The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People

The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, written by Stephen R. Covey in 1989, is a book that examines 7 habits that should be followed in order for a person to become highly effective in what they do, whether at work, at home, or at play. By breaking down the principles of fairness, integrity, and honesty, this book aims to help people find the success they are looking for by practicing 7 habits in their everyday life. Examples of Habits, Dailies, and To-Dos will be included at the bottom of each section in order to show how the habits can be integrated into HabitRPG.

A First Look: What is a Habit?
According to Covey, a habit is the intersection of knowledge, skill, and desire. Knowledge is the ability to know what needs to happen, skill is the ability to do what needs to happen, and desire is the motivation to do what needs to be done, and without all three a habit cannot be formed. Simply put, a habit is knowing what to do and why (knowledge), how to do it (skill), and wanting to do it (desire). A habit cannot be formed if you do not know how to form it, or if you have no desire or motivation to form a new habit, which is why all three pieces are important in building a habit. The habits that Covey provides are meant to give you the knowledge and skill to create new habits and change your life, but you have to provide the desire to do so. Looking at the Habit Loop will explain more about how to form a habit.

Why Do the 7 Habits Matter?
The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People moves away from time-management as a complete system, and instead focuses on changing the behaviors of a person in order to help them succeed and find meaning in life. The first step is to look at how you view your life, and prepare for a paradigm shift. Covey believes that stress and the hassled feeling that people get when they have too much to do and not enough time can be eliminated by approaching the issues at hand not only from a new angle, but from a new viewpoint. Instead of approaching problems from the personality ethic standpoint of "if I take care of these problems, my friends/family/coworkers will like me more", Covey says the more powerful and effective approach is to look at the challenges from the character ethic standpoint, or the standpoint of "I will face and overcome these challenges because I have integrity/courage/humility". In other words, what we are at the core is more universally translated than what we say or do, and by building up the foundation of character ethics to stand on, the personality ethics that are important (like communication and socialization) will follow to show a more complete picture of ourselves. The personality ethic standpoint alone shows a full dependence on other people, while the character ethic standpoint leans towards independence instead. To help with this paradigm shift, Covey broke the habits down into 3 sections: The Private Victory of Independence, the Public Victory of Interdependence, and The Art of Continuous Improvements.

Just to be Clear, What is a Paradigm?
According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, a paradigm is either: "an example or pattern, an example of a conjugation or declension showing a word in all its inflectional forms, or a philosophical and theoretical framework of a scientific school or discipline within which theories, laws, and generalizations and the experiments performed in support of them are formulated, with a very broad definition being a philosophical or theoretical framework of any kind". However, this doesn't necessarily clear up what type of paradigm Covey is talking about. In this case, Covey sees a paradigm as a road map to where a person wants to go in life. This is why the character ethic standpoint is so important. If the underlying character values do not match where you want to go in life, it is like trying to drive through Los Angeles with a road map from New York - you'll never get anywhere even if you use the personality ethics of thinking positive and keeping a good altitude in life. Your underlying beliefs, what makes up your moral and ethical character, is your paradigm, and you may have many different paradigms to follow, just like each city has many different maps that can be followed. The 7 Habits will help you change your paradigm, or update your road map, so that you can get to where you want to go in life.

The 7 Habits - A Step by Step Guide to Shifting the Paradigm
The first step towards becoming more effective, and therefore more successful, is to realize that your perception of the world has to change. If you keep taking the same actions again and again, why would the results be any different than they were the last time you took that action? Therefore, a shift in your beliefs and your perception are needed to start the journey. The first three habits help with this shift in focus by presenting new ideas to help you change your mindset, and once they are mastered you will have reached the step of Private Victory, or overcoming the challenge of changing how you see yourself.

Habit 1: Be Proactive
The normal approach to making decisions and handling problems is the reactive approach, meaning the issue shows up and then you react and make a decision without thinking, and then justify it later. For instance, if you become short-tempered, you might say it's genetic or runs in the family, which justifies your anger for the moment by taking the response out of your control. Being proactive means recognizing that you have a consciousness, a free will, and the freedom to choose how you are going to respond to a situation instead of just reacting. Being proactive means taking responsibility for your life, holding yourself accountable for your decisions instead of blaming genetics, psychological disorders, or environmental factors. This step will eventually allow you to see, and say, "I am the person I am today because of the decisions and choices I made yesterday". There are four steps to being proactive: Take the initiative, decide to act or be acted upon, listen to the language, and focus on the circle of influence instead of the circle of concern.

