Important In Everyday Activities example essay topic

In the self-improvement book, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, author Stephen R. Covey presents an integrated and principle-centered approach for solving personal and professional issues and problems. Covey uses real life examples as well as his own experience to reveal a step-by-step way for living with integrity, honesty, and self-respect. In the book he explains principles that give someone the comfort to adapt to change and the wisdom to take control and full advantage of the opportunities that the business world and personal lives create. This book seems very useful and I found a few habits that I plan to adopt and work at including in my everyday life. They are basic things in everyday life that can make things easier, more efficient, and better for everyone not just myself. They do not necessarily need to be used every second of my day but if I can employ them as often as possible I can improve myself.

The first habit I chose which is also the first habit in the book is to be proactive. Being proactive is simply taking the initiative and not waiting for others to act first. It is acting not reacting, which many people do. It is also about being responsible for those actions that I chose to make. The other habit I would choose to focus on is habit three, put first things first. It deals with time management and interdependence.

Covey discuss the concept of how every activity we do during the day can be put in one of four quadrants; urgent and important, not urgent and important, urgent and not important, and not urgent and not important. He says to "look at one thing could you do in your personal and professional life that, if you did on a regular basis, would make a tremendous positive difference in your life?" Chances are whatever that activity is; it is a Quadrant II activity, not urgent and important. He goes on to explain that effective, proactive people spend most of their time in Quadrant II. To accomplish this I would take his advice and try to organize my week on Sundays and try to delegate responsibility with goals in mind not set ways that they have to be done.

For the interdependence section, the idea of making "emotional deposits" as often as possible will allow one to feel better and work more efficiently with everyone's needs in mind. The major "emotional deposits" Covey talks about are; understanding the individual, attending to little things, keeping commitments, clarifying expectations, and showing personal integrity. With the help of these habits I feel like I could improve myself. Understanding someone is very important in everyday activities and especially in business situations. You need to understand who your consumer is as well as whom your co-workers are. When you understand them on a deeper level you can relate better and be more productive.

Something I've always believed in is the attention to little things matter most. It shows people that you do care and pay attention. This ties in well with keeping commitments because that is something that is not always a big deal but can mean a lot to people. Something that I'm guilty of and should work on is clarifying my expectations of others as well as make sure I know what exactly is being asked of me. This can cause a lot of confusion in the workplace as well in one's personal life. The final and most important emotional deposit is showing personal integrity.

In work or personal situations it is very important to have a lot of integrity and to make sure people can see it. Allowing yourself to be relied on and trusted is so important and allows you to succeed.