Good Habits for Reaching Personal Success

Stephen Covey’s Seven Habits of Highly Effective People
“The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing,” wrote Stephen Covey. When we think about it, this phrase makes perfect sense. We can’t get to where we want to go (our main thing) if we aren’t working toward or focused on getting there. In Covey’s book, The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People , Covey elaborates on how we can keep the main thing the main thing.


Habit 1: Be Proactive

We can make choices as to how we respond. Be proactive and not reactive. To be proactive, work on those things you have the power to control like your health, family and work problems. Be “response-able” and don’t blame outside conditions (weather, genetics, physical environment) for your behaviors.

Habit 2: Begin with the End in Mind

Envision where you want to be, and then do what is physically necessary to get there. This can most easily be accomplished by developing your own personal mission statement. This will be the path to your own personal definition of success.

Habit 3: Put First Things First

Think about life and time management. We don’t have to do everything, but we should have a pecking order. We should do those things that meet our Habit 2 envision, those things we personally feel have the most value, before doing anything else.

Habit 4: Think Win-Win

We don’t need to think in terms of either/or. In order for you to win, someone else need not lose. Focus on having the integrity to stay aligned with your own values and beliefs, the maturity to confidently express your own feelings and consider the feelings of others, and to remember there is enough good to go around for everyone.

Habit 5: Seek First to Understand, Then to be Understood

When we listen, most of us are waiting to reply. We think of questions we want to ask and focus only on certain key words that are being spoken. Listen instead with an ear to understand what is being said. When we speak, we wish first to be understood.

Habit 6: Synergize

When we cooperate, we have the benefit of another’s knowledge. Look to others for another point of view to help with problem solving. Embrace differences instead of looking for everyone to agree with you.

Habit 7: Sharpen the Saw

Make you the best you. Have good social connections and relationships with others, continually work to learn or teach others, have a spiritual focus whether it is religion, art, music or meditation, and give your body proper rest, diet and exercise.

Remember, goals are not achieved over night-they take time. If one of your goals is to lead a more organized life, we can help you stay on track and reach success. You don’t have to go it alone.

Jenny Power, Absolutely Organized, LLC