“The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People,” by Stephen R. Covey is a life-management guide book that lays out the pathway to optimum success, achievement and happiness. This book targets the many individuals who appear to be outwardly successful but who find themselves struggling with an inner hunger for more. The void that many experience calls out for personal contentment and effectiveness and for satisfying personal and professional relationships. Author Covey provides the pathway to achieve just that.

Covey describes “habit” has the “intersection of knowledge, skill and desire.” To begin, the author suggests that two paradigm shifts take place in order to attain the greatest benefit of the book. He asks that the reader doesn’t see the work as a book to be read and then put on the shelf. He asks that the book is read and re-read and that it becomes part of the reader’s life. He also asks that the reader become teacher and share what he or she learns with friends, family and colleagues.

Covey then devotes sections to each of the 7 Habits of Highly Efficient People. Habit 1 is “Be Proactive.” There are proactive and reactive people. A person who is proactive addresses problems without blame and finds solutions based on his core principles and values. Proactive Focus is positive energy that enlarges the Circle of Influence which comprises those things that people have most control over. Habit 2 is “Begin with the End in Mind.” Focusing on where you want to be and what you want to achieve will propel you to success as you start your journey toward effectiveness. Habit 3 is “Put First Things First,” is the mental creation of what you want to attain. Habit 4 is “Win-Win.” A proactive person with self-awareness and in touch with his deeply held principles and values will seek a win-win solution in dealing with others.

Habit 5 is “Seek First to Understand, Then to Be Understood.” It is impossible to understand and influence another person until you know yourself. Once you understand yourself, you’re ready to be understood. Habit 6 is “Synergize.” A synergistic environment empowers people to achieve the optimum success. Synergy means the “whole is greater than the sum of its parts.” Habit 7 is “Renewal.” Once you have achieved success in the six habits, you must continually maintain and renew the four dimensions of your nature – physical, spiritual, mental and social/emotional.

By centering on the correct principals and developing a balanced focus between doing and increasing our abilities to do, we are empowered and can flourish in creative effective, useful and peaceful lives.