Before you can get your business up and running successfully, there’s one other thing that you need to focus on – yourself. Your daily habits and routine can be as much a part of your success as anything else, so it’s important that you be sure what you’re doing each day is effective.

Stephen R. Covey has a book out that many of you have probably read – “The 7 Habits Of Highly Effective People”. I’ll go over the 7 habits here, which are each discussed at length in the book. (And by “go over”, I mean “steal from Wikipedia”.)

The First Three Habits surround moving from dependence to independence (i.e. self mastery)

Habit 1: Be Proactive

Synopsis: Take initiative in life by realizing your decisions (and how they align with life’s principles) are the primary determining factor for effectiveness in your life. Taking responsibility for your choices and the subsequent consequences that follow.

Habit 2: Begin with the End in Mind

Synopsis: Self-discover and clarify your deeply important character values and life goals. Envisioning the ideal characteristics for each of your various roles and relationships in life.

Habit 3: Put First Things First

Synopsis: Planning, prioritizing, and executing your week’s tasks based on importance rather than urgency. Evaluating if your efforts exemplify your desired character values, propel you towards goals, and enrich the roles and relationships elaborated in Habit 2.

The Next Three are to do with Interdependence (i.e. working with others)

Habit 4: Think Win-Win

Synopsis: Genuinely striving for mutually beneficial solutions or agreements in your relationships. Valuing and respecting people by understanding a “win” for all is ultimately a better long-term resolution than if only one person in the situation had gotten his way.

Habit 5: Seek First to Understand, then to be Understood

Synopsis: Using empathetic listening to be genuinely influenced by a person, which compels them to reciprocate the listening, take an open mind to being influenced by you, which creates an atmosphere of caring, respect, and positive problem solving.

Habit 6: Synergize

Synopsis: Combining the strengths of people through positive teamwork, so as to achieve goals no one person could have done alone. How to yield the most prolific performance out of a group of people through encouraging meaningful contribution, and modeling inspirational and supportive leadership.

The Last habit relates to self-rejuvenation;

Habit 7: Sharpen the Saw

Synopsis: The balancing and renewal of your resources, energy, and health to create a sustainable long-term effective lifestyle.

In addition to these habits, it’s also important that you make time for yourself. Just as a flashlight won’t work without batteries, you too need to recharge yourself on a regular basis. Take time away from work to do the things you like to do. Some people actually go so far as to schedule breaks and vacations for themselves – if it’s scheduled, you’re less likely to come up with excuses as to why you can’t get away from work.

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