Keeping yourself, your employees and your company motivated is one of the most crucial things for anyone who wants to be successful. One of the best motivational books I have read is The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen R. Covey. The seven habits are explained below.

Be proactive: Principal of personal vision

In my experience, being proactive has always been better than reactive. As a habit, I do my best to plan for my personal and professional future.  By proactively planning my future, I am ready for anything that comes my way!

Begin with the end in mind: principal of personal leadership

Picturing the end of my life, I want people to say, He was a successful man who gave his all to his family and community. He is one of the best human being I have ever known. I have a clear image in my mind of the person I want to become and the legacy that I would like to leave. By doing this, it helps me judge if the things I’m doing on a day-to-day basis are consistent with the legacy I want to leave.

Put first things first: principle of management

Each person should know the difference between an important task and an urgent task. Effective people make an effort to focus on tasks that are important even if they are not urgent.  Ineffective people fall to the temptation of tasks that are urgent but not important. You should not rush through the things you do on a daily basis because you will get caught up spending your time completing urgent tasks that are not important. Remember my last blog entry about The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari. TIME IS MONEY!  So, don’t waste your time on non-important tasks.

Think win-win: principal of interpersonal leadership

When there are two different opinions, a compromise is not the best answer.  Look for a win-win solution. It will make everyone involved a lot happier than if there was a compromise.

Seek first to understand, before get to be understood: Principal of empathy

There is a reason we were given two ears and only one mouth. Listening is one of the greatest skills of successful people. Pay attention to people around you and hear what they have to say. Your parents, your teachers, your friends and many people you encounter on a daily basis have lots of experience to learn from. Listening isn’t easy, it requires practice. Start biting your tongue and engaging your ears!

Synergize: principal of creative cooperation

1 + 1 = 2?  Nope! That’s incorrect when effectively working with others. The principal of creative cooperation focuses on Aristotle’s idea that The whole is greater than the sum of its parts. Try to work with others whose skills complement yours, and who can bring the best out in you. People have different skills and experiences, and when combined in a team, the group can be exponentially better than the individuals working by themselves.

Sharpen the saw: principal of balance self-renewal
 
Learn, learn and once again, learn (Lenin)
Continuous Learning is the best way to exercise your brain. Keep yourself updated because the world is changing. You don’t want to just be a genius of the past. Here is another overlap between Stephen Covey’s Seven Habits and Robin Sharma’s The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari. When Covey says Sharpen the saw, Sharma says Practice Kaizen! For more about Kaizen, see our post on The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari.

I hope you can remember all these habits (sorry if we overloaded your brain with all of this great information J). If you already practice these habits, great! I bet you are a highly effective person. If you need to learn some of these habits, keep at it because when you practice a habit over and over again, it will become your habit. J