Stephen Covey once stated that "life doesn't just happen" (56). It is carefully designed by us and we are responsible for our own happiness. Life is full of wonders and complexities. After reading Covey's 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, I was inspired and have encouraged me to rethink how my views about life and the world change. In this book, the author explains principles that give someone the comfort to adapt to change and the wisdom to take control and full advantage of the opportunities that professional and personal lives create. He describes the Maturity Continuum which moves us progressively from dependence to independence to interdependence. The 7 Habits are tools that provide an approach to the development of personal and interpersonal effectiveness. The following content will further explain how the seven habits influenced my professional and personal life as an individual.
Covey's first habit teaches us about the importance of being proactive. Proactive means to look forward toward problems before they are over us. According to Covey, some people fail to be proactive because they believe that their lives are controlled by genetic, physic, and environmental forces. He mentions the theory of genetic determinism, where personality traits are inherited from grandparents; psychic determinism, where childhood determines our personal tendencies; and lastly, environmental determinism, where factors in the present environment are responsible for the situation. Personally, I used to feel identified with the psychic determinism because the theory means you are who you are today because of what your parents have taught you. This is related to my case because most of my decisions on a daily basis were based on the values my parents have taught me during my childhood. For example, my parents taught about the importance of getting a good education, therefore I decided to attend college.
