Book: The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People
Author: Stephen R. Covey
Publication: Simon & Schuster
Price: Rs. 250
Pages: 371
Plot: This book written by Stephen R. Covey is a self-help book. As the title says, the book talks about 7 habits of highly effective people. These 7 habits are divided into two parts. Habit 1, 2 and 3 form the 1st part. This part is about the private victory, when we implement these 3 habits in our daily life we move towards the private victory. The victory over our own thoughts, emotions and procrastination. And when we win over these, we become independent.
The 2nd part includes Habit 4, 5 and 6. When we master these three habits we move towards public victory. These 3 habits are about how we can have build effective relationship with our families and in our workplace. When we achieve this victory we become interdependent. And that is the goal of these 7 habits.
Habit 7 moves around these 6 habits, it is sharpening the saw, which means taking care of yourself so that we can be effective in performing these 6 habits. Though I have a post for each habit in detail, I will talk about these habits in brief here.
Habit 1 says ‘Be Proactive.’ A proactive person is the one who takes control of his/her life. Whatever the problem he faces, he takes the responsibility of these and takes steps to change the situation for better. A proactive person does not rely on destiny or some other people. They know the circle of their concern and work on them instead of complaining and cribbing about other things. They do what they can do and make their situation better.
Habit 2 says ‘Begin with the end in mind.’ This means that an effective person knows what exactly he wants from life. He has his personal mission statement and knows what his goals in different areas of life are. In his mind the end, his future is clear.
Habit 3 says ‘Put first things first.’ This means that an effective person’s actions match with the goals of his life. He knows that in order to reach the end which he has created in Habit 2, he has to take some actions. And for him, these actions are to be taken first. He won’t delay these actions, he will be proactive and make a life which he wants to have.
Habit 4 says, ‘Think Win-Win.’ Think win-win is a paradigm which seeks mutual benefit in all interactions. According to this paradigm, my win is not at the cost of your lost, it is based on the belief that there is plenty for everyone. Habit 4 talks about how you can practice this paradigm in your business, workplace and in your personal relationships.
Habit 5 says ‘Seek first to understand, then to be understood.’ According to the author, if you want your point of view to be understood, you have to listen first instead of talking. In this habit, the author talks about how empathic listening can help you in understanding others, and then make yourself understood better. This habit is all about improving your relationships with others.
Habit 6 says ‘Synergize.’ Synergize basically means that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. This means that when we cooperate with others and look for a solution together we find better and more creative ways to solve the problem.
Habit 7, which is the last habit says ‘Sharpen the saw.’ According to this habit while working on all these 6 habits you have to work on four dimensions of your body too. These 4 dimensions are- physical, spiritual, mental, and social/emotional dimensions. It is important to take care of yourself and your body so that you can work effectively, and this is what this habit talks about.
You can read about these habits in details in my earlier posts which I have linked above.
Throughout the book, the author is not only talking about what these habits are but is also telling you practical steps you can take to incorporate these habits in your daily life. At the end of every chapter, there are ‘Application Suggestions’, in these suggestions the author is presenting a few steps which can help you in incorporating these habits.
Moreover, this book is not only about your personal problems and solving them, but also about how you can become a good leader, a good businessman or a better employee at your workplace.
Overall, I would say that this book a complete self-help book.
My Views: I have read a few self-help books, some of them are a little boring, some of them repetitive, some of them way too theoretical. But this book is one of the best self-help books I have ever read. In fact, after this, I read a few more, and I found that this book is covering everything which you can ask for. Be it your personal problem or problems in your work area, or you want to become a good leader, this book has it all.
The ‘Application suggestions’ at the end of the book shows that the author has made all the efforts to make this book practical. Throughout the book, he has talked about what is the importance of each habit, and how you can incorporate these. But these suggestions are additional icing on the cake. It gives you a guide as a beginner to start with these habits. When I was reading this book, I made sure to follow these suggestions, and believe me it has worked wonders. I won’t say I have become perfect at all these habits, but I will definitely say that this book showed me the path and I am doing my best to walk on it.
It’s been a year since I have read this book, and whenever I pick it up I find something new to learn from it.
Recommendations: If you are into self-help books, I would say definitely go for this book. You will love this book.
Ratings: 5/5
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