“Habit 6 - This habit is probably the most difficult when it comes to working with others. To synergize means to work together to achieve a common goal. A big purpose of this habit is to understand the meaning of 1 + 1 = 3 or even 100. When one or more people work together efficiently then the sum of the whole will be much greater than its parts. Synergy occurs at work, school, family, and etc. Synergy is extremely important with family, because it really helps to get along better and become closer. Although this seems quite simple, it's not as easy as it looks. You really need to work well with others and be able to understand and accept other's ideas. The best way to achieve this is through Sean Covey's simple steps of: define the problem, seek to understand other's ideas, share your ideas, bring all the ideas together and create new options and ideas, and then find the best solution within the group. There really needs to be patience and unity somewhere in synergizing also. If you don't have understanding and patience then syngery could never be achieved. Honestly, I'd never thought of synergy before this and it really occurs daily. Throughout school I synergize in almost every single classroom. But it's not just about synergizing it's more about whether or not you synergize and work together efficiently. One thing that is hurtful to synergy is compromising. If someone has to give up what they want/like to make someone else happy then that's not what it's about. You don't "Think Win-Lose" you "Think Win-Win". Positive attitudes and cooperation are the absolute best ways to work your way up to synergizing. Overall, this habit effects me everyday and is extremely helpful when working with others. :)”
“Habit 6: Synergize. 6 habits down and only 1 to go! During Habit 6, Sean Covey graps the meaning of 1 + 1 equaling 3. When bringing people together for the same cause or goal, a new world of opportunity can be granted. Synergy can often be mistaken as comprising or cooperating, but those can be the opposite of synergy. When comprimising, each person loses something to create a common goal and with cooperating, each person accomplishes the goal, but doesn't exactly gain anything from it. Diversity is also a key to synergy. It's mainly dealing with accepting diversity and people's differences. If you can't accept that everyone is different then you can't accept synergy. Synergy requires a level of maturity and it takes maturity to see past people's differences. You must be willing to synergize. There are also steps through synergy; define the problem, seek to understand others ideas, share your ideas, bring all the ideas together and crte new options and ideas, and then find the best solution within the group. Synergy is going beyond the normal or usual and we all can experience it if we are open to diversity. :)”
“I've reached Habit 5! It's called Seek First to Understand, Then to be Understood. I think this is one of of most beneficial habits, but I also think that it is one of the hardest. In this habit you learn that there are 5 different listening styles; pretend listening, spaced out listening, self-centered listening, word listening, and selective listening. None of these are good though. I've learned that want you really want to be is a genuine listener. Genuine listening isn't only listening with your ears, it's listening with your eyes and heart too. Only 7% of communication is contained in the words we use, while 40% comes in our tone, and the other 53% comes from body language. When listening, you can give off the wrong message with just one eye roll or one turn of the head. You want to try and focus on the person when your speaking to them and let them know you care by mirroring what they saw. Mirroring is repeating back in your own words how someone else is feeling. This all will help to understand others, but what about being understood? Being understood requires courage. Most people harbor in their feelings and never let them out and that's not how it should be. You want to tell people how you feel and why. If you don't share your feelings then they'll eat you up inside. Another helpful idea is to use "I" messages when speaking to others rather than "you" messages. For example, "I feel that you've become more selfish lately," compared to "You are so selfish."”
“I have just recently finished reading Habit : Seek First to Understand, Then to be Understood. This habit is actually pretty difficult to do. Did you ever know that there were 5 different types of listening? Well neither did I before this book! They are spacing out, pretend listening, selective listening, word listening and self-centered listening. Spacing is out is not paying attention and responding with "Could you pass the cheetos", pretending listening is responding with "Sounds great", selective listening is responding with "Speaking of my friends, my friend Bert..", word listening is picking out just certain words from the speakers point and self-centered listening is responding with "Oh, well I would usually..". Personally, I practice spaced out listening the most. Someone will be talking to me and then 5 seconds later I won't even know what they said, because I've spaced out so much. Honestly, all of these are extremely bad when it comes to any type of relationship, if you can't genuinely listen then you're probably not going to get anywhere in your relationships. I never realized how important listening was until this habit. Lately, I've realized that I don't listen as well as I'd thought. I just space out too much, but I can definitely make it better! Everyone should read this habit to learn more how to connect with others when they are having conversations. Think about it. Are your responses really beneficial to the person's problem or sitation?”
