The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People (Part 2)

Finally, I have finished reading the book. I sense an enlightenment, though I can't guarantee that I have understood everything taught in the book. Feeling inspired by the teaching in the book as well as the remarkable effort the author put in in writing the book, I have committed myself to reflecting back to what I have gained from the 8-month periodical reading.

First, I would like to start with the organization of the book. The book, so to speak, is divided into four interrelated parts. The first parts starts with the explanation of what a paradigm is and it deals with how we can change our outside world by changing our inner self. The point here, as Stephen explains, is that by changing the way we see others, we can change how we will interact with them, and the ways we see others is defined by Stephen as a paradigm. Then, Stephen goes on to introduce the 7 habits in a superficial but dramatically intriguing way. In this part, several key words have been explained such as paradigm, habit, P/PC balance and effectiveness.

What Cambodia is doing to achieve MDGs

After suffering from chronic wars of over 30 years, Cambodia is now heading for better future...

There remains only five more years to the deadline of the Millennium Development Goals. Things have not been progressed as they should be. Being one of the members of the UN, Cambodia is also trying to achieve MDGs (Millennium Development Goals). Now I am going to talk about what my country Cambodia has done and is doing to achieve these goals. First, we are trying to eradicate extreme poverty through building and rehabilitating our infrastructures such as roads and bridges. Our government is also trying to attract foreign investors to our country in order to generate more jobs and opportunities for the have-nots. Second, we are also working on developing our human resources. Obviously, our government has implemented a new policy on education system, making 9th grade the compulsory level of education. Third, women are now given opportunities to receive education by allowing them to go to schools. Moreover, unlike in the past, they are now encouraged to join public events so as to increase their visibility in the society.

The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People (Part 1)

One of the greatest books that I have ever read is the book by Stephen R. Convey titled "The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People." Rich in principles and clear in explanation, the book has been sold over 15 million copies. People around the world appraise this book for the life-changing experiences the book provide to them. Having been reading this book for over 8 months, I have gained so much knowledge about myself and my surroundings. I have grown aware of my actions, my values, my goals, my aspirations as well as my weaknesses. Particularly speaking, the book has provided me a new level of thinking, a new paradigm, a concepts about my future, the ways I should deal with others, and how I could lead a good life. Bereft of time for reading, I have grabbed every single free time that I have had to read this wonderful book. After reading all the parts and chapters in this book, I will summarize what I could understand and share with all of you the experiences I have had with this book.

My books and my grandpa

When I was young, I tried to keep every old book that I had. Now, my room is replete with unused books, which means I have to jettison some of them. However, my grandpa tussles against my will saying that those books contain intrinsic value and are highly lucrative. Inevitably in order to avoid his stern rebuke, I superficially agree with him because he happens to complain about such a thing once in a blue moon only.

Lesson from my manager

I am being very careful about my work because I don't want to be rebuked by my boss. My boss just doesn't like those who are remiss in their duties. His aversion to careless people makes me afraid of him. Anyway, he never evinces any anger in front of his staff. His superficial calmness is the vogue for other managers. I should start learning from him from now on because you know what they say "strike while the iron is hot."

Cramming and cramming and cramming!!!

I really feel not particularly happy when I see people cramming before the exam. This practice has been seriously spread among Cambodian learners nowadays. This morning I had an exam at my university. Before I went to the exam room, I was in the library chatting with one of my friends who was reviewing for his exam in the afternoon. Just half an hour before the exam starts, the library was filled with groups of students. In their hands were the documents they have copied from the book. I did not know exactly what purposes of those documents are, but as I might have understood they were used as cramming materials. All the groups inside the library shared a common characteristic which was cramming. They tried to upload all the materials they had learnt for more than a month into their brain in just a few minutes. "How are they going to remember all of the information?" I questioned myself.

A Football Prodigy

Lionela is a football prodigy. He is able to juggle the ball for more than 12 hours non-stop, using his head, shoulders, both feet and other parts of his body, although he is just 12 years of age. This remarkable young man never falters or lets anything faltering his effort in his ardent sport. Born in a family bereft of necessary wealth, Lionela has not been educated in a proper school. Even though his lifestyle is constricted by his family situation, Lionela still has a great exultation every time he plays football with his fellow friends. "When it comes to football, I am loaded for bear!" is what Lionela said when talking about his passion in football.

That is why!

An ardent supporter of globalization raised an important points at the start of the meeting. It was a terse proposition, and it was shameful to the speaker because the audience did not understand what he had been trying to explain. At a glance, I saw a man standing up among an array of anti-globalization fans rebuking the speaker that he had not broken the ice yet. True! The first speaker could not get his ideas across, which culminated in the audience walking away from the conference hall. The pinnacle of his aspiration as a supporter of globalization had come to the end when he gave the audience an obscure view of what globalization really is.

I had to be blunt on this!

It was that transient moment that I forced myself to speak out that words, even though I was aware that these words could hurt him. "John, you have done a very good job so far for our company," I said to him sympathetically, "But a piece of news that I hate to break is that the situation really forces me to dismiss you." After saying this, I knew that I had been terse to John. "I know that is what I will get at the end of the day, but don't you want to sleep on this decision for a few more days. After all, I have been working here all my life," John angrily replied. "Well, John," I pat him "The gist of the story is that we are running out of fund to support more stuff. So we need to lay off some." It was not the most cogent reason, I knew, and it was an acute pain to lay off such a good stuff like him.