7 Habits of Highly Effective people

7 Habits of Highly Successful People by
Stephen Covey

Be proactive.
You take responsibility for your own
behavior. You don't blame circumstances,
conditions, or your conditioning for your
behavior. You choose your response to any
situation and any person.

Begin with the end in mind.
You can visualize the future that you want
to achieve. You have a clear vision of
where you want to go and what you want
to accomplish. You live your life according
to some deeply held beliefs, principles, or
fundamental truths.

Put first things first.
You live a disciplined life. You focus heavily
on highly important but not necessarily
urgent activities such as "building
relationships, writing a personal mission
statement, long-range planning,
exercising,... preparation--all those things
we know we need to do, but somehow
seldom get around to doing, because they
aren't urgent." (Covey 1990, p. 154). You
say no to things that seem critical but are
unimportant.

Think win/win.
You have an "abundance" mentality. You
believe there is plenty for everybody. You
don't believe that one person's success
requires another person's failure. You look
for synergistic solutions to problems. You
seek to find solutions in which all parties
benefit.

Seek first to understand, then to be
understood.
You listen with the strong intent to fully,
deeply understand the other person both
emotionally and intellectually. You
diagnose before you prescribe.

Synergize.
You are creative. You are a trailblazer and
a pathfinder. You believe the whole is
greater than the sum of its parts. You value
differences between people and try to
build upon those differences. When
presented with two conflicting alternatives,
you seek a third, more creative response.

Sharpen the saw.
You seek continuous improvement,
innovation, and refinement. You are always
seeking to learn.