Habit 2: Begin with the End in Mind
introduction to the second habit here.

Habit 3: Put First Things First
Third Habit Introduction

Public Victory: Becoming Interdependent
The difference between the private and public victory, and between independence and interdependence

The Emotional Bank Account
A key concept to be explored before habit 4

Habit 4: Think Win-Win
Introduction to habit 4

Habit 5: Seek First to Understand, Then to be Understood
Introduction to habit 5

Habit 6: Synergize
Introduction to habit 6

Renewal: The Art of Continuous Improvements
What Renewal means and why it is important

Habit 7: Sharpen the Saw
Introduction to habit 7

Beyond the 7 Habits - More Room for Improvement
After writing The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, Covey went on to write two more books to help people change themselves by changing their habits. The book The 8th Habit:From Effectiveness to Greatness is meant to be a direct sequel to the 7 habits, and introduces one more habit to focus on in order to be highly effective at home, work, and life. After The 8th Habit, Covey worked with David K Hatch in order to try and find examples of greatness in everyday life, and to show how the habits could be used to inspire a meaningful life. This book, called Everyday Greatness: Inspiration for a Meaningful Life, used Reader's Digest stories from as far back as 1922 in order to show how any person, any age, any path of life, could follow the teachings and improve their way of life and their satisfaction.

The 8th Habit: Find Your Voice and Inspire Others to Find Theirs
After looking at research, Covey found that even though people were improving their effectiveness, there was still a piece missing. When the price of entry to any business playing field is being highly effective, there has to be another step to strive for in order to stand a step above the rest. Even though the 7 Habits had mapped out how to ultimately know yourself, know your reactions, and become interdependent, people were not thriving or reaching fulfillment or greatness. Covey though that when people took the time to find their voice, they would become a great person, and when they stepped even further to help others find their voices, they would become great leaders. However, in order to gain greatness, more than just the original 7 habits was needed.

Find Your Voice
When you are 100% involved in what you are doing in life, to the point that your body, mind, heart, and spirit are all focused on what is important to you, you will find your voice. This means you need to use your natural talent, as well as pay attention to what you love to do and what interests you. Most importantly, you have to find that inner voice that tells you that doing what you love is the right thing to do. There are three gifts that are given to each person to help them find their voice.

Gift 1: The Freedom to Choose
Accountability is a big part of Covey's Habits method, and the 8th habit is no different. You have the freedom to choose how you are going to act in any given situation. Remember the first habit of Be Proactive, and take a moment to choose how you are going to act. It will help you become more accountable for your actions, and is one of your gifts to help find your voice.

Gift 2: The Natural Laws
The Natural Laws refers to the principles that dictate the consequences of behavior. For instance, by following the principle of kindness, you will receive a positive consequence in most cases. The Natural Laws then include fairness, kindness, respect, honesty, integrity, service, and contribution.

Gift 3: The Mental, Physical, Emotional, and Spiritual Intelligence
There are four sides to each person, according to Covey, and each side has a different approach and a different intelligence. Great people can take each intelligence and develop it to better serve their goals. For instance, physical activity can be used to calm the mind, strengthen the body, renew the soul, and take a step away from emotional times, or even work out emotional issues depending on the action. This activity, then, is being refined from just physical intelligence to discipline that can be used to help strengthen other parts of life. Likewise, emotional energy can become passion, mental energy vision, and spiritual energy conscience, or the moral sense of right and wrong. Working with all three gifts, including all four "intelligences", is what can help you find your voice. Put your creativity, talent, and intelligence to use and you will soon be able to use your voice.

