![]() If you want to have a happy marriage, be the kind of person who generates positive energy and sidesteps negative energy rather than empowering it. Principles are not values they are deep, fundamental truths.Īlbert Einstein observed, “The significant problems we face cannot be solved at the same level of thinking that created them.” Covey states in all his experience he has never seen lasting solutions to problems, lasting happiness and success, that came from outside in. A principle-centered, character-based, inside-out approach to personal and interpersonal effectiveness is the level of thinking required to live the 7 Habits. We can't break these natural laws we can only break ourselves against them. These laws are principles like fairness, integrity, honesty, human dignity, service, growth, and many more. Principles are like lighthouses. They are natural laws that cannot be broken. This exercise was used by a Harvard Business School Instructor who use it to make the point two people can look at the same thing, disagree at what they are looking at, and both be right.Ĭovey tells a story of two battleships at sea on maneuvers for several days in heavy weather. One night with spotty fog a lookout on the lead ship announces to the captain a steady light on the starboard bow. The captain instructs to signal the other ship “We are on a collision course advise you to change course 20 degrees.” A message comes back, “Advisable for you to change course 20 degrees”. The captain signals “I am a Captain advise you change course 20 degrees”. A reply “I am a seaman, second class, advise you change course 20 degrees.” The angry captain demands with a final threat that they change course and backs up his threat with a statement “I am a battleship”. The voice at the other end responds, no, advise you change course, “I am a lighthouse”. The captain had a sudden paradigm shift. Look at the picture attached. Do you see an old woman or a young woman? Whichever you see that is your perspective. By shifting your perspective, you may see the other. We all have two types of maps in our heads. Maps of the way things are (realities), and maps of the way things should be (values). We seldom question their accuracy. We simply assume that the way we see things is the way they are or the way we think they should be. The fundamental problem has nothing to do with your behavior or attitude. It has everything to do with you having the wrong map. Can you imagine your frustration? You might work on your behavior, try harder, work twice as hard, but your efforts would only get you to the wrong place faster. You might work on your attitude and be more positive and optimistic, but you still wouldn’t get to your destination, although you may not worry about it because you have a positive attitude. The 7 Habits represent the internalization of correct principles upon which enduring happiness and success are based. Before we can understand the 7 Habits, we need to understand our own paradigms and how to make a paradigm shift.Ī paradigm is the way we see the world. Think of a paradigm as a map. Imagine it’s pre-cellphone era and you needed to find a location in Chicago but through a printing error, you were provided a map of Detroit labeled Chicago. I start with the riddle that is not part of Covey's 7 Habits. I hope that many are finding value in this series and recognize that this book and the ideas it contains are worthy of continuous study and application. I decided this series would be more than 7 posts (one for each of the 7 habits). I decided to dedicate Mondays to this series indefinitely with the intention that each Monday will provide an idea worthy of contemplation and focus for the rest of the week and beyond. That riddle and reader’s comments inspired me to begin a series on Stephen Covey’s "7-Habits of Highly Effective People", a book that I first read as a young man that profoundly impacted my life and career.Īs I was preparing for my first post by turning the pages of this wonderful book, I was reminded of how abundantly full of valuable insights this book is. ![]() ![]() The answer to that riddle is “I am Habit”. Welcome to my #7Habits of Highly Effective People Monday series. On January 8, 2021, I posted a “Who Am I” riddle. This is a powerful summary of Covey's classic book. ![]() For convenience and long-term accessibility to the content, I have combined my posts into one article. This article is a combination of all the 2021 weekly posts from my 7 Habits of Highly Effective People series. ![]()
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