Page 34 - Stephen R. Covey - The 7 Habits of Highly Eff People.pdf

desire to have a room clean and the building of a relationship in which the child is
internally committed to do it -- cheerfully, willingly, without external supervision.

It's a principle you can see validated in your own life when you burn the candle at both
ends to get more golden eggs and wind up sick or exhausted, unable to produce any at
all; or when you get a good night's sleep and wake up ready to produce throughout the
day.
You can see it when you press to get your own way with someone and somehow feel an
emptiness in the relationship; or when you really take time to invest in a relationship and
you find the desire and ability to work together, to communicate, takes a quantum leap.

The P/PC Balance is the very essence of effectiveness. It's validated in every arena of life.
We can work with it or against it, but it's there. It's a lighthouse. It's the definition and
paradigm of effectiveness upon which the Seven Habits in this book are based.

How to Use This Book

Before we begin work on the Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, I would like to
suggest two Paradigm Shifts that will greatly increase the value you will receive from this
material.

First, I would recommend that you not "see" this material as a book, in the sense that it is
something to read once and put on a shelf.

You may choose to read it completely through once for a sense of the whole. But the
material is designed to be a companion in the continual process of change and growth. It
is organized incrementally and with suggestions for application at the end of each habit
so that you can study and focus on any particular habit as you are ready.

As you progress to deeper levels of understanding and implementation, you can go back
time and again to the principles contained in each habit and work to expand your
knowledge, skill, and desire.

Second, I would suggest that you shift your paradigm of your own involvement in this
material from the role of learner to that of teacher. Take an Inside-Out approach, and read
with the purpose in mind of sharing or discussing what you learn with someone else
within 48 hours after you learn it.

If you had known, for example, that you would be teaching the material on the P/PC
Balance Principle to someone else within 48 hours, would it have made a difference in
your reading experience?

Try it now as you read the final section in this chapter. Read as though you are going to
teach it to your spouse, your child, a business associate, or a friend today or tomorrow,
while it is still fresh, and notice the difference in your mental and emotional process.

I guarantee that if you approach the material in each of the following chapters in this
way, you will not only better remember what you read, but your perspective will be
expanded, your understanding deepened, and your motivation to apply the material
increased.

In addition, as you openly, honestly share what you're learning with others, you may be
surprised to find that negative labels or perceptions others may have of you tend to

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