7 Habits Of HighlyEffective PeopleSummaryFind all my book summaries at cutemachine.com/book-summaries/

A book by Stephen Covey

Gain a level of productivity, you thought would be impossibleby learning the difference between being efficient and beingeffective.

How can you become truly productive and bring persistent, realchanges into your life? How can you shape your future for thebetter and make your dreams a reality? Covey has some greatanswers in his book which will be very helpful to reinvent yourself andbecome an improved you. He advises us to have a crystal clear vision ofyour future. You can craft a vision by Beginning with the end in mind.One great way to do this is by asking yourself the famous funeralquestions. Other principals, he introduces to us are to be proactive,to think win–win, and to put first things first.

Covey shows us how we can influence others in a positive way: Seekfirst to understand, then to be understood.

Read the full summary to learn the difference between

effectiveness and efficiency and how to become truly effective inyour personal and work life.

These are the things I found out by reading the Blinks:

The significant difference between being efficient and beingeffective

The power of seeking first to understand and then to beunderstood

Treating relationships as emotional bank accounts

This post builds on the Blinks I listened to while walking to work. Ilearn from Blinkist's content each and every day. So if you enjoy thispost, you will like their content even more.

Key Ideas

Be effective instead of merely efficientWe all work towards goals we have. For some this is paying off amortgage, for others it is to finish a thesis. Most goals come with a duedate, and we work hard to reach that goal within given limits.

When we are focused on working towards our aims, it is very easy toforget to protect our workforce. Burnout is a common diagnose thesedays.

The most important thing you need to achieve on your way toreal effectiveness is to make sure you are physically,mentally, and emotionally fit.

Working on your physical fitness includes exercisingregularly, getting enough sleep each night, and eatinghealthy.

You can read inspiring books, keep a journal, or meditate tokeep your mental health.

To stay emotionally fit you need to make sure you spend enoughtime with your loved ones.

This all might seem unimportant while you are under pressureworking towards your outcome, but do yourself a favor and sharpenyour saw, how Covey likes to call it. Your productivity will improve,and you will be able to maintain it without risking a burnout.

How can you reinvent yourself and become aYOU 2.0?How do you change yourself? By learning new skills? Yes, that wouldbe one approach, but your preferred way should be to work on yourcharacter.

For example, if you want others to perceive you as a trustworthyperson, you can learn NLP or work on your communication skills. Buthaving excellent communication skills does not make you an honestperson. You have to work on your integrity instead; be thattrustworthy person and people will trust you as a result.

Walk the walk and talk the talk.

If you want to reinvent yourself, you need to work on your valuesand mindset.

As you think, so shall you become. — Bruce Lee

Address your inner character, your habits, and inner beliefsystem and you will change for the better. With this change will comethe power to alter the world around you.

Universal principles and personal paradigmsThe majority of our society agrees upon some universal principals.Among these principals are fairness, honesty, and integrity.

If we work on aligning our personal paradigms with the universalprincipals, we can integrate ourselves better into the world we live in.This alignment will allow us to be more effective.

Our personal standards are the building blocks of our character. Thoseparadigms define how we see the world. If we change the paradigms,we will be able to see the world differently. We will change oursubjective world view. This altered view will empower us to overcomeingrained habits like procrastination.

Be proactiveWe all have todo-lists which grow every day. We have more things weneed to do than we can handle. It is just too easy to drown inresponsibilities and chores.

When we only react to external stimuli, we are not behaving differentlyfrom animals. Humans have the incredible power to think about whatthey want to have in the future; they can be proactive andinfluence the world.

If we become aware of our long-term goals, we candetermine what we want to do with our future.

Our decisions form our behavior and fate.

Never use phrases like it was not my fault and it is not in myhands, be proactive instead and craft your future. Do notallow external circumstances shape your future.

Begin with the end in mindThere is nothing so useless as doing efficiently that which shouldnot be done at all. — Peter Drucker

Many people are very efficient, but yet they never reach their long-term goals.

How can that be?

Many people do not know what they want in life. It is an unsettlingquestion to ask oneself. Therefore many people chasemeaningless goals. And even if you are very efficient reaching thosefutile goals, you will never be effective.

You need get clarity about your long-term goals. You can achievethis easily by asking yourself the three funeral questions:

1. what do I want people to say about me at my funeral?

2. as what sort of person do I want to be remembered?

3. for what do I want to be remembered?

Use the answers to those three questions to write down your mission

statement. This statement should serve you as your personalconstitution.

Find your values, guiding principals, and your long-termgoals and you will be effective instead of just efficient.

Have a clear mental picture of the outcome ofyour goalHave you ever watched a downhill alpine skiing event? If you have, youprobably have noticed how athletes prepare themselves just before therace begins. They close their eyes and visualize every curve of thecourse. They visualize every action as a mental picture.

If you want to achieve a better execution of your goals,visualization is a powerful tool.

Covey says that we do every action twice. First in our head, when wedraw the mental picture of the outcome and then a second time whenwe carry out the work.

A clear mental picture can be a great productivity tool. Try tovisualize the result of everything you want to achieve. Whenyou know exactly where you want to go, it will be easier to get there.

