Lessons from nature
On living effectively, not efficiently
As a big Steven Covey fan, I was excited to come across one of his lesser known books called An Effective Life. It was a quick listen on Audible. Here are the main takeaways that I got from the this audiobook as presented on Audible.Chapter 1 - Questions
Ask the right questions so that you can keep learning and developing your character. This chapter seemed like an addendum or a prelude to the main book, and it provided some behind the scenes on Dr. Steven Covey. In this chapter I found out that he, sadly passed away back in 2012.
Chapter 2 - Storytime
This chapter was a fun storytelling of a dad at his young daughter's school game. The dad was fighting off distractions of his phone during the game. For me, the take away point here was to live in the moment, gain perspective and focus on those nearest and dearest to us.
Chapter 3 - Nature's laws
The book as written by Dr. Steven Covey begins here. In this chapter, the emphasis is on the unwritten laws of nature that inspired Dr. Covey to write the 7 habits of highly effective people. the takeaway for me here was to learn from the challenges and failures of life and grow stronger. Ultimately, we reap what we sow. The emphasis of this chapter was on getting grounded by nature, and becoming introspective. This clarifies life's basic realities and increases our effectiveness.
Chapter 4 - Nature teaches us self-awareness
By seeing the bigger picture, we can learn to control our own reactions rather than living as reactive victims. This capacity to act proactively in our own growth is a leader's mindset
Chapter 5 - Nature helps nurture relationships
Nature teaches us how to nurture relationships. The key here is being effective, not efficient. This resonated so much with me, because I love the saying that "people are more important than things." Through working on this, we learn to have humility, sacrifice our ego and pride, and to have mutual respect for those in our lives. This chapter inspired me to look within myself and build my own character instead of waiting around for other people to change.
Chapter 6 - Nature guides our choices
We always have the agency of choice. It is up to us to choose integrity and courage. Our ability to think through options and make choices is what makes us stewards over the rest of creation. On the same note, we must recognize the agency of choice that our fellow humans have. This is an effective way for us to acknowledge them and accord them respect in a negotiation, rather than exerting control.
Chapter 7 - Nature celebrates diversity
Nature can show us how to celebrate diversity and to appreciate our differences and similarities. Through open communication, we can beautify our differences with synergy. This chapter also aptly explains just how celebrating diversity is important in a successful marriage. Since two people who are very different come together in a union, the ability to celebrate their differences could increase creativity and the marriage experience. We gain the ability to treasure our differences by listening deeply and with empathy.
Chapter 8 - Start living an effective life now
This was a brilliant section of the book because it provides the reader with an opportunity to start reflecting on, and implementing the ideas they have just read. It encourages the reader to put together a personal journal in which to think through the themes in the book, think back to the reader's own personal nature, and what they particularly need to work on. It was a great way to outline actionable and personalized steps to work on the principles described in the book.
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