Why the 7 Habits work

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  2. See this Flash movie on "I Shall". Catch all 5 parts of this movie..
  3. Buy the book from Amazon. Success lies in working the details.
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The 7 Habits in Steven Covey's best selling and proven book, "7 Habits of Highly Effective People" are.

  1. Be Proactive
  2. Begin with the end in mind
  3. First things first
  4. Think win-win
  5. Seek to understand first
  6. Synergize
  7. Sharpen your saw
    8.

As many people who have succeeded at practicising it and become highly effecitve, even larger numbers have tried and failed. Why? But before we answer that question let's understand why the 7 Habits actually work. The first three habits, "Be Proactive", "Begin with the end in mind" and "First things first" if you begin consciously and habitually practise them, they form a virtuous cycle that would make these three habits increasingly easy to practise and eventually a joy to do so.

Habit 2, "Begin with the end in mind" (Box 4) will often offer many reasons why you ought to be proactive, but it only work because you have began with your belief to be proactive. Then you go about executing what you need to do step by step according to the principle of Habit 3, "First things first" to get the results you desire. When you achieve that, you are an Effective Person. With practice, thiese three habits will form a virtuous cycle as shown on Map 1. Each habit leverage on another making it easier to practise over time.

Habit 4, 5 and 6 forms the other virtuous cycle, but it must come after you began practising Habit 1, 2 and 3. Often if you begin by thinking "Win-Win" (Habit 4) it becomes obvious that you need to really understand the other party (Habit 5) objectives and mindset you are trying to work with first before such a win-win situation can be feasible. Then you look for synergies within yourself and with your partners to achieve the win-win goals (Habit 6), which lead you to want to think win-win again. What we can achieve alone is pretty limited but what we can achieve together with others is limitless. That is the other secret of becoming effective.

So why is it so difficult for the majority to practise these 7 Habits?

Notice that in Map 1 and Map 2 you do not see how a person could cross the chasm from many self-defeating habits to these 7 Habits. This is the reason why many fail to live the 7 Habits and become effective individuals. Stephen Covey's books offer many examples on how you can breach this gap. Equipped with the discovery from this discussion now when you read his books, pay particular attention to those parts provide examples how others have successfully crossed the chasm to enjoy these two virtuous cycles..

Changing behavior goes beyond the intellectual to the emotional and the will. The Flash movies at Inspiring Thots speak at the level of our hearts to inspire us to action to bring the intellect and the emotional complex together. In particular, look at the Flash movie, "I Shall".

Nurture the capacity and have the courage to love. Love makes the 7 Habits easier to achieve. Behind the 7 Habits are values of love, generosity, faith and trust. It is love that binds the other three. Spend some time with this Flash movie "Courage to Love"

If you had tried using the 7 Habits previously but was unsusccessful. Look at this Flash movie, "The Truth about Failure". It will offer you very powerful reasons to try again.

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