Hi Guys!
The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People begins with the astute observation that people perceive the world differently, and because we view the world with our own unique ’’lens, ’’ it is difficult to separate the observation from the observer.
The author says that we all have our own paradigm, which is our own map of how we perceive the world and how we think the world should be in our ideal view. He writes, ’’The way we see things is the source of the way we think and the way we act.’’
These paradigms are the source of our attitudes and behaviors. We cannot act with integrity outside of them. We simply cannot maintain wholeness if we talk and walk differently than we see. ... To try to change outward attitudes and behaviors does very little good in the long run if we fail to examine the basic paradigms from which those attitudes and behaviors flow.
So, part of achieving insight involves making a ’’paradigm shift’’ which causes us to perceive things differently. He notes that life threatening experiences or a major role change in a person’s life can change a person’s paradigm. Sometimes, just a little more knowledge might help us examine our paradigms.
Although many people want to be effective in their lives and achieve certain goals or dreams, they are unwilling to honestly examine their own paradigms. They are unwilling to look at the way they look at things.
Among his many examples, the author tells the story of a manager who has taken management training classes and seminars and who is friendly to his employees. Yet, he doesn’t feel that his employees have any loyalty toward him. He feels they lack independence and responsibility. If he took a day off, he believes his employees would goof off and stand around the water cooler talking all day.
Covey suggests the manager ask himself, ’’But is it possible that under that apparent disloyal behavior, these employees question whether I really act in their best interest? Do they feel like I’m treating them as mechanical objects? ...’’
Our paradigms will affect how we interact with others, which in turn will affect how they interact with us. Any effective self-help program must begin with an ’’inside-out’’ approach, rather than looking at our problems as ’’being out there’’ (an inside-out approach). We must start by examining our own character, paradigms, and motives.
The book says that the inside-out approach says, ’’If you want to have a happy marriage, be the kind of person who generates positive energy and sidesteps negative energy rather than empowering it. If you want to have a more pleasant, cooperative teenager, be a more understanding, empathic, consistent, loving parent. If you want to have more freedom, more latitude in your job, be a more responsible, a more helpful, a more contributing employee. If you want to be trusted, be trustworthy. If you want the secondary greatness of recognized talent, focus first on primary greatness of character.’’
Hence, character and principles are keys to success, effectiveness, and happiness in life.
After discussing the importance of character, The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People jumps into the habits you should work toward creating as a part of your life. The first three habits, are habits of independence and others on interdependence. I want you all to read those for yourself they are really simple and true and a must read.
The book has solid advice for improving your life. Some people might feel the lessons and suggestions are obvious. That may be true, but the book is highly readable, and from time-to-time, we might all need to be reminded of the obvious. Often, success and happiness hinges upon the obvious. But we need to constantly motivate ourselves to stick to obvious which is not that easy. That?s where these books help us to make our lives simpler.