The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People presents a roadmap to being more effective in life and in business, mainly by focusing on interpersonal interactions. It argues that to be effective one must develop the following habits:
- Be proactive
- Begin with the end in mind
- Put first things first
- Think win-win
- Seek first to understand, then to be understood
- Synergize
- Sharpen the saw
The 25th Anniversary edition, which I obtained from my public library, was billed as “one of the most inspiring and impactful books ever written”, complete with 9 pages of testimonials from the likes of Maya Angelou, Arianna Huffington, Michael Phelps, Mitt Romney, as well as a who’s who of influential business leaders.
What I Liked:
The book is well written and its principles are supported by concrete examples from both the author’s work as a business consultant and from his personal life. The information is well explained and easy to understand.
What I Didn't Like:
In my opinion, the book was overhyped to the point of doing it a disservice. I honestly expected to begin pissing excellence three pages in, which I’m sad to report hasn’t happened as of yet. The habits also revolve in large part around interpersonal relationships, which I could only relate to in part as I don’t have a wife and kids nor do I manage a large team of employees.
Three Takeaways:
One of the most valuable concepts I learned from the book was the notion of Circle of Concern vs. Circle of Influence. The Circle of Concern is everything that troubles us, whether our health, personal relationships, work-related problems, war, famine, etc. Within this Circle of Concern lies our Circle of Influence, which are the concerns we can actually do something about. The more proactive you are the more energy and time you devote to your Circle of Influence (Habit 1 is to be proactive). Basically, don’t dwell on the things you can’t control, but concentrate your energy on the things you can. “Proactive people focus their efforts in the Circle of Influence. They work on the things they can do something about. The nature of their energy is positive, enlarging and magnifying, causing their Circle of Influence to increase.”
The second concept which I found enlightening was the author’s Time Management Matrix in which activities are sorted accorded to two factors: important vs. not important and urgent vs. not urgent, Quadrant II being activities that are important but not urgent. The author argues that effective people are the ones who make time specifically for Quadrant II activities, which usually tend to be near the bottom of our list of priorities. “Quadrant II is the heart of effective personal management. It deals with the things that are not urgent but are important. It deals with things like building relationships, writing a personal mission statement, long-range planning, exercising, preventive maintenance, preparation - all those things we know we need to do, but somehow seldom get around to doing because they aren’t urgent.”
The last takeaway is that there are Four Dimensions of Renewal we must always tend to: Physical (exercise, nutrition, stress management), Social/Emotional (service, empathy, synergy, intrinsic security), Spiritual (value clarification & commitment, study, meditation) and Mental (reading, visualizing, planning, writing). These are the four areas our Quadrant II activities should be focused on. “‘Sharpen the saw’ basically means expressing all four motivations. It means exercising all four dimension of our nature, regularly and consistently in wise and balanced ways.”
You Should Read This Book If:
•You are trying to lead a more effective life
•You are having issues with interpersonal relationships whether at work or at home
•You are trying to become a better person, one book at a time