Strive to Become a Highly Effective Person

I was perusing Pinterest last night and I came across this pin (by a guy named Marc.) It was a tribute to Dr. Stephen R. Covey, author of 7 Habits of Highly Effective People.

I didn’t realize Dr. Covey had passed away this past summer. He was born on October 24, 1932 and died on July 16, 2012. He was a businessman, educator, author, and motivational speaker. He empowered greatness in hundreds of thousands of people through his books and seminars.

I have been feeling empowered, of sorts, every since I got a new job over three weeks ago. So last night after I found the “pin”, I decided to check out Dr. Covey’s website.

Even just quickly browsing the website I felt inspired to revamp my habits -good and bad – to be a more highly effective person.

If you are like me and you haven’t read his book (yet) – 7 Habits of Highly Effective People – here are the seven habits (as listed on the webiste):

1. Be proactive.
2. Begin with the end in mind.
3. Put first things first.
4. Think win-win.
5. Seek first to understand, then to be understood.
6. Synergize.
7. Sharpen the Saw

And in a follow-up to that book, Dr. Covey wrote The 8th Habit: From Effectiveness to Greatness, which explains that “tapping into the higher reaches of human motivation requires a new mindset, a new skill-set –a new habit.”

Everyone, I think, wants to thrive in their life. We want to thrive, to be excited, to be fulfilled. Exchanging bad habits for good habits – for better habits – will make us a generation of highly effective people. And who doesn’t want to be a highly effective person? And if we, as a generation, can better improve our habits, then we can influence generations to come to be better people, more highly effective people!

So I’d like to challenge you, my friends, to set some time aside these next couple of weeks and take stock of your habits, both good and bad. Take a look at your good habits and see where you can improve upon them. Then take a look at your bad habits and see where you can exchange them for good habits or kick those bad habits all together.

My hope for you, my friends, is that you will become a highly effective person and that you thrive in your life every day. Also, I hope that your thriving will inspire others to become highly effective people!

Have a great day!