The 7 habits of highly effective people
"Habit 1 is the key to unlocking all the other habits and that's why it comes first. It says, "I am the captain of my life. I can choose my attitude. I'm responsible for my own happiness orUNHAPPINESS
. I am in the driver's seat of my destiny, not just a passenger."
This rule will help you get started on life. This quote means you need to lead your own life. It is
also saying you need to make your own choices. It says that you are responsible for your own happiness, not others. You shouldn't just stand around doing nothing with your life. There are many different ways a person can be proactive. First you should know what you want to do. Usually you need people to support you, such as your friends or family. Then you need to become determined, focus on doing the work you need to do. When problems come your way you shouldn't give up, instead face it and handle it. Its important to be persistent when you are trying to complete a task or a step. I will try to use this habit when I have a lot of homework.
Innocent Mwatsikesimbe said,"
Your destiny is shaped in your moments of decision.”
- Begin with the end in mind
This rule applies to whenever you make plans for yourself. This rule is basically saying when you make a decision or plans, you need to think of the probable results. Thinking about the end is important because you shouldn't keep going forward when you don't know what you're going to walk into. When you don't think about the end then someone or something can easily manipulate your path and your end. For example, when you don't know what you want to do by the end of the day your friends can influence you do to something you didn't plan of. Another example is when you don't know what you want to do in life so your parents tell you to become the thing they want. When you think about the end it will usually help you achieve your goals. When you wake up in the morning you should think about what you want to happen in the end. When you make decisions you should think about what consequences you will receive. For example when you decide which college you want to goto you need to think about what you supposed to learn at the end of it. I will try to use this habit when I start my day. Ralph Ellison said,"The end is in the beginning and lies far ahead.”
This habit is how you should be doing your goals. It means to put the most important things first. You need to know how to set your priorities. The small or unimportant things should not be your highest priorities. Though this sounds easy to do but some people can forget what they were suppose to do. This is usually because they distracted themselves with unimportant things. Unimportant things can be watching TV or messing around on your phone. This is why you should set the important thing at the top of your priorities. When you set the hardest/important things as your highest priorities you will most likely remember, especially when its stressful. For example, when you make studying for a test as your top priority, you will stress yourself to do it. I will try to use this habit when I need to know what work I need to do. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe said,
“Things which matter most must never be at the mercy of things which matter least.”
This habit doesn't apply to the benefit of one person. This habit is actually applying to the benefits of others. This habit is not really a way to help you succeed in life. This habit is meant to help improve your morals. There are 3 traits of having a win win mentality and these are integrity, maturity, and abundance mentality. Integrity means to following your true feelings and beliefs. Maturity means to express what you feel or think while considering the feelings of others. Abundance means believing there is always something for everyone. I will try to use this habit when I make a decision that doesn't only affect me but others as well. Stephen covey said,“win/win is nice ... and tough. It's twice as tough as win/lose”.
- Seek First to Understand, then to be Understood
This habit can really improve your character and improve you look at other people. This habit means first you should try to understand others rather than making people understand you. This can be helpful during conversations. During a conversation you should try to understand the person you are talking to first. This is help because when you understand them, you will know how to make the other person understand you. You can ask the person about his opinions on the topic you want to topic you want to talk about. When he decides to tell you, you should listen because once you understand his point you will know what he means. Its important to remember that when you listen, you should listen to understand the meaning, not just to find a way to reply. When you listen just to reply you will probably listen to thing you want to help, you pick things apart and you will most likely talk about one thing he said while ignoring the meaning. Albert Einstein said, "Any fool can know. The point is to understand.”
If you want to synergize then you shouldn't be alone. You need at least 1 or more people helping you out. Synergize is cooperation and teamwork. One of the ways to synergize with your team is that everyone needs to have a open mind. You cannot synergize when teammates cannot agree with each other. People need to know that everyone has a different experience, skills, thinking, and expertise. Synergizing does not happen instantly, it takes time to process. The results you produce when you synergize with your team will be better than when you do it alone. This is because when you synergize you and your team will discover things that you probably will never find if you worked by yourself. I will try to use this habit whenever I am suppose to work with a team. Aristotle said “The whole is greater than the sum of its parts.”
This is a basic but important step to becoming an effective person. What this habit means is that you need to train yourself. In this habit there are 4 things you need to take care of, which is your physical, mental, heart (emotional/social), and spiritual health. When you train physically it isn't just exercising or eating healthy you need to have enough rest and relaxation. To train yourself mentally you need to know how to read and write and become more educated. I think this rule is important as you need a lot of intelligence to survive in a competing world. Training your heart means to make friends and to build relationships with people and you should laugh and love. Training your soul might be difficult to do but one of the ways to do it is to meditate and sometimes finding a religion helps train your soul. I will try to use this habit to make myself a better person. Abraham Lincoln said, "Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe".
Reflection: I think these habits can be really useful. They can tell you how to act and think. These habits can help you be successful. They remind you what you should do and shouldn't do. The habits are also life lessons you should really take into consideration. I think sharpening the saw is what connects to me most than the rest of these habits because I don't take breaks when I work. I think I should sharpen the saw by taking breaks so I can clear my mind and when I go back to work. I think I should learn how to synergize. When ever I work with a group for a project we almost always take forever to do something and we should try to understand each other. I should try to sharpen my mind by always studying and completely staying focused on the info. I will try to use all these habits when I get out of highschool and when I get a job