“Habit 4: Think Win-Win is really the most beneficial to me. This habit is mainly about how to help others AND yourself win. It tells about how competition isn't everything. There are four different terms in this habit; Win-Win, Win-Lose, Lose-Win and Lose-Lose. Win-Win is to help yourself win and others, Win-Lose is the competitive nature, Lose-Win is to compromise your standards and Lose-Lose is to think "if I'm going down you're going down with me." This habit really puts things in perspective for me. It's makes things so much easier to help others and myself. Before I would have to say that I was Win-Lose, which in some cases it is okay and others it's probably the worst thing to do. When it comes to friends it's the best to think Win-Win so that everyone is happy. This habit is really important also because it's where "Public Victory" starts. Habit 1-3 are the "Private Victory" and now I'm in Public Victory which is basically where you show other people the things you've learned. Overall, Habit 4 has really been the best for me, but who knows what these next 3 have in store.”
“I am only on the 3rd Habit (Put First Things First) in this book and they have all already effected my life. While reading this habit it makes me put things in life in a whole new perspective. Not being a very organized person I really think that I should start. My way of organization is to just try and remember what homework I had, I don't have a planner or agenda or anything. This doesn't work out very well though when sometimes I forget my homework. This habit has really put in my mind that I need to be organized and plan ahead. I waste a lot of my time on the computer and watching t.v., which is definitely something that needs to be changed. In this Habit there is a time quadrant with 4 different ideas. There are people that are "The Procrastinator", "The Prioritizer", "The Yes-Man", and "The Slacker". I believe that I am "The Procrastinator". Anytime I have homework I usually do it the late night before, especially on Sunday's. If I have homework in three different subjects then I won't start any of them until Sunday around 7 o'clock. This is a habit that really needs to be changed and I think that Habit 3 with definitely help me to get more organized and not be such a procrastinator. I will first start by getting an agenda and planning out my weeks ahead. Before this book I have really never thought about any of these things, but now that I'm reading this book I am soaking it all up. I really believe that this Habit 3 will definitely help me to become more organized for school and for life. I'm doing this post right now on Sunday at 10:55 in the morning which means it's already helping! ;)”
“I'm currently learning about Habit 3 with my class. So far, this book has been so helpful in every day life. It's not the normal self-help book that I would have imagined. I seriously thought that I was fine and had no business reading this book. However, as I got into it and really dug deep into myself as a person, I realized all the things I'm doing wrong that could possibly keep me from being the greatest person I can be. I have been looking around at the society and my peers and noticing reactive things that many people do on a daily basis without knowing they're doing it! This book is definitely an eye-opener and it is changing my perspective on life greatly!”
“On to Habit 3: Put First Things First. I feel more and more obligated to keep reading more after each Habit. I would like to say that I cannot believe that the Covey's have figured out these secrets. It's unbelievable. With Habit 3 we are told to separate our "big rocks" from out "little rocks." This was a little confusing to me at first, but all it really means is to put the important things before the unimportant things. I find myself watching a new T.V. show before doing my homework. I even get "distracted" from my homework when watching a show I've seen 9,000,000 times. I never realized I was doing this. This is basically the reason I am a procrastinator. I will put my little rocks (T.V.) before my big rocks (homework,) and in all reality, it's kind of a big deal. I've realized that I need to be more organized with everything I do. If my busy schedule was more planned out then I would realize when I can do certain things. As I read in Habit 2, I also need to use goals to plan out my busy schedule because it makes a world of difference. I've found myself right now doing my TAG homework at 9:30 in the morning rather than 9:30 at night. I have a busy day ahead of me and I know I have other big projects to accomplish, so I'm working on this while I have free time to now watch T.V. :) Habit 3 has given me a complete paradigm shift on how I live and I've realized some things need to change. I've realized things will change!”
““I have just recently started reading Habit 2: Begin with the End in Mind and if you are a confused high school student then it helps a ton. I'm still not sure what I want to do for a career and I believe that this habit with help me with this tremendously. As I was going through the Great Discovery it really made me think. I haven't personally made a mission statement yet, but when I do I believe that it will be something that I live by. Even if you don't read this book then I think that EVERYONE should have a mission statement. As I've gone through what I've read in this book it is really helpful. I had never thought before about 'beginning with the end in mind'.. but now that I have it has to be one of the most effective tools in managing and thinking about what you want to do as you get older. Even if it's just what you want to do tomorrow, or in a week, or in 10 years it helps a lot. I've only read the first 2 habits and I can't wait to see what the next 5 have in store! .. Mr. Nash are the 7 habits the same in both books? Or are they just along the same thoughts? Oh yes, and does the Highly Effective People one have a place where you make your mission statement?”
“This is a great book. Actually, I have only skimmed through it a few times, but I have read the adult version, The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People. I truly enjoyed this book because it gave me a new outlook about people, myself, and life in general. Are you reading this book with Coach Musser??? Several years ago, he and I team taught the Human Relations class. I don't think I was a teacher in that class but a student. I learned more personally in that class than any other class I have been a part of.”
