Let's revisit a classic today...After 25 Million copies sold in 40 languages, this book has become an icon in the field of personal development and leadership.   More importantly, Stephen R. Covey has become well know for the lessons, thoughts and habits that he taught the world for transformation as a leader and increasing your effectiveness in life.   Today I want to do a high level review of the entire book for you in order to inspire you with ideas and potentially rekindle your interest in going back to this book for strategies to change your life.   Quote I love… "People can’t live with change if there’s not a changeless core inside them. the key to the ability to change is a changeless sense of who you are, what you are about and what you value."   I think this is a premise of the entire book…   Covey created this entire book on the premise that INNER success comes before OUTER success.  He says “private victory” must precede “public victory”.  It’s basically PERSONAL Mastery first.   He goes on to talk about how Habits are the building blocks of the change you want to create in your life.   Real change is the result of slow development of character over time.   Daily Habits of thinking and acting are what Greatness are built upon.   The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People is not a get rich quick or a silver bullet to Greatness… …its about slow, deliberate change over time to create your Destiny.   Quote for the book by Charles Reade summarized Covey’s thoughts… “Sow a thought, and you reap an action; sow an action, and you reap a habit; sow a habit and you reap a character; sow a character and you reap a destiny.”   Another important note about the book before we cover the 7 habits is the distinction that Covey draws between Effective vs Efficient progress.   So many of us are caught up in “time management” when Efficiency is not the primary objective we should be chasing.  He says…   “Think about what is most important to you and see if it is the center around which your life revolves. Don’t worry about efficiency.  There is use being “efficient” if what you are doing lack’s meaning or an essential good.”   Bottom line…Effectiveness trumps Achievement all day long…   So let’s get into the Habits now…   Habit #1 Be Proactive "Your life doesn’t “happen”.  Whether you know it or not, it is carefully designed by you.  The choices, after all, are yours. You choose happiness.  You choose sadness. You choose decisiveness.  You choose ambivalence.  You choose success.  You choose failure. You choose courage.  You choose fear.  Just remember that every moment, every situation, provides a new choice. And in doing so, it gives you a perfect opportunity to do things differently to produce more positive results.”   Being proactive in life (this habit) is all about “Being responsible” for your life.  The way we are responsible is by being proactive.   Proactive is your ability to respond to situations (good and bad) in a way that accepts responsibility for choosing the direction and course you will follow… …the decisions you will make that affect how you respond to any situation.   Proactive people take responsibility for their lives and actions.     Proactive vs Reactive…what is the difference?   Proactive people choose their behavior Proactive people take control of their own emotions Proactive people direct their intentions and actions toward what they want.   Reactive people let others choose their behavior Reactive people believe others control their emotions by giving away their power Reactive people let other people direct them and tell them what to do   Bottom line…Reactive people are affected by and react to their environment… …which is giving up responsibility for the outcomes they have in life. …they shift blame, have