Practice Habit 7: Sharpen the Saw To “Sharpen the Saw” means preserving and enhancing the greatest asset you have—you. It means having a balanced program for self-renewal. This may sound intimidating, but it’s actually much simpler than it sounds. It could include taking care of your body by eating right, exercising, and getting the right …
Enjoy Habit 6: Synergize
August 15, 2022
In the bestselling book The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, Stephen R. Covey’s sixth habit is Synergize. This was a fairly popular word in the 90s, especially in the business sphere, but has fallen out of the common vernacular in recent years. Perhaps it’s time to reevaluate the meaning of this word to …
Practice Habit 5: Seek First to Understand, Then to be Understood
July 18, 2022
A common default of humans is to listen with the intent of responding. We like to have something to say, something to add. We each filter everything we hear through our life experiences, our frame of reference. We then check what we hear against our autobiography and see how it measures up. Consequently, we decide …
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Work On Habit 4: Think Win/Win
June 20, 2022
Almost every conversation includes negotiation. If you listen closely, you’ll hear a lot of pleasant disagreements disguised as idle chatter. Disagreements are healthy. It’s been said that if two people agree on everything all the time, only one person is doing the thinking. But what happens when your disagreements get in the way of productivity? …
Implementing Habit 3 By Putting Family First
May 16, 2022
Habit 3: Put First Things First is about life management – your purpose, values, roles, and priorities. But what are your “first things”? Many would say their first priority is their family, but struggle to actually put them above everything else, especially work. It’s easy to make the case that work simply HAS to come …
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Habit 2: Beginning With the End in Mind
April 25, 2022
Stephen Covey taught that all things are created twice. There’s a mental or first creation, and a physical or second creation. This is clearly evident in the process of building a home. You envision what your ideal home will be and you take that vision to the architect. Together you work through each detail of …
Back to Busy – How to Continue Sharpening the Saw
August 23, 2021
In his book The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, Stephen Covey discusses the importance of scheduling time to relax. Just like you can’t cut down a tree with a dull saw, you can’t perform to your greatest extent without taking time to rejuvenate yourself physically, spiritually, mentally, and socially/emotionally. But with September comes a …
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Habit 7: Sharpen the Saw
September 7, 2020
“This is the single most powerful investment we can ever make in life—investment in ourselves, in the only instrument we have with which to deal with life and to contribute.” – Stephen R. Covey Habit 7: Sharpen the Saw is all about self-renewal. Stephen R. Covey calls it Balanced Self-Renewal because in order to feel …
Habit 6: Synergize
August 3, 2020
“Valuing the differences is the essence of synergy—the mental, the emotional, the psychological differences between people. And the key to valuing those differences is to realize that all people see the world, not as it is, but as they are.” —Stephen R. Covey Simply defined, Synergy means that the whole is greater than the sum …
Habit 5: Seek First to Understand, Then to Be Understood
July 6, 2020
“Satisfied needs do not motivate. It’s only the unsatisfied need that motivates. Next to physical survival, the greatest need of human beings is psychological survival—to be understood, affirmed, validated, and appreciated.” —Stephen R. Covey Theodore Roosevelt is credited for saying, “Nobody cares how much you know until they know how much you care.” That statement …
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Habit 4: Think Win-Win
June 8, 2020
“If I focus on my own Win and don’t even consider your point of view, there’s no basis for any kind of productive relationship.” —Stephen R. Covey We live in a competitive society. That competition has shaped us as groups and individuals. It has not only played an integral role in our survival as a …
Habit 3: Put First Things First
May 4, 2020
“When you have too many top priorities, you effectively have no top priorities. Regarding strategic goals, it’s important that they are few, prioritized, and measurable.” —Stephen R. Covey We’ve all heard the phrase, “If everyone is special then nobody is special.” There’s a lot of truth to that. Not every movie becomes a blockbuster hit. …
Habit 2: Begin With the End in Mind
April 6, 2020
“Through imagination, we can visualize the uncreated worlds of potential that lie within us.” —Stephen R. Covey Habit Two: Begin With The End In Mind is a principle of power unique to humans. In an article posted in Psychology Today, titled: The Power of ‘Then’: The Uniquely Human Capacity to Imagine Beyond the Present, we learn …
Developing Habit 1: Be Proactive
March 9, 2020
The desire for change and growth seems to be hardwired in each of us. It’s part of the human condition. We can’t remain stagnant without feeling stuck. That’s why Stephen R. Covey’s 7 Habits Of Highly Effective People are so valuable. Whatever your situation may be, you have the power to make it better by …
