Book 93 - A Year of Magical Learning (Top 5 - Five Part Reflection)

Reflection Title – I Didn’t Understand This Book Until I Lived This Book!

Book – The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen R. Covey (1/5)

Book Description: In The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, author Stephen R. Covey presents a holistic, integrated, principle-centered approach for solving personal and professional problems. With penetrating insights and pointed anecdotes, Covey reveals a step-by-step pathway for living with fairness, integrity, service, and human dignity--principles that give us the security to adapt to change and the wisdom and power to take advantage of the opportunities that change creates.

Reflection:

The 7 Habits is one of my top 5 favorite books from this Year of Magical Learning journey. I loved it so much, that I’ve decided to devote 5 days of reflections to it for this journey, as well as the other top 5 favorite books. I’m not going to lie…this is not an easy read, but worth it if you can stick it out. I guess The 7 Habits are a lot like life in that regard, lol.

My journey with The 7 Habits is very unique. When I first read it, in February of 2020, it was a month before my life would change forever when my daughter arrived at 22 weeks and 6 days old which ultimately resulted in us losing her in late April of 2020. My life was still “normal” at this point in my life. No coronavirus, no dealing with losing a child, etc. I was still living my old paradigm of working hard, trying to start a business, and waiting for my first child to arrive.

I’ve mentioned this before, but I began 2020 with a challenge to myself to read 1 book a month for year. The first book I read in January of 2020 was a business book called Hope Is Not A Strategy. After I finished this book, I asked my department manager, Mike, if he had a favorite book he’d like to recommend? He said, “Have you ever read The 7 Habits? You know it is one of my favorites!” I should have known that would have been the answer as Mike quotes this book it feels like every department meeting on Friday afternoon. This book clearly meant a lot to him, and I figured it was worth a try.

It was as long book for someone who didn’t read much, like myself at this time in my life, but I thought let’s give it a try. So I downloaded an audio book version of it and I set a goal to try and listen 30 minutes a day or whenever I could throughout the month. I listened while I ran on the treadmill, while I drove to work, cleaned the house, etc. It felt like I was listening to it all the dang time that month but wasn’t making much progress. It felt like a slog. I liked what I was hearing and learning, but it was really tough to make it through. I finally finished the book late in February when I had a tennis tournament down in Evansville to play. Evansville is like a 2-3 hour drive so I was able to bang out a huge chunk on the way down and back.

I remember finishing the audio book as I was halfway through the drive back and thinking, “I DID IT!!!!” It felt really great! I felt accomplished, and I was glad that I had read it all the way through. I got home and told my wife, Felicia, because I felt so proud of myself and I was happy at all the new things I had learned in this book. I thought, “I CAN DO THIS “12 BOOKS IN 2020” CHALLENGE!” I figured if I could get through The 7 Habits, I could get through anything.

Then, a month later, my life changed. My paradigm was blown into tiny pieces by the atomic blast that hit my family. Over the next 12 months, I found myself slowly finding my purpose, understanding and processing my emotions, actively designing my life around putting first things first, and doing my best stay balanced and sharpen the saw just to make it through each day.

It is through living The 7 Habits, after I lost my daughter, that I finally understood The 7 Habits.

I decided to re-read the 7 Habits a year later in February of 2021. It was like I was reading an entirely different book this time around. I was finding all new kinds of little nuggets throughout the book that I must have missed the first time. Topics that I didn’t fully understand the first time made 100% sense as I was able to relate it to how I’d been living my life since my daughter had passed. I was blown away at how truly great this book was and how much I didn’t get the first time.

I know look forward to re-reading this every February for the rest of my life as this journey continues. I can’t wait to discover more each time through.

Question: What knowledge have you been sitting on that could use a little real-world re-enforcement to help improve understanding?

---

Links:

What is The Year of Magical Learning? An Introduction

YOML Podcast Discussion - The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People

YOML Bookstore - The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen R. Covey