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Covey's Seven Habits

by Janet      

  Habit 1    

                                                         Be Proactive

 They are broken down into 15 different steps. They are:

1.The Social Mirror:
Tells us that there are 3 different social maps that explain the nature of man.
Genetic, Psychic, and Environmental Determinism.  

 2. Between Stimulus and Response
 We have the ability to choose what happens to us.

3. “Proactivity” defined
That as people we are responsible for our selves.

 4. Taking the Initiative
 Meaning to recognize our responsibly to make things happen.

5. Act or Be Acted Upon
Taking the initiative to start or someone else will.

6. Listening to Our Language
 Being reactive to words or proactive to words.

7.  Circle of Concern/ Circle of Influence
Things  we are actively concerned about and things we have no influence on at all.

8. Proactive Focus
We work on the things we can do something about.

 9. Reactive Focus
  Letting others do the some things and reacting.

10. Direct, Indirect, and no Control
Having control, Only partial control, then none.

11. Expanding the Circle of Influence
Including others to help build us into a better person.

12. The “Have’s” and the “Be’s””
 The have’s use the word “If” a lot and be’s make it happen.

13. The Other End of the Stick
 Consequences of our actions and our mistakes.

14. Making and Keeping Commitments

 15. Proactivity: the 30-day test  

Habit 2 - Begin with the end in mind

Habit 2 is to begin today with your goals and what matters most. There are 17 here

  1. All things re created twice.  First in your head or on paper, and then into reality.

  2. By design our fault - what we create or let others create for us

  3. Leadership & management - the 2 creations - leadership is first and then management is the bottom line focus

  4. Becoming your own creator - by using our imagination and conscience.

  5. A personal mission statement - our philosophy or creed

  6. At the center - the center of our circle of influence

  7. Alternative centers - spouse, family, money, work, possessions, pleasure, friends or enemy, church & self.

  8. Identifying your center - make sure you have only one

  9. A principle center - using our principles to give  us a solid secure center.

  10. Principle center - using our principles to give us a solid, secure center

  11. Personal Mission statement - complete  or concise expression of innermost values

  12. Using your Wholes Brain - putting both sides into focus as one.

  13. Two ways to tap the right brain - by visualizing and writing down

  14. Identifying roles and goals

  15. A family mission statement

  16. An organizational mission statement

Habit 3 - Put first things first

It's the moment by moment doing and the day-in and day-out of our physical lives.  Here are 6 ways:

  1. The Power of Independent will - is the ability to make decisions and choices and to act accordingly.

  2. Four quadrants  of time management (l) important/urgent, 2 important/not urgent, 3 not important/urgent, 4 not important/not urgent

  3. Quadrant 1 - Crisis, pressing problems, deadlines

  4. Quadrant 2 - prevention, planning, recreation, relationship

  5. Quadrant 3   - interruptions, some mail, reports or meetings

  6. Quadrant 4, trivia, some mail, phone calls, pleasant activities in excess

 

Habit 4  Think win/win 

 A belief in a better way and not yours or mine, but OURS.  There are 6 paradigms of human interaction. they are:

  1. win/win

  2. win/lose (i win, you lose)

  3. lose/win (I lose, you win)

  4. lose/lose (no one wins

  5. win  (all for one)

  6. win/win or no deal  (all or nothing)

Habit 5 - Seek first to understand & then to be understood

We often fail to take the time to listen first and understand what is being said, and then to make sure what we reply is understood.  here are some ways to help.

  1. Character and communication - using written, reading, speaking and listening to communicate

  2. Emphatic listening - listen to understand, not to reply

  3. Diagnose before you prescribe - using good judgment to understand

  4. Four autobiographical responses - evaluate, probe, advise, and interpret

  5. Understanding and perceptions

  6. Then seek to be understood

  7. One on one

Habit 6   Synergize

It means that the whole is greater than the rest of it put together and the most exciting part.  Here are 6 ways:

  1. Synergistic Communication- Opening your heart and mind to new things.

  2. Synergy  in the classroom - teachers and students working together as one.

  3. Synergy   at   work - everyone working as a team

  4. Levels of communications -  1. win/win (high trust and cooperation) 2. compromise 3. win/love or lose/win

  5. Negative synergy  - using I and not US

  6. Value  the differences between people

Habit 7 - Sharpen the saw

Take time to renew everything we have learned by doing so with the four dimensions of nature:

  1. Physical - exercise, nutrition and stress management

  2. Spiritual  -  value clarification and commitment, study and mediation

  3. Mental - reading, visualizing, planning and writing

  4. Social/emotional - service, empathy, synergy, intrinsic security