This book proposes that there are seven habits that can be learned to improve one’s personal and interpersonal effectiveness. Covey describes a habit as “the intersection of knowledge, skill and desire.” Knowledge would represent the “what to do”, skill the “how to do”, and desire the

“want to do”. In order to create a habit in our lives, we must have all three.

Habits 1, 2, and 3 relate to Private Victory with habit 4, 5, and 6 relating to Public Victories and

Habit 7 being involved with Renewal.

Habit one is to be proactive. This habit says that as human beings we are responsible for our own lives. Our behavior is a function of our decisions, not our conditions. We create our own destiny. The proactive person acts rather than waiting to be acted upon.

According to Covey, part of increasing our self-awareness is understanding

more proactive. The spiritual dimension of our lives must also be renewed. This is achieved through prayer, music, reading, meditation or nature. This touches the center of our beings.

Covey’s seventh habit could be described as the oil that lubricates the gears of all the other habits. “Sharpening the saw” is the habit that makes all the others possible. This habit is making an investment in ourselves. This refers to taking care of our bodies. This includes eating right, getting enough sleep and engaging in regular exercise. Our physical well being will help us to be

3. Determine what results would constitute a fully acceptable solution.

When properly understood, synergy, the sixth habit, occurs. This is the highest activity in all life. Covey describes it as the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. In simple terms one plus one equals three or more. Synergy occurs when minds stimulate each other and ideas call forth ideas. It reveals a third alternative. We can’t create synergy directly. It is a byproduct and trying too hard to create it can actually prevent it. The goal is to create the climate in which synergy thrives. The elements of that climate include (1) the win-win attitude, (2) seeking first to understand, and (3) a belief in our abilities to find a third alternative. In other words, this habit builds directly upon the two that precede it.

2. Identify the key issues and concerns (not positions) involved.

Our personal integrity helps us to “walk our talk”. The strength of purpose enables us to do even th

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