Tips for Personal Development from Stephen Covey

At Blue Ivory, we strongly believe in ongoing personal development for entrepreneurs of all levels – from aspiring to accomplished. In that same spirit, I wanted to take a brief moment to share some of my thoughts on a book I am currently reading: The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People.

Although I used to hear about this book all the time, I often passed it up for other books that seemed to be at a higher level or involved more specific action and problem solving. It wasn’t until I had the chance to see Stephen Covey’s son speak in person at a seminar, that I made this a priority in my reading list.

The premise of Habit 1 in The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People goes deeper than I originally anticipated. I have a pretty extensive history in the arena of personal development, business coaches, mentors, etc. I have always been an entrepreneur, and these elements have been critical to my success. However, I had never read this book because its title lead me to believe it was going to be another detailed list of steps to take or other helpful, but beginner level self-help mumbo-jumbo (can I say that?).

When I sat down to explore the book for the first time, I wasn’t prepared for it to go beyond the surface level. However, after reading the introduction and then the first Habit “Be Proactive”, my whole mindset towards the book has changed.  Here are 5 lessons that I learned that can apply to your business:

1. Our behavior is based off of what we make out of our environment, not the environment itself.  The way Stephen Covey describes being proactive is not merely “taking initiative” as I first suspected. Instead, it is the entire idea that our behavior – and thus the results – is not based off of our environment, but rather what we make of it. In fact, he says in the book, “It means we are responsible for our own lives, our behavior is a function of our decisions not our conditions.”
2. Be proactive, not reactive.  In contrast to those that are proactive, he describes those that are reactive. He says that reactive people are so dependent on their environment and conditions that their attitude is as fickle as the weather. If it’s warm and sunny, they are happy; if it’s cold and rainy they are in a bad mood. Covey instructs us to look beyond these things to our character. We must come to accept that, “I am who I am today because of the decisions that I made yesterday.” Even though things can hurt us physically and economically – “and these things can cause sorrow” – he says that these things still give us the opportunity to decide who we are as a person, the part of us that can’t be taken away. We can still make decisions in every circumstance that determine our overall success as a person, our basic identity.  This is also true for companies and entrepreneurs. When our company doesn’t secure the deal, or posts a slower quarter than anticipated, we don’t have to take it personally. The identity of the company remains in tact. As a branding expert, this is one of the hardest things to work through.
3. Your company’s identity is not based on results.  I believe: the company’s identity is not based on results. Instead, it is the realization, pursuance, and firm continuation of a chosen brand identity that leads to success.  When faced with any situation, we must think about the things that we can control. He calls this, “Working within our circle of influence”.  Instead of focusing on the situation, its ups and downs, what can we influence to affect change?
4. Don’t compare yourself to other companies.  If the rival company across the street is beating you at sales – it’s not the time to compare yourselves and look at all of their advantages. “Oh, they have such a bigger marketing budget” or “If only our owner was a celebrity football player like theirs” (ok the second example is pretty rare – but you get my point). Instead: What things can you change? Perhaps instead of spending another day sending employees to pass out fliers that just as quickly are thrown away – spend that time painting the outside of the building, changing up your product, doing anything different within your control until you find your own “secret sauce”.  Worrying about the advantages of others will not get you anywhere – work within what you can control.
5. Know that you are response-able.  In general, the idea is that in whatever we do, “Knowing we are responsible – ‘Response-able’ – is fundamental to effectiveness.” He says that the problems we face fall into three categories: “Direct Control (problems involving our own behavior), indirect control (problems involving other people’s behavior) or No Control (problems we can do nothing about such we our past or situational realities).”

Rather than a shallow, “Do this at the start of each day” or “Say this to yourself 10 times every day”, the first habit of a highly effective person is simply being able to recognize that in whatever situation we face, we have the ability to make decisions that impact who we are as a person, and in-turn – affect the overall result on our interpersonal and physical lives.