How good are you at creating successful habits in your life and your business? If this is something you fall short on then, you need to read The 7 habits of highly effective people by Stephen Covey. Read it even if you create successful habits. I want to go through each of these from my own perspective and what I learned from reading this book.
Habit 1. BE PROACTIVE – Any business owner who just reacts will never last a long time in business. We cannot adopt the mentality of “This is the way I have always done things and I don’t intend to change”. We are in an era of constant change. If we are doing the same thing this year that we were doing last year, we are probably going backwards. We should always be proactive.
Habit 2. BEGIN WITH THE END IN MIND – If we don’t know where we are going, we will probably not like where we end up. We need to have a WHY, a reason for doing what we are doing. It should have a date set on it, and we need to constantly work towards this and we need to have short term goals to make sure we stay on track. What do you want and when do you want it. Without vision and direction, you will just drift and die.
Habit 3. PUT FIRST THINGS FIRST – We need to understand the importance of doing the urgent and important things before we do the non urgent and unimportant things. Urgent and Important tasks are what are going to move us forward. They may be uncomfortable but we need to understand how to prioritise. We need to move out of our comfort zones to succeed in life.
Habit 4. THINK WIN WIN – We need to create a win win habit. I don’t go with the thought process of “If I give business to you, you will give business back to me”. Some people are better at passing referrals than others. Every commercial business transaction has to be a win for both parties or there will never be any longevity. I remember years ago passing a successful referral to someone for a large conservatory for tens of thousands of pounds and they gave me a bottle of wine as a thanks. They never got another referral from me.
Habit 5. SEEK FIRST TO UNDERSTAND, THEN TO BE UNDERSTOOD – We were given 2 ears and one mouth and we should use them in that proportion. We learn by listening not by talking. Effective communication is vital for success in anything we do in our personal and business lives. Most people do not listen with the intent to understand, they listen with the intent to reply. Listening with the intent to reply means you are not really listening. Someone once gave me a powerful message, “To know and not do to is not to know”
Habit 6 – SYNERGISE – Creative cooperation is a great way and the right way to run a business. Look for opportunities where you can work with someone for mutual benefit and for the benefit of the end client. Don’t try and be all things to all people. Do the right thing and do not look at lining your own pocket first. I have seen far too many people who try to solve all a client’s problems themselves rather than working with someone who can offer better solutions on some parts.
Habit 7 – SHARPEN THE SAW – This means we should always be in a mode of repeating the other habits. We constantly need to be working on ourselves and ensuring we put the right stuff in our bodies and our minds. We need to work on our relationships with everyone in our lives. We cannot ever think because we did something once that it is enough. It is not. It is something we all need to work on. The self renewal process must include a balanced renewal in all areas of our lives at all times.
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Richard Knight – Lionheart business Troubleshooting. 07798 632173. https://www.linkedin.com/in/richardlionheartknight/
This article was first published on LinkedIn by Richard Knight on 28/09/2020