The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People

Habit 1: Be Proactive

"Habit 1 is the key to unlocking all the other habits and that's why it comes first. It says, "I am the captain of my life. I can choose my attitude. I'm responsible for my own happiness or unhappiness. I am in the driver's seat of my destiny, not just a passenger."

The first habit of highly effective people is to be proactive. Being proactive is being the one who initiaties change and progress instead of going with the flow and waiting for it to happen. I can definitely see how being proactive helps someone be more effective. If you just sit around and wait for things to happen you move at the pace of the world. Which is a slow, traffic-jammed lane.b But if you make things happen you are given acess to the high speed lane and wont get stuck in the weekday traffic. Actor, Micheal J. Fox once said "I like to encourage people to realize that any action is a good action if it's proactive and there is positive intent behind it." This is important because it relates to the quote that is presented here. That is why this quote is so important because it tells you to be proactive which is a way to deal with mediocrity. Proactivity.

Habit 2: Begin with the End in Mind

"Control your own destiny or someone else will." (Jack Welch)

The second habit of highly effective people is to begin with the End in Mind. This means that you must make it a goal to finish your assignment before you even start it. This is a critical approach because if you don't make it a goal to hold you yourself accountable for your success, then you will most likely not finish. It would be best if everyone had the end in sight with their goals, so that way more people get things done and more success is brought into the world. Muhammad Ali said "What keeps me going is goals." If everyone made it a goal to get stuff done, they would be more productive, they would enjoy life more and be happier. In general goal orientated people are happier

Habit 3: Put First Things First

"Organize and execute around priorities."

The third habit of highly effective people is to put first things first. Or proritize the things that should be prioritized. If you put first things seconds you can not expect to be highly effective. If you choose to watch your favorite show before you do your very important essay. Then you are destined to fail. You must be able to prioritize to do well and be effective.Mahatma Gandi said "Action expresses priorities." which is very true because if you don't priortitze your important things then what are you doing? If you are a slacker and refuse to prioritize you won't get far in life.

Habit 4: Think Win-Win

"Think win-win or no deal."

The Fourth habit of highly effective people is to think win-win. This is important because to think win-win means only to settle for the best of situations and possibilities. Settling for win-lose situations or lose-lose situations is set up for failure. Which is not the best way to approach anything. You must not settle for mediocrity. You must strive for greatness. If you chose not to strive for greatness and try to be the best goal setting person you can be you will go far. Just as you will go far with CTR. You should try your best to get towards win win situations not take anything less. If you only think win-win, you will only experience win-win. Basketball Legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar said "You can't win unless you learn how to lose." This carries significance because it means that you have to taste defeat and realize that you cannot take anything less than win-win. That is why it is critical to only think win-win as highly effective people do.

Habit 5: Seek First to Understand, then to be Understood

"Diagnose before you prescribe."
The fifth habit of highly effective people is to seek first to understand, then to be Understood. What this means is to seek what you want first before you begin to put it in to place. This can be inferred to as a way to plan. Planning is important because you will need planning before you do anything in life. The level of planning with everything varies on how important it is. If you are planning something big like an event of high stature such as a wedding or even if you are planning something small, like a trip to the grocery store. You need to plan it, even on the smallest scales. Author R.L. Stine once said "If you do enough planning before you start to write, there's no way you can have writer's block. I do a complete chapter by chapter outline" I think this is related because Stine makes sure he has a plan for every chapter of his books. Which is why he has so many. You must plan ahead. Diagnose before you prescribe.

Habit 6:  Synergize

"The whole is greater than the sum of its parts (1+1=3)"
The sixth habit of highly effective people is to synergize.This is because those who work together create greater work than they would individually. What this means is to work together and you will find that the work you create with someone else as a part of a group is greater than the work you could create individually. Dr. Stephen Covey himself said "Synergy is better than my way or your way, its our way." This is important because he knows that sacrifice makes the world work. You have to give up something in order for the plans you have to work. As described, the whole is greater than the sum of its part. So if you have 10 people working on a big project. The work produced by their collaborative effort is greater than the work they could produce individually and added it all up. That is why synergy is important 

Habit 7:  Sharpen the Saw
Four Dimensions of Self-Renewal: Physical, Mental, Spiritual, Social/Emotional

The seventh habit of a highly effective person is to sharpen the saw. Which to perfect a craft which you work on. If you work on something you constantly or continue to sharpen the saw everyday, you can make something you might be somewhat good at and make it to your greatest strength. You can improve everyday and you will be well on your way to making something a strength as opposed to just an advantage. Sharpening the saw can be applied to mental, social, physical, and spiritual parts of life. If you want to sharpen the saw physically, you can exercise and play sports. Mentally, you can do thinking games or tasks. Socially, you can follow the 6 steps to make people like you just as a small example. and finally, spiritually you can attend church or meditate. These are all just small glimpses into the things which you can do to sharpen the saw. Basketball legend, Larry Bird once said "A winner is someone who recognizes his God-given talents, works his tail off to develop them into skills, and uses these skills to accomplish his goals." this is exactly what Dr.Stephen Covey is trying to convey. As Lary Bird constantly sharpened his saw with basketball. He worked everyday from since he was a young boy all up until he retired as an old man. And he was rewarded for his constant effort. Bird won 3 NBA Titles, 3 back-to-back-to-back MVP's and is the Celtics 3rd all time leading scorer. Bird is just one example of what great sharpening the saw can do for you.

Reflection: Write an overall final reflection in this post regarding the "The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People."  Include your deepest thoughts and feelings. Write what you commit to do to apply the seven habits.

After learning about all Seven Habits of Highly Effective people by Dr. Stephen Covey. I can conclude that these habits are important charcter traits and ideas that everyone should follow. You should always look to live a better life by sharpening your charcter. If you strive to live by these seven quotes, you will immediatly see the changes in yourself as a more effective and efficient person. This could be in small things like getting more errands done in the day. Such as doing laundry, going to the grocery store, and house work. Or it could be bigger, more important things that you become more effective at like work and school. I will personally follow these traits everyday as much as I can to become more effective in doing tasks.  I will follow these seven keystones to become a better, more effective person. Everyday I will try to do something related to each habit. Such as sharpening the saw, I will work on something I do as a hobby or as work so I will be better at it. For instance, I will practice playing guitar to sharpen the saw. So in conclusion, live by these Seven Habits and you will begin to take a deep notice in how much more effective you are in every task you do.