R. Covey, 7 Habits, First Things First, Seven Habits, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, Personal Change, Seven Habits, self-development, personal development, change, life, goals, habits, effective, objective

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posted:: 9/20/2009
language:: English
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The habits of highly effective people Habits have a tremendous gravity pull Lift off takes a lot of effort, but once we break out of the gravity pull, our freedom takes on a whole new dimension Ready for take off ? Habit 1: Be proactive “You are respons-able: able to choose your respons!” Circle of Concern We have a wide range of concerns, but not all of them fall into our circle of influence Circle of influence “Proactive people focus their efforts in their circle of influence, causing the circle of influence to increase Reactive people focus their effort in the circle of concern. The negative energy generated by that focus causes the circle of influence to shrink” “Anytime we think the problem is out there, that thought is the problem” You can choose your language Reactive: Proactive: I prefer I will I choose I can be I must If only They made me If I had Habit 2: Begin with the end in mind The key to the ability to change is a changeless sense of who you are, what you are about and what you value Is the script you are living in harmony with your values? Habit 3: Put first things first The key to time management is not to prioritize what’s on your schedule but to schedule your priorities It’s almost impossible to say NO to the popularity of urgent, non important matters, if you don’t have a bigger YES burning inside “Things which matter most should never be at the mercy of things which matter least” Goethe Habit 4: Think Win/win “You can only achieve win/win solutions with win/win processes” It’s not your way or my way, it’s a better way Habit 5: Seek first to understand, then to be understood “We have such a tendency to fix things up with good advice, but often we fail to take the time to diagnose, to really deeply understand another human being first” Reading your own autobiography into other people’s lives is nót (even close to) listening Habit 6: Synergize “The whole is greater than the sum of its parts” “When we are left to our own experiences, we constantly suffer from a shortage of data” “The person who is truly effective has the humility to recognize his own perceptual limitations and to appreciate the rich resources available through interaction with the hearts and minds of other human beings” In order to have influence, you have to open yourself up to bé influenced Habit 7: Sharpen the Saw Read, write, relax, exercise, play, love, get involved, meditate … “Sometimes when I consider what tremendous consequences come from little things … I am tempted to think … there are no little things” Bruce Barton The end Source This is the visual essence of the book “The 7 habits of highly effective people” by Stephen R. Covey as seen by Marina Noordegraaf Acknowledgement for al the cool photos • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • http://www.flickr.com/photos/justintosh/167987957/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/clownfish/27442653/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/magikid/183010642/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/dizzygirl/437995541/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/r0b1/1571054719/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/kevinomara/1624697177/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/mirabw/64672279/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/l_o/2423525315/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/imjustincognito/42567149/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/747400/2170702904/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/seraphimc/84794601/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/welshbaloney/539356051/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/chimpola/241374508/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/doglotion/2103941337/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/affers/2157811915/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/moonpiesformisfits/1703490038/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/badboy69/2333409688/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/sandidge/2185781895/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/victoriapeckham/254910627/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/metrojp/92038203/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/ocs_camp/2171492103/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/polytropos/335749370/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/pinkbeltrage/99643265/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/hinkelstone/2435823037/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/gadl/465833235/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/mureena/433564074/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/14270634@N02/2505535221/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/sewpixie/1499979319/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/8531344@N06/530325148/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/hirsch/21452691/