7 Habits of Highly Effective People

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The seven habits of highly effective students course is based on a book titled The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People by the late Dr. Stephen R. Covey. In his book, Dr. Covey explains that to be effective leaders we must first attempt to fix the problems within ourselves. We must first be able to lead our own lives before we can effectively lead others. The seven habits is a theory based on the maturity continuum. Covey divided this continuum into three stages: dependence, independence, and interdependence. In the dependence stage we must me nurtured, directed and sustained by others. Once we become more reliant on ourselves and less dependent on other people we make the shift from dependence to independence. This shift is represented in habits one through three and is what Covey considers to be the “Private Victory”. The shift from independence to interdependence occurs in habits four through six. In this stage we gain a true appreciation for the contribution of others. Once this has happened we have achieved the “Public Victory”. The seventh and final habit is known as sharpening the saw and focuses on our everyday actions and self renewal. This first habit in the process of going from dependence to independence is to be proactive. We all have choices and decisions we must make as adults. By becoming proactive we realize that we are responsible for the choices we make and how we handle each circumstance we are presented with. We no longer place blame on other people for who we are or what we do with ourselves. We take responsibility for that and rationally think through our decisions before we react to whatever circumstance we are presented with. The second habit is to begin with the end in mind. The best way to reach a goal is to have a clear focus on what the goal is and strive to achieve that through our actions. Covey suggest that we visualize our
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