Becoming Highly Effective

About a month ago I read the book "The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People". I know, I'm a little behind the times with reading it and ever more behind with posting a blog about it. I'm not sure where I even got this copy of the book, but I've had it for years, the pages are yellow, and it was printed in 1989!  I'm pretty sure I didn't buy this book when I was in middle school so who knows where I got this copy??

Little Bookworm

Growing up I absolutely LOVED to read. I didn't get to watch much TV so books were my main form of entertainment. Well, that and talking to my imaginary friends.... kidding! I used to read almost every free moment, and even remember reading by flashlight under the covers as a kid. I was a real bookworm! I even earned the title of "Class Bookworm" when I was in 8th grade! I suppose that is actually an uncool and nerdy award, but I loved it!

 Losing the Love to Read

I read less when I got to high school since I was busy with so many other things, and then when I got to college I barely had any free time. I also had tons of required to reading to do for school that I could never seem to stay on top of and at some point in college reading became a chore to me. It also seemed to have become a sleep aid and I often found myself getting drowsy the more that I read.

 Reading on the Road

Over the past few years the majority of my reading has occurred while I've been traveling and I've made it through books (over the course of a few trips per books) thanks to all the down time in airports and while in the air. I hate to admit though that I have a wandering eye when it comes to books. I'll arrive at the airport and have a few magazines and a book with me, and then I'll walk by the newsstand or a bookstore and see a new book that came out and I'll want that one too! This has resulted in a bookshelf of partially read books.

Finishing Books

One of my new years resolutions this year was to finish reading books that I have bought and borrowed over the years. (Sorry Jenna! I have a handful of your books still!) The first book on my list was "The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People". I started reading this book a few months ago and instantly loved it! But then it was shelved until my next trip when I read a bit more, and then finally over my last trip to Colorado and some reading time I allocated for myself this past weekend, I finished reading it! Yay me!

In short - I think this book is so great that I want to buy it for everyone I know! It has great lessons to learn about life, relationships, communication, expectations, your career, your family, etc. Its a lesson on life! The subheading on the cover is "Powerful Lessons in Personal Change". That describes it perfectly!

Folding Down Pages

As I read this book I kept finding sections/sayings/paragraphs that I thought "Oh wow! I have to share this with someone!" After coming upon the third section where I thought that, I finally folded down the corner of the book page, and then went back to find the previous two that had struck a chord with me as well.

Here are a summary of the sections and sayings that I thought were great:

"We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit." - Aristotle

 

Reactive Language vs. Proactive Language

"There's nothing I can do" vs "Let's look at our alternatives"

"That's just the way I am" vs "I can choose a different approach"

"He makes me so mad" vs "I control my own feelings"

"It is not what others do or even our own mistakes that hurt us the most; it is our response to those things. Chasing after the poisonous snake that bites us will only drive the poison through our entire system. It is far better to take measures immediately to get the poison out."

 

"Management is a bottom line focus: How can I best accomplish certain things?
Leadership deals with the top line: What are the things I want to accomplish?"

 

"Management is doing things right; leadership is doing the right things"

 

"Organize and execute around priorities"

 

"Maturity is the balance between courage and consideration. Emotional maturity is the ability to express one's own feelings and convictions balanced with consideration for the thoughts and feelings of others."

 

"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."

 

"The person who doesn't read is no better off than the person who can't read." (Ouch! This one motivated me to finish the book in non-travel time!

 

"That which we persist in doing becomes easier - not that the nature of the task has changed, but our ability to do so has increased. By centering our lives on correct principles and creating a balanced focus between doing and increasing our ability to do, we become empowered in the task of creating effective, useful, and peaceful lives ... for ourselves, and for our posterity." - Emerson

 

Thank you Stephen R. Covey for the insightful and well written book! I look froward to giving this book to those close to me for Christmas this year. Guess you'll see if you make the cut this December! ;o)