Habit 1 - Be proactive.

About proactivity, Covey says, "It means more than

merely taking initiative. It means that as human beings, we are responsible
for our own lives. Our behavior is a function of our decisions, not our
conditions. We can subordinate feelings to values. We have the initiative and
responsibility to make things happen. Look at the word 'responsibility' -
'response-ability' - the ability to choose your response. Highly proactive
people recognize their responsibility. They do not blame circumstances,
conditions, or conditioning for their behavior. Their behavior is a product of
their own conscious choice, based on values, rather than a product of their
conditions, based on feelings."

Habit 2 - Begin with the end in mind. For Covey, beginning with the end in
mind means that we should take the time to develop a mental image of what
we want to accomplish and be. At various times in the book, he describes
that image as a paradigm, a visualization, a picture, a goal, a plan, a blueprint,
a destination, or a definition of success. He says, "It's incredibly easy to get
caught up in an activity trap, in the busy-ness of life, to work harder and
harder at climbing the ladder of success only to discover it's leaning against
the wrong wall. ... How different our lives are when we really know what is
deeply important to us, and, keeping that picture in mind, we manage
ourselves every day to be and do what really matters most."

Habit 3 - Put First Things First. Covey sees habit 3, putting first things first,
as the integration and completion of habits 1 and 2. Habit 1 teaches us that
we are in charge of our behavior, attitudes, and thus, our outcomes. Habit 2
teaches us how to use our mental power to visualize our desired
outcomes. Bringing these two ideas together, habit 3 adds our ability to
discipline ourselves, and therefore, we are able to make our ideas a
reality. Discipline, for Covey, is not about "forcing" yourself to do unpleasant
things, rather, it is about being willing to act upon your own deepest
values. Covey's practical suggestions in this area mostly deal with time
management, which we will cover in greater detail in the next class period.

Habit 4 - Think Win/Win. "Win/Win is a frame of mind and heart that

constantly seeks mutual benefit in all human interactions. Win/Win means
that agreements or solutions are mutually beneficial, mutually satisfying. With
a Win/Win solution, all parties feel good about the decision and feel committed
to the action plan. Win/Win sees life as a cooperative, not a competitive
arena. ... Win/Win is based on the paradigm that there is plenty for
everybody, that one person's success is not achieved at the expense or
exclusion of the success of others. " Covey finds the opportunity for Win/Win
is highest in relationships with mutual trust. These relationships often lead to
explicit or implicit statements of expectations and performance
(promises). When the promises are fulfilled repeatedly, both parties win, and
further trust is built, in a self-reinforcing cycle.

Habit 5 - Seek First to Understand, then to be Understood. Covey offer us

this example to illustrate the power of listening to others with empathy. "If all
the air were sucked out of the room you're in right now, what would happen to
your interest in this book? You wouldn't care about the book; you wouldn't
care about anything except getting air. Survival would be your only
motivation. But now that you have air, it doesn't motivate you. This is one of
the greatest insights in the field of human motivation: Satisfied needs do not
motivate. It's only the unsatisfied need that motivates. Next to physical
survival, the greatest need of a human being is psychological survival - to be
understand, to be affirmed, to be validated, to be appreciated. When you
listen with empathy to another person, you give that person psychological
air. And after that vital need is met, you can then focus on influencing or
problem solving."

Habit 6 - Synergize. Synergy occurs the sum is greater than the separate
parts. Covey tells us that synergy has the best chances to occur when we
have habits 1 to 5 at work in our lives, because then we are ready to
experience the near-chaos situation that is necessary to develop true synergy
and creativity. One story in Covey's book describes a synergistic experience
within one college class in Leadership. One individual in the class opened up
one day in a presentation, telling a story that was deeply personal and
courageous. This one story caused others to open also, and soon the whole
class was sharing their innermost thoughts and listening respectfully to each
other. The experience was so powerful that the class decided to scrap the
original syllabus, and instead, took it upon themselves to work much harder
than planned, writing an entire book about Leadership in just six weeks. The
book was subsequently published, and the students continue to keep in touch
with each other, twenty years after the class ended.

Habit 7 - Sharpen the Saw. By "sharpen the saw," Covey means that we all
need to practice self-renewal. This is the personal application of Covey's
"production capability" (the PC part of the P/PC principle). It involves a
commitment to exercise all parts of our mind, body, heart, and soul to
increase our mental, physical, emotional, and spiritual health. Covey
declares, "This is the single most powerful investment we can ever make in
life - investment in ourselves, in the only instrument we have with which to
deal with life and to contribute. We are the instruments of our own
performance, and to be effective, we need to recognize the importance of
taking time regularly to sharpen the saw in all four ways."