He asks: Are you – right now – who you want to be? What do you have to say about yourself? How do you want to be remembered? If habit 1 advises changing one's life to act and be proactive, habit 2 advises that "you are the programmer".
To be effective one needs to act based on principles and constantly review one's mission statements, says Covey. Habit 2: "Begin with the end in mind" Ĭovey discusses envisioning what one wants in the future (a personal mission statement) so one can work and plan towards it, and understanding how people make important life decisions. Covey discusses focusing one's responses and focusing on the center of one's influence. Covey discusses recognizing one's circle of influence and circle of concern.
Covey postulates that "between stimulus and response lies your ability to choose" how to react, and that nothing can hurt a person without the person's consent. Proactivity is about taking responsibility for one's reaction to one's own experiences, taking the initiative to respond positively and improve the situation. The first three habits aim at developing from dependence to independence (i.e., self-mastery): Each of the seven habits has a section of the book devoted to it: And characteristics of this dependence may linger this is the first and lowest stage of maturity.Ĭovey says that each of the first three habits is intended to help achieve independence, the next three habits are intended to help achieve interdependence, and the seventh habit is intended to help maintain these achievements. These are three successive stages of increasing maturity: dependence, independence, and interdependence. two people can see the same thing and yet differ from each other in their perception of the thing.Ĭovey also introduces the maturity continuum. Covey presents his teachings in a series of seven habits, organized as a progression from dependence through independence on to interdependence.Ĭovey uses the concept of paradigm shift and says that different perspectives exist – i.e. He says that values govern people's behavior, while principles ultimately determine the consequences. He sees principles as external natural laws, while values remain internal and subjective. By doing this, Covey distinguishes principles and values. He promotes what he labels the character ethic: aligning one's values with what he claims to be universal and timeless principles. He claims that effectiveness can be expressed in terms of the P/PC ratio, where P refers to getting desired results and PC is caring for that which produces the results.Ĭovey argues against what he calls the personality ethic, which he sees as prevalent in many modern self-help books. He illustrates this by referring to the fable of the goose that laid the golden eggs. Ĭovey defines effectiveness as the balance of obtaining desirable results with caring for that which produces those results. The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, first published in 1989, is a business and self-help book written by Stephen R. The 8th Habit: From Effectiveness to Greatness