Inspire Others to Find Theirs
Once you have your voice, you fit under the definition of a great person. However, there are a few more steps you can take in order to become a great leader. Great leaders are the ones that have the mindset and the skills to look for the potential in other people, and then show the other person their worth so clearly, the other person opens their eyes to what they are really worth. In order to become a great leader, you need to model the 7 habits, as well as align and empower the people you lead, and find the path that needs to be followed. However, the key to helping others find their voice is to follow on the four top priorities: These four priorities should be at the top of your list, and your habits should support them. By adding the 8th habit to the previous 7 habits, there are guidelines that can be followed in order to find out what you really want in life, what you need to change to get there, how to get there, and then how to help other people get to where they want to go as well.
 * 1) Focus on a few crucial goals, and only focus on what is important
 * 2) Create a compelling scoreboard and recognize that people play differently when they are held accountable
 * 3) Translate goals into specific actions like weekly and daily tasks
 * 4) Hold each other accountable, all the time

Everyday Greatness: Inspiration for a Meaningful Life
Everyday Greatness was written by Stephen R Covey and compiled by David K Hatch, with the first print being in 2006. The book uses stories taken from various editions of Reader's Digest to look at the 7 habits for a meaningful life, and the pillars that support this meaning. Some of these principles are similar to the 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, and the stories are meant to help people see real life advantages to following the habits Covey supports.

Searching for Meaning
Within each person there is a need, or a longing, for meaning and to be seen as having value and worth. This search for purpose is what influences people to make choices that will allow them to get the most joy and satisfaction from life. However, the world seems to push for people to make choices that in the long run will have little value or meaning, but might look attractive in the short-run. Instead, Covey says to make contributions to the community, give to charity, and pay attention to the needs of others in order to make high value contributions that will help life gain meaning.

Taking Charge
Taking charge means to not only plan your course in life, but measure your progress on that course and accept responsibility for what happens. Both energy and discipline are needed in order to take charge of your life, but you can do it. Just remember to take responsibility, discipline yourself to follow the path you chose diligently, and have courage when things might not be going your way.

Starting Within
The most important element you put into anything is who you are, at the very core. What you say or do or have is not important if you cannot accept who you really are. Take the time to understand, explore, and strengthen your principles of integrity, humility, and gratitude. See yourself as the person you want to be, and then create goals and habits to work your way to actually being that person at your very core.

Creating the Dream
Covey wrote that one of the deepest, greatest joys in life is the art of being creative, and that ability to be creative is what helps boost your happiness in life. A way to help cultivate this joy is to start doing something that you see as innovative and worthwhile, then support it as it grows and blossoms into full fruition. This takes vision, innovation, and a want for quality work or quality effort. These principles can also spread into other parts of your life, like any habit, to strengthen your resolve and help clear up your vision statement of who you want to be.

Teaming with Others
Human life relies on social interaction, and you must learn how to live, work, and team with others. Even people who live in the remote regions of Alaska understand that teamwork is a necessity. In order to work well with others, you need to focus on the principles of respect, empathy, and unity. People come in all types of sizes, colors, shapes, ages, genders, and social prowess. In order to have everyday greatness, you need to be able to not only see these differences, but accept them and realize that every difference is a strength to the group. A different viewpoint can help a group find synergy, and bring a new idea to the table.

Overcoming Adversity
Whether working alone or working with others, eventually you will come up against opposition or a conflicting view. The response that you take to this opposition can make or break your ability to actually accomplish your purpose and goals. In order to face opposition with greatness, practice adaptability, generosity, and perseverance. The good thing is that opposition is actually good for you. If you take a moment to step back and think about why someone is opposing you, you might learn something new, or can come to a better understanding of the idea.

Blending the Pieces
Life isn't going to just sit back and let you analyze every little thing. Part of having everyday greatness is the balancing act of dealing with all the different demands and situations that life brings to the table. Focusing on balance, simplicity, and renewal can help with the juggling act that we seem to do through life. With so many choices and so little time, having skills in these habits can help to break the big picture down into more manageable pieces while still allowing you to keep sight of the big picture.

The Pillars that Support Greatness
There are three different pillars that help support everyday greatness. These pillars are all choices you can make, and can be seen as everyday choices. The choice to Act represents the energy you bring to your day and your life. You have to decide what kind of energy you want to bring to your life, and what energy you want to use to help get tasks done.The Choice of Purpose is the choice to decide where you want to go. You can sit down and actually decide what you want your purpose in life to be, what direction you want to go in. Finally, the Choice for Principles is the choice you make when you decide how you are going to change your principles in order to reach your goal. These three pillars are the crux of everyday choices.