Notes on

The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People

by Stephen R. Covey


  • You have the ability to choose your reaction.
  • "Nobody can hurt you without your permission"
  • It is not what happens to us, but our reaction to it, that can hurt us.
  • Everything is created twice. Once in our head, and once physically.
  • "Management is do doing things right. Leadership is to do the right things"
  • "The successful man has a habit for doing the things that failures don't like doing". They may not like doing it either, but that's not relevant. They do it anyway.
  • Urgent and important. Urgent but not important. Not urgent but important. Not urgent and not important. Use this prioritization when managing time.
  • Not urgent but important is the core of effective personal leadership. It's about the building of relationships, exercise; things that take a long time, and is important.
  • An abundance-mentality is important. There is enough for everybody.
  • If you place good people in bad systems, you get bad results. You have to water the flowers you want to grow.
  • Try to really understand where the person you are interacting with is coming from.
  • An effective salesman first tries to understand the customers needs, thoughts and situation. The amateur sells the product, the professional sells the solution to needs and problems.
  • Investing in ourselves is the absolute best investment we can make.

The 7 habits

  1. Be proactive
  2. Begin with an end in mind
  3. Put first things first
  4. Always think Win-Win
  5. Seek first to understand, then to be understood
  6. Synergize
  7. Sharpen the saw

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