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.

In explaining those key words, the author also inserts some absolutely fantastic examples as well as stories and illustrations in an attempt to be understood by readers. One of the examples that I will never forget is the example about the young lady and old woman. I can't agree more with him that people see things differently because of their past experiences. Our background knowledge is the key factor influencing our actions. Besides having a good understanding about the example, I also taught this principle to many groups of people such as my students, friends, girlfriend, and even my parents. By teaching others we will be able to learn the material better, Stephen believes.

In part 2, three of the seven habits are explained. This part is about Private Victory, which is a harbinger to the next part Public Victory. Habit 1, Be Proactive, is detailed in this part. In Stephen's words, Habit 1 is about principles of personal vision. What I can remember and learn from reading this part is that between stimulus and response there is a space. We have to use that space carefully because the space determines our happiness or sadness. As a human beings, we are responsible (response-able), which means we have the capacity to response to everything. We can response cheerfully or sadly to the success of our study or whether we response in grief or in smile to the success of a friend, for example.

Habit 2 titled Begin with the End in Mind is about the principles of personal leadership. Stephen proposes readers to have their own mission statement about their life. They should write down what their values are and how relevant are they to their lives. The mission statement acts as a personal constitution. It determines what we think is right or wrong. It is the destination the place that we want to reach in our life. Frankly, after reading that part, I felt that it was difficult to write a mission statement. I definitely found that difficult for me to think ahead of what I would like to do or the destination I would like to go. Until I committed myself to write that my personal mission statement was born. It took me just thirty minutes to write it but it could dramatically affect my life. At this point, I would like to emphasize that a vision is crucial for a good leader. No good leaders are visionless. They are visionful. So to be a good leader of yourself, you also need to have your own vision, your own personal mission, in other words.

"Put First Things First" is Habit 3. It is concerned with principles of personal management. In this part Stephen explains about the effective ways of using time management. Because managing ourself is more to with managing our time, a proper use of our time is very essential. He introduces the matrix of time management. There are four quadrants in the matrix. See the picture to your left. Most people are usually in Quadrant 1. They have many important tasks and they are all urgent. But usually urgent tasks are not really urgent. Thus people in Quadrant 1 usually face the problems of defining what are important to them. Of the four quadrants here, the most important and suitable for an effective person is Quadrant 2. It is because people in Quadrant 2 usually focus on the real-important tasks and they do it gradually until the last i is dotted and the last t is crossed.

In addition to using this time management matrix, Stephen also recommends readers to have a weekly schedule. He argues that most people have a to-do list which deals only with daily tasks, which could lead them to Quadrant 1. He then suggests a weekly schedule because he wants people to think further to their future not just tomorrow but the day or days after tomorrow. The weekly schedule is to your right. The table allows you to define your roles and responsibilities for the whole week. Personally, after using this table, I could feel the control of my work and I could balance my work with my pleasure as well as my family and other matters.