The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People: Powerful Lessons in Personal Change

Here’s a surprise. After re-reading this book for the third time, I was uplifted to find relevant applications thirty-six years after its publication. Yup!  This book by Stephen R. Covey (yes, that Covey) is a classic for a reason. Part of that includes the boiled-down hard truths that jump off each page and challenge you to stop using excuses, return to the fundamentals, and re-integrate the “honest to goodness” habits for success.

I imagine someone reading this book, much like me, thought, “This is too difficult! I am who I am; trying to change at this stage is not worth the effort. Who would notice? Who would care? We are all so focused on our little worlds, so why bother anyway?”  I also imagine a litany of other questions and “reasons” for not purging deeply ingrained behaviors counterintuitive to authentic success. 

And what is success anyway?

Covey answers this question by going back to the beginning. No, that beginning, rather, the start of when humans evolved into a softer and more self-centered society. Whether we want to admit it or not, we did, and this centeredness, preservation, and fulfillment mode rapidly disengaged us from what we were meant to do and what we wanted to do. 

One such societal change occurred shortly before World War I, when the foundation for success transitioned from a character ethic to a personality ethic. Focusing less on valued characteristics, such as integrity, humility, justice, industry, etc., and more on inspirational ones, such as image and attitudes. While he stresses that both clusters have value, it’s essential to develop the character traits first, then build upon them. 

Take smiling.

While that is truly a mutually appreciated behavior, you need to embrace the value behind it, such as treating others as you would want to be treated (also known as the Golden Rule). Everyone appreciates a smile, but only if it’s rooted inside, like an attraction magnet radiating from your soul. If it’s disingenuous or duplicitous, this superficial mask will soon fizzle, and so will that person’s impression of you. That’s not a hard change to make. If you don’t feel like smiling, then don’t. But if you do, make it one that comes from the heart.

Now that’s an easy success habit to adopt. Make kindness a value and then act on it. 

I use this example to illustrate the power of integrity, one of the character ethics outlined in this book. There is an ongoing theme throughout that challenges the reader to step away from “shiny objects” and quick fixes and turn inward. Can you reorient what you have within yourself, your talents, your intuition, your desires, your courage, to fix the problems in your purview? The answer is yes. Covey’s model integrates these elements into a success framework, broken down into seven habits of effectiveness, and presents them in seven chapters. 

I will tell you why you should read this book. As I always say, if there is at least one takeaway that you act on, then it was worth the read.

So, let me make a recommendation. Read chapter one. Then reread it. I bet you’ll keep on reading, but even if you don’t, you’ll get something to chew on—a hard-won lesson in personal change.

Source: Purchased

Image Courtesy of Simon & Schuster