The book entitled The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen R.

Covey is a self-
improvement book, written based on the authors belief that way we see the world is only based
on our own perception. The author believes that we have to change our perception by changing
ourselves.
There are 7 habits of highly effective people. Habits 1, 2, and 3 are focused on self-
mastery and moving from dependence to independence. Habits 4, 5, and 6 are focused on
developing teamwork, collaboration, and communication skills, and moving from independence
to interdependence. While habit 7 is focused on continuous growth and improvement, and
embodies all the other habits.

1. Be Proactive

The first habit that was discussed was being Proactive. The inherent ability of humans to
examine their own characters, to decide how to view themselves and their situations, and to
control their own effectiveness are what separates them from all other animals. These means that
humans can decide whether to be reactive or proactive. In order to be effective one must be
proactive and not reactive. Reactive people takes a passive stance and believe that the world is
happening to them. They think that the problem is out there. Proactive people, however,
recognize that they have responsibility or response-ability. Which means that they have the
ability to choose how they respond to a given situation. We must focus on the circle of influence
that lies within our circle of concern. This means that we must work on things that we can do in
order to be proactive. In order to challenge yourself and test the principle of proactivity you must
start replacing reactive language and convert reactive task to proactive ones.

2. Begin with the End in Mind

Habit 2 suggest that we should begin with the end in our mind or think about the
destination or outcome in everything we do. Doing these ensures that every steps that we take are
the right ones. Before we can start setting and achieving our goals we must first identify our
values which may involve rescripting in order to be able to assert what values we require
personally. It is also important to identify the center of our lives, which will be the source of our
security, guidance, wisdom and power. The center of our life affects us fundamentally. They
determine our daily decisions, actions and motivations. However these centers are optimal, we
should instead strive to be principle-centered. In order to challenge yourself to test the principle
of beginning with the end in mind you must visualize in rich detail your own funeral, break down
different roles in your life, and define what scares you.

3. Put First Things First

We must put first things first in order to manage ourselves effectively. We must be
discipline enough to prioritize our daily actions. Habit 3 is about going after the goals we set in
habit 2 and executing our priorities on a moment-moment basis. We need to act according to our
values rather than our desires or impulses at any given moment, in order to stay disciplined and
focus so that we can stay on track towards our goal. We need to have will power to do what we
don’t want to do in order to achieve our goals. All activities can be categorized based on urgency
and importance. These factors are describe in four quadrants. Quadrant I, means it is important
and urgent, also called quadrant of necessity. Quadrant II means it is not urgent but important,
also called quadrant of quality and personal leadership. Quadrant III means urgent but not
important, also called quadrant of deception. Quadrant IV means not urgent and not important,
also called quadrant of waste. We should manage Quadrant I, focus on Quadrant II and avoid
Quadrant III and IV. In order to practice putting first thing first we must, identify a Quadrant II
activity we've been neglecting,  create our own time management matrix, and estimate how much
time we spend in each quadrant.

4. Think Win-Win

By committing in creating a Win-Win situation that is mutually beneficial and satisfying

to all parties involve we can establish an effective interdependent relationship. There are 6
paradigms of human interactions. 1. Win-Win where both people win. Agreements or solutions
are mutually beneficial and satisfying to both parties. 2. Win-Lose which means that "If I win,
you lose." win-lose people are prone to use position, power, credentials, and personality to get
their way.  3. Lose-Win which means that "I lose, you win." lose-win people are quick to please
and appease, and seek strength from popularity or acceptance. 4. Lose-Lose where both people
lose, this happen when two win-lose people interacts. 5. Win, people with the win mentality
don't necessarily want someone else to lose. What matters is that they get what they want. 6.
Win-Win or No Deal which means that, if you can't reach an agreement that is mutually
beneficial, there is no deal. Creating a Win-Win situation is the best option of all parties involve.
While the Win-Win or No deal option is important to have as back-up. We must consider
courage, consideration and abundance mentality as primary factors tin solving Win-Win
situations. We must keep the focus on the result and not on the method, problem or people if we
want to achieve Win-Win situation. In order to start thinking about Win-Win we must, think
about an upcoming interaction, identify three important relationships in our life and deeply
consider our own interaction tendencies.

5. Seek First to Understand, Then to Be Understood

We must first seek to deeply understand others perspective through emphatic listening.
By doing so we can offer an effective advice, suggest solutions, and interact in any way. Habit 5
says that we must seek first to understand, then to be understood. In order to seek to understand,
we must learn to listen. Listening emphatically requires a fundamental paradigm shift. This is
because most often us listen to reply and not to understand. We tend to respond in one of four
ways, we either, evaluate, probe, advice, or interpret. Evaluating means agreeing or disagreeing
to what is said. Probing means asking questions from our own frame of reference. Advising
means to give counsel based on our own experience. Interpreting means trying to figure out the
person’s motives and behaviour base on our own. If we replace these responses with emphatic
listening we can dramatically improve our communication. The second part of habit 5 is to be
understood. Being understood means that we are able to present our ideas clearly which
significantly increases the credibility of our ideas. This is equally as critical as achieving Win-
Win solution. In order to get yourself in the habit of seeking you need to understand and do these
things. Next time you're watching two people communicating, cover your ears and watch, and
give a presentation rooted in empathy.
6. Synergize

In order to create synergy we must understand and value the differences in other person’s
perspective. This allows us to uncover new possibilities through openness and creativity.
Synergy allows us to create new alternatives and open new possibilities. It allows us as a group
to collectively agree to discard the old scripts and write new ones. Staring with habit 4 and habit
5, by thinking Win-Win and seeking first to understand, we can introduce synergy to a given
situation. The real essence of synergy is valuing the differences in mental, emotional, and
psychological aspect between people. Synergy enables us to value the differences in other people
as a way to expand our perspective, sidestep negative energy and look for the good in others,
exercise courage in interdependent situations to be open and encourage others to be open, and
catalyze creativity and find a solution that will be better for everyone by looking for a third
alternative. In order to improve synergy you must make a list of people who irritate you and
make a list of people with whom you get along well.

7. Sharpen the Saw

Habit 7 is focused around renewal, or taking time to "sharpen the saw." It surrounds other
habits and make each one possible by preserving and enhancing yourself. We must devote time
in renewing ourselves physically, spiritually, mentally and socially in order to be effective. This
way we can synergistically increase our ability to practice each habit. There are 4 dimensions of
our nature. Each, must be exercised regularly and in balance. The 4 dimensions are physical,
spiritual, mental, and emotional/social dimension. The goal of continuous physical improvement
is to exercise our body in a way that will enhance our capacity to work, adapt, and enjoy. The
goal of renewing our spiritual self is to provide leadership to our life and reinforce our
commitment to our value system. The goal of renewing our mental health is to continue
expanding our mind. The goal of renewing ourselves socially is to develop meaningful
relationships. To renew ourselves physically we must eat well, get sufficient rest and exercise on
a regular basis. To renew ourselves spiritually we must practice daily meditation, communicate
with nature and immerse ourselves with literature and music. To renew ourselves mentally we
must read good literature, keep a journal of our thoughts, experiences, and insights, and Limit
television watching to only those programs that enrich your life and mind. To renew ourselves
emotionally or socially we must seek deeply to understand people, make contributions to
meaningful projects that improve the lives of others, and maintain an abundance mentality, and
seek to help others find success. In order to sharpen the saw we must make a list of activities that
would help us renew ourselves and commit to writing down a specific "sharpen the saw"
activity.