7 Habits of Highly Effective People

[dancerjodi]

I found a free download of http://www.audible.com/twithabits/ and had it playing today while I was working at the dining room table. I've been meaning to check this out for a while but I'm glad that I didn't purchase it, because though the concepts could be applied anywhere the tone of this book is very heavily 'business', and was extremely dry. Perhaps though, its because the last audio-book I experienced was Wil Wheaton's?

Covey Outlines his 7 habits in this way:
1. Proactive (choice, responsibility, influence)
2. Keeping the end in mind (actively working)
3. First things first (efficiency, schedule, what's most important)
4. Think win win (performance, agreement with others)
5. Understand and then be understood (listening, expectations)
6. Synergize (work together, understand/appreciate differences)
7. Sharpen the saw (maintain, build, refine - the most important of the 7)

Other emphasis on:
-Movement from dependence to independence to interdependence
-Character (timeless) and personality/technology (fad)
-Emotional 'bank accounts' with others, deposit and withdraw
-Give loyalty to those absent
-Patience and pervasiveness; do what is in your power to do (circle of influence)
-Create a mission statement for all groups/endeavors

He's extremely popular (what came first, the books or the planners?) but just not my cup of tea. Thus far the ones I've been most inspired by are still David Allen and Eckhart Tolle.

Comments

[sajuka.livejournal.com]

The planners started as simply Franklin, and Covey wrote his book. At some later time, when Covey had become really famous for his book and had somewhat of a media empire surrounding "The 7 Habits" he and Franklin merged to create Franklin Covey, which is where the current generation of planners come from.

I never made it all the way through the book (I still have a copy if you had cared to read it), but I did find the discussion of proactiveness and paradigms useful. I think in the long run Covey is a victim of his own success: his concepts have so permeated the culture that now they seem unoriginal.

[nepenthedreams]

I've tried - read about habits #1, #4, #5 - but can't get through most of the book.

I do like the phrase "Seek first to understand, then to be understood." It is a good reminder.

But overall, I'm not raelly into woo-woo books where I have to do exercises.