HOW TO BE A LEADER? THE GUIDE TO BECOMING SUCCESSFUL.

“ Life is 10% what happens to you and 90% what you react to it.” This is a famous saying and absolutely true.?We cannot predict every situation in our life because of many other external factors involved in it. But, does that mean we cannot stay happy? Does that mean we cannot achieve what we dream? Does that mean we cannot become successful? Hold on. Today I am going to share a book that will answer all your questions. But, let me tell you that this is not going to be a shortcut road to get success or not a miracle maker. This book will act as a guide and will help you in turning your dreams into reality.

?7 HABITS OF HIGHLY EFFECTIVE PEOPLE by Stephen Covey is one of the international bestsellers and the go-to reference book for anyone who wants to improve their life. In this book, Stephen has grouped the 7 habits into 2 parts. The first part is the private victory which talks about a few habits that will help you to improve your relationship with yourself. The second part is the public victory which talks about a few habits that will help to improve the relationship with others. Now, let us see the habits in detail.

The 7 habits he talks about in this book are:

1)?????Be Proactive

2)?????Begin with the end in mind

3)?????Put first things first

4)?????Think win-win

5)?????Seek first to understand, then to be understood

6)?????Synergize

7)?????Sharpen the saw

?Golden nugget 1:?BE PROACTIVE

You create your own destiny with the choices you make and secure the future you envision. In this book, Stephen says there will be 2 kinds of people in the world. Proactive people and reactive people. Proactive people always stay in the circle of influence which means they only focus on the things they can control. They don’t blame any external forces for the things that happen in their life. While on the other hand reactive people always stay in the circle of concern which means they only focus on the things they cannot control. They always blame external forces for the things that happen to them. For example, I could not wake up because of the cold weather. They create excuses for the work they have not done. If you want to stay in the success circle you should be a proactive person.

Golden nugget 2: BEGIN WITH THE END IN MIND

Whatever we do in life should have a purpose. For example, you dream to become a doctor, engineer, or entrepreneur. Is it because you have a strong reason behind that dream or you were just fascinated or someone has told you that you can have a good flow of income? Anything you do in life should have a vision. Stephen in this book says that every creation happens twice in this world. Mental creation is where we imagine or envision something. The physical creation is where your imagination turns into reality. Once you dream about something you need to envision that, believe in it and start working towards it. Then it falls into the physical creation and transforms your dream into reality.

?Golden nugget 3:?PUT FIRST THINGS FIRST

We are often surrounded by too many things in life. Work, family, studies and other responsibilities and commitments take up space in our life. For instance, you had an exam tomorrow and your relatives come home and you wish to play with your cousins. Has this ever happened to you? How you have faced this situation? Many people say that you need to balance everything in life. But I say you need to prioritize things in life. Because balancing always gives you stress but prioritizing gives you a sense of clarity.

?Golden nugget 4: THINK WIN-WIN

From our childhood success was shown a little differently to us. Our brain was tuned in a way that if you lose, I win, and if I lose you win. But, that’s not true. Let us say you have exams coming over. You are very good at science and your friend is good at design thinking. You denied helping your friend in science because your friend will score good marks what if he does the same to you? Any game in life should have a mutual benefit that is you win and I win.

?Golden nugget 5: SEEK FIRST TO UNDERSTAND, THEN TO BE UNDERSTOOD:

We all hear to respond, not to understand. There will be many situations in life where we complain that my mom is not understanding, and my friend is not understanding. But, have you ever tried to understand them? For example, if your mom has stopped you to watch that extra episode of your favorite show and asked you to study you have always complained that your mom won’t allow me to watch TV. But, have you ever made an effort to understand why your mom says that? If you try to understand the perception of others, they will try to understand you.

?Golden nugget 6: SYNERGIZE:

Stephen in this book says that 2 heads are better than one. We all live in a competitive world. We don’t like to share anything. We run behind things expecting one compliment from our peers. This competitive habit will be so high in some people that they even try to betray others to win. But, things always don’t work in competition. It would help if you had a collaborative mindset. It would help if you had a companion mindset. You need to positively encourage the individual contributions of your team and need to believe that whatever you have accomplished is the result of good teamwork.

?Golden nugget 7: SHARPEN THE SAW:

Stephen says that you need to preserve and enhance the greater asset you have. But, do you think everyone is born with all the skills? No. You might be a good singer but not good at public speaking. Now, the question comes can we learn the skills? Absolutely, yes. We at future pathways believe that every child has potential and if they are rightly nurtured any skill can be mastered. Our school is built on 6 pathways in which leadership pathway is one among them. And we are proud to announce that we are launching TEDEd in our school where each student gets support in discovering, developing, and sharing their ideas in the form of TED-style talks. If you want to know more about this, please drop a comment below and we will help you with the detailed information.

?You are defined by your habits, so you need to build them carefully. You need to master certain basic habits so that you can build bigger. Happy learning. See you in the next blog.?