The Seven Habits--- An Overview

"Sow a thought, reap an action; sow an action, reap a habit; sow a habit, reap a character; sow a character, reap a destiny."

With this quote Covey opens up this chapter, which is appropriate, since this seems to catch the entire direction this book is trying to take us in.  And since each habit we have goes into the composite of our character, and at the same time our character is affecting our habits, in a sort of spiral, you need to work on all of your habits at the same time if you want to work on your character.  You can't have one without the other because the other will pull you down.

He also talks about the different stages of maturity in life: dependence, independence and interdependence, and I like the distinction he draws here.  He says that yes, independence is mature, but it is not the most mature, because the fact is that society works because of people relying on other people.  The goal of this book is to help you become physically, emotionally, and intellectually interdependent; to realize the importance of other people in our lives as people, not as tools or responsibilities or obligations.

he talks about the P/PC balance, and the Goose with the Golden Egg Fable, telling us that we can't focus on the ends without focusing on the means or else we lose the means of our effectiveness, and we can't focus only on the effectiveness or else we lose sight of what it is we were aiming for from the start.  It requires balance.  Much of this book is all about balance.

It makes me kind of see that in order to be a mature, effective person, all we need is balance, and the point of this book is to help you achieve that balance.