Rigorously prioritize by putting first thingsfirstYou can make your vision become a reality only if you have a clear goaland work towards it on a daily basis. But we all have more on yourtodo-list than we can handle. So, how can we ensure to get to ourgoals?

Often the actions which will bring us closer to our aims are not urgent.But we have a tendency to work on urgent tasks only and forget totackle the important stuff instead. Therefore, it is crucial to give themost important things the highest priority.

How do you know which work items are the most important?

Important things are consistent with our mission statementand bring us closer to our long-term goals.

If you want to work on the crucial tasks, you need to make sure you sayyes to the right things and say no to the rest.

Put first things first.

Think win-winMost of us are trained to become competitors. The competitormindset lets us see everything as a win or lose situation.Often this makes us think that there is not enough cake foreveryone.

Don’t be that person.

Always try to think win-win and you will find that there is enoughfor everyone. We do not need to compete against each other in mostsituations.

Often when two competitors meet the result will be a lose-lose situation.

If you embrace the win-win paradigm, you will build betterrelationships and as a result, you will find a desirable solution for all

parties.

Emotional bank accountsForming healthy, long lasting relationships is not easy and needs hardwork.

Sometimes we forget a pledge or we do not apologize when it wouldhave been appropriate.

These inattentions might not kill a relationship immediately, but if youare not careful, they will do it in the long run.

To rid yourself from that detrimental behavior Covey recommends totreat a relationship as an emotional bank account.

If you do not keep a promise or if you treat people unfairly and do notapologize sincerely you withdraw from that emotional bank account.

If you had to make a withdrawal from the account make sureto tell the other party that you were wrong and that youapologize.

If you are loyal, keep your promises, treat people fairly and look forwin-win solutions, you make payments to the emotional bank account.

The greater the balance in a relationship's bank account thegreater the trust in that relationship is.

Make sure you make regular payments and withdraw only very rarely.

Seek first to understand, then to beunderstood

What would you think of a doctor giving a diagnosis without havinglistened to you?

What would you think of an optician handing us his glasses with thewords glasses that work for me will also work for you. Such advicewould be ludicrous.

But this is a recipe we often follow. We listen to others merely tobe able to provide an answer. Our mind has already asolution without having fully understood the person'sproblem.

The advice we give is often not well-received because wewant to prescribe our worldview to others. To be able to helpthe person you are talking to you need to practice goodcommunication. Entirely understanding the other person will also helpyou to correct an erroneous worldview you might have.

So what should you do instead?

Practice active listening. Repeat back what you understood in yourwords. Help the other person to provide details you did not thoroughlygrasp. Mirroring emotions will help people to open up and consideryour point of view.

Do not listen to be able to provide an answer, listen tounderstand.

First Insight: Aim for effectivenessThere is nothing so useless as doing efficiently that which shouldnot be done at all. — Peter Drucker

Understanding the difference between efficiency and effectiveness andapplying this knowledge will help you greatly with becomingsuccessful.

I have the tendency to work on things that I like doing and forget toask myself if the outcome of this work item brings me closer to mylong-term vision.

Often I execute tasks very efficiently, which I should not do at all. Donot fall into the same trap. Constantly ask yourself if the thing you aredoing is aligning well with your life-goals.

Put first things first by knowing which tasks on your list areurgent and which are important.

Know what you aim for by having a long-term vision. Thentry to find tactics to get there.

Second Insight: Seek first tounderstand, then to be understoodMost people do not listen with the intent to understand; theylisten with the intent to reply. — Stephen R. Covey

After having read the book, I noticed that I do exactly that which Coveyrecommends not doing: listening because I want to provide an answer.

Try this: in your next conversation, fight the impulse to respond tooquickly. Instead, practice active listening. Try hard to understand whatthe other person is saying.

If you think you do not fully understand the intentions of your

communication partner, ask questions and repeat what the otherperson was saying in your own words.

You will find that your communication gets a whole lot better.

Third Insight: Treat relationships asemotional bank accountsWhen the trust account is high, communication is easy, instant,and effective. — Stephen R. Covey

Treating a relationship as an emotional bank account is a cleverconcept to improve the quality of your relationships.

This idea works well for me because it makes it so obvious which of myactions add to the quality of a relationship and which don't.

ConclusionCovey's book is a classic, and I consider it a must-read for everyonewho wants to be effective in reaching ones goals.

I read the book a couple of years back and also read the Blinks for itseveral times. The time spent was worth it every time.

Do-This-DIRECTIVESStay fit, physically, mentally, and emotionally

Strive to be effective and not only efficient

If you want to change, work on your character, habits, and

inner belief system

Align your personal paradigms with universal principles offairness, honesty, and integrity

Do not allow external stimulus to shape your future; beproactive and craft your future

Find your values, guiding principals, and long-term goals

Try to visualize the outcome of everything you do

Prioritize — put first things first

Ask yourself if something will bring you closer to your long-term goals to find what you need to give priority

Always strive for a win-win solution

Do not merely listen to be able to provide an answer: listen tounderstand

ResourcesRead more about Stephen R. Covey on his website

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Posted on CuteMachine.com in management, leadership, self-improvement, productivity