The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People

My mother told me once, "I always taught you how to read, read, read...At least I know I did one thing right." Chuckling to myself, it's a funny comment but very true. Knowing how to spell, read and write is (to my belief) one of the most powerful tools that anyone can learn and possess! Moving forward, this book I've reread over and over again, THE 7 HABITS OF HIGHLY EFFECTIVE PEOPLE: Powerful Lessons in Personal Change, Written by Stephen R. Covey, is an absolute MUST-READ. In fact, it is so good, that it should be purchased and passed down to your children's and grandchildren's future generations. Here is an excerpt taken from page 263 that I feel compelled to share.

PRINCIPLES OF CREATIVE COOPERATION:

We obviously value the physical differences between men and women, husbands and wives. But what about the social, mental, and emotional differences? Could these differences not also be sources of creating new, exciting forms of life - creating an environment that is truly fulfilling for each person, that nurtures the self-esteem and self-worth of each, that creates opportunities for each to mature into independence and then gradually into interdependence? Could synergy not create a new script for the next generation - one that is more geared to service and contribution, and is less protective, less adversarial, less selfish; one that is more open, more trusting, more giving, and is less defensive, protective, and political; one that is more loving, more caring, and is less possessive and judgmental?

SYNERGISTIC COMMUNICATION:

Many people have not really experienced even a moderate degree of synergy in their family life or in other interactions. They've been trained and scripted into defensive and protective communications or into believing that life or other people can't be trusted. As a result, they are never really open to Habit 6, principles.
This represents one of the greatest tragedies and wastes in life, because so much potential remains untapped-completely undeveloped and unused. Ineffective people live day after day with unused potential. They experience synergy only in small, peripheral ways in their lives.
They may have memories of some unusual creative experiences, perhaps in athletics, where they were involved in a real team spirit for a period of time. Or perhaps they were in an emergency situation where people cooperated to an unusually high degree and submerged ego and pride in an effort to save someone's life or to produce a solution to a crisis.
To many, such events may seem unusual, almost out of character with life, even miraculous. But this is not so. These things can be produced regularly, consistently, almost daily in people's lives. But it requires enormous personal security and openness and a spirit of adventure.
Most of all, creative endeavors are somewhat unpredictable. They often seem ambiguous, hit-or-miss, trial and error. And unless people have a high tolerance for ambiguity and get their security from integrity to principles and inner values they find it unnerving and unpleasant to be involved in highly creative enterprises. Their need for structure, certainty and predictability is too high.

SYNERGY IN A CLASSROOM:

As a teacher, I have come to believe that many truly great classes teeter on the very edge of chaos. Synergy tests whether teachers and students are really open to the principle of the whole being greater than the sum of its parts.
There are times when neither the teacher nor the student knows for sure what's going to happen. In the beginning, there's a safe environment that enables people to be really open and to learn and listen to each other's ideas. Then comes brainstorming, where the spirit of evaluation is subordinated to the spirit of creativity, imaging, and intellectual networking. Then an absolutely unusual phenomenon begins to take place. The entire class is transformed with the excitement of a new thrust, a new idea, a new direction that's hard to define, yet it's almost palpable to the people involved.
Synergy is almost as if a group collectively agrees to subordinate old scripts and to write a new one.

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That's all I took from the book, however, I encourage everyone to at least skim through the pages. I'm the first to understand that people have priorities and demands in their lives and although there are many hobbies we wish we had more time for, (like hitting the gym, taking yoga or a dance class) I found that reading a book on a subway, an airplane, a bus stop or in bed right before I fall asleep is truly worth it! If anything else, I hope this excerpt was enough to spark wisdom and happiness for a better way of living.