Choose sound principles

Take the time to sharpen your tools: your body, soul, mind and heart. It’s time for “self-renewal.”

Effective people take care of their bodies with a program of exercise that combines endurance, flexibility and strength. It’s easy to plan such a program, and you don’t have to join a gym to ...

Character is habit. Excellence is a habit, not an aptitude. As Aristotle said, we are what we habitually do. To develop the habit of acting on these principles you must:

• Know – Understand what you want to do and why you want to do it.
• Develop skills – Become able to do it.
...

Write a personal mission statement to clarify your principles and set your goals.

Think carefully about your goals. Many people spend a lifetime pursuing a goal that proves meaningless, unsatisfying or destructive.

Effectiveness is not just a matter of reaching a goal but rather of a...

Multiply your allies.

In all relationships, exercise “interpersonal leadership” to make both parties winners. Two wins makes everyone better off; two losses places everyone in a worse situation.

Highly effective people strive for win/win transactions, which make it profitable for ev...

Much of the business success literature of recent decades focused on developing a good personality. This emphasis is misplaced. Developing a sound character is more important and more productive. Your personality can emerge naturally when your character is rooted in and formed by positive princip...

You are free because you can determine how you respond to circumstances.

Highly effective people take the initiative. They are proactive. They don’t impose limits on themselves that prevent them from acting. They recognize that they have the freedom to determine the kind of character they w...

Habit 1: “Be Proactive.” You are free because you can determine how you respond to circumstances

Habit 2: “Begin with the End in Mind.” Write a personal mission statement to clarify your principles and  goals

Habit 3: “Put First Things First.”...

You are what you habitually do, so adopt productive habits. You have the ability to improve your habits and your life.

Focus on developing character, not personality. 

Choose sound principles – integrity, dignity, quality, service, patience, perseverance, caring, courage – and endeavo...

The cooperative whole is greater than the sum of the individual parts.

Cooperation multiplies the power of one. In fact, “creative cooperation” may yield a force greater than the sum of the parts, just as an arch can support a greater weight than two pillars can hold. The arch multiples the...

Communication and trust are two-way streets.

To develop win/win relationships, find out what the other parties want, and what winning means to them. Don’t assume you know. Listen. Always try to understand what the other people want and need before you begin to outline your own objectives. D...

Balance the attention you give to eacYou have the power to change who you are, but that means changing how you act. Never let your most important priorities fall victim to the least important. Many people spend their time reacting to urgent circumstances and emergencies, and never invest the nece...

The heart refers to emotions, which depend greatly on others. Work to develop your heart, your emotional connections and your engagement with other people.

Communicate, listen and be undemanding. In everything you do, try to make others better off and put them first.

By doing so, yo...

“Most people do not listen with the intent to understand; they listen with the intent to reply.”

Mental repair may mean changing your habits, such as the habit of watching television. Television watching encourages passive absorption of values, attitudes and dispositions that dull the mind....

The seven habits of highly effective people are:

1. They take initiative. “Be proactive.”
2. They focus on goals. “Begin with the end in mind.”
3. They set priorities. “Put first things first.”
4. They only win when others win. “Think win/win.”
5. They communicate. “Se...