In What Ways Do You Apply the Seven Habits of Highly Effective People?

Several years ago, I completed the Seven Habits of Highly Effective People course. Here is a brief summary of the seven habits...

1.    Be proactive--"Taking initiative does not mean being pushy, obnoxious, or aggressive. It does mean recognizing our responsibility to make things happen."

2.    Begin with the end in mind--"This habit is based on imagination--the ability to envision, to see the potential, to create with our minds what we cannot at present see with our eyes...”

3.    Put first things first--"Create a clear, mutual understanding of what needs to be accomplished, focusing on what, not how; results not methods. Spend time. Be patient. Visualize the desired result."

4.    Think win-win--"Win-Win is a frame of mind that constantly seeks mutual benefit in all human interactions. Win-Win means that agreements or solutions are mutually beneficial and satisfying."

5.    Seek first to understand, then to be understood--"'Seek First to Understand' involves a very deep shift in paradigm. We typically seek first to be understood. Most people do not listen with the intent to understand; they listen with the intent to reply. They're either speaking or preparing to speak. They're filtering everything through their own paradigms, reading their autobiography into other people's lives."

6.    Synergize--"Synergy works; it's a correct principle. It is the crowning achievement of all the previous habits. It is effectiveness in an interdependent reality--it is teamwork, team building, the development of unity and creativity with other human beings."

7.    Sharpening the saw--"This is the habit of renewal...It circles and embodies all the other habits. It is the habit of continuous improvement...that lifts you to new levels of understanding and living each of the habits."

In what ways do you apply the Seven Habits of Highly Effective People in your life?

Note: Quotes are from 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey.