Stephen R. Covey, described as a "professor, consultant, management expert and author", is known as the person who wrote the most influential book of the twentieth century in the business world with "The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People", his book on personal life and business life.

"The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People" is also cited by Forbes magazine as "one of the 10 best books of all time written in the field of management".

In the book, Covey discusses how, in the transition from the Industrial Age to the Knowledge Worker Age, the scale and types of difficulties encountered in personal life, family life and working life have changed — and the methods for coping with these difficulties.

The author supports what is written in the book with a saying he adopted as a motto in his own life: "If you want to realize your greatest desires and overcome your greatest challenges, identify and apply the principle or natural law that governs the results you seek." The book states that being successful means acting in harmony with the principles that success depends on.

At the same time, the author notes that, for various reasons, the widespread practices and mindset of popular culture stand in complete contrast to principle-based solutions. Even so, without succumbing to the complacency of popular culture, it is entirely possible for working people who have not yet reached a particular goal to be "effective" within the framework of the habits and principles they hold.

In this article, I will introduce you to the 7 habits put forward by Covey that will help you maintain the balance between work, family and private life and increase your motivation toward life.

1. Be Proactive

This habit is about taking responsibility for your life. Proactive people are aware that they are "responsible" and do not blame genetics, conditions or circumstances for their behavior. They are conscious that their behavior is their own choice. Reactive people, on the other hand, are often affected by their physical environment. They find external sources to blame for their behavior. For example, if the weather is good, they feel good. If not, it affects their attitude and performance, and they blame the weather.

Stop constantly blaming others for what happens in your life. Take responsibility for where you are, the decisions you have made and your behavior. Of course, for far-reaching situations over which we have very little control, stop blaming yourself and take steps while remaining aware of where your energy is needed.

2. Begin with the End in Mind

This habit is based on imagination — the ability to envision in your mind what you cannot at present see with your eyes. It is based on the principle that everything is created twice. There is a mental (first) creation and a physical (second) creation. The physical creation follows the mental one, just as a building follows a blueprint.

If you do not make a conscious effort to visualize who you are and what you want in life, you empower other people and circumstances to shape you and your life by default. It is about reconnecting with your own uniqueness and then defining the personal, moral and ethical guidelines within which you can most happily express and fulfill yourself.

3. Put First Things First

The third habit is about your priorities, which you face every day and which relate directly to time management. "Putting first things first means organizing and executing around your most important priorities. It is living and being driven by the principles you value most, not by the agendas and forces surrounding you." Once you have defined your purpose, your values, your roles and your priorities, you will be able to manage your life better.

What are "first things"? First things are those you personally find most valuable. When you put first things first, you organize your time and events according to the personal priorities you established in Habit 2, and you manage them in a healthier way.

4. Think "Win-Win"

The win-win principle sees life not as a competitive arena but as an arena of cooperation. Win-win is a frame of mind and heart that constantly seeks mutual benefit in all human interactions. Win-win means that agreements or solutions are mutually beneficial and satisfying.

A person or organization that approaches conflicts with a win-win attitude possesses three vital character traits:

Integrity: staying true to your real feelings, values and commitments

Maturity: expressing your thoughts and feelings with courage and consideration for the ideas and feelings of others

Abundance Mentality: believing there is plenty for everyone

To go for win-win, you not only have to be empathic, but you also have to be confident. You not only have to be considerate and sensitive, you also have to be brave. Doing that — achieving that balance between courage and consideration — is the essence of real maturity and is fundamental to win-win.

5. Seek First to Understand, Then to Be Understood

If you're like most people, you probably seek first to be understood; you want to get your point across. And in doing so, you may ignore the other person completely, pretend that you're listening, selectively hear only certain parts of the conversation, or attentively focus on only the words being said and miss the meaning entirely. So why does this happen? Because most people listen with the intent to reply, not to understand.

While preparing in your mind what you are going to say, the questions you are going to ask and so on, you listen to yourself rather than to the other person. You filter everything you hear through your life experiences and your frames of reference. You check what you hear against your autobiography and see how it measures up. And consequently, you decide prematurely what the other person means before they finish communicating. For this reason, you should first truly listen to the other person, understand correctly what they want to say, and only then try to explain yourself. This is the most fundamental rule of effective communication.

6. Create Synergy

When people begin to interact together genuinely, and they are open to each other's influence, they begin to gain new insight. The capability of inventing new approaches is increased exponentially because of differences. Valuing differences is what really drives synergy. Do you truly value the mental, emotional and psychological differences among people? Or do you wish everyone would just agree with you, thinking you could then get along with everyone?

Many people mistake uniformity for unity; sameness for oneness. Differences should be seen as strengths, not weaknesses, and you should create the environment that allows others to see the opportunities in areas you cannot see.

7. Sharpen the Saw

Sharpening the saw means preserving and enhancing the greatest asset you have — you. Seek continuous improvement and renewal, professionally and personally.

Try to have a balanced program for self-renewal in the four areas of your life: physical, social/emotional, mental and spiritual. Here are some examples of activities:

Physical: beneficial eating, exercising and resting

Social/Emotional: making social and meaningful connections with others

Mental: learning, reading, writing and teaching

Spiritual: spending time in nature, expanding the spiritual self through meditation, music, art, prayer or service

These 7 habits contain important perspectives that will help in achieving work-life balance. Possessing an important piece of knowledge or constantly learning things does not, by itself, contribute greatly to our lives. The greatest contribution — and perhaps the turning point — is being able to put what we have learned into practice and use it somewhere in our lives. As the author says: "Share what you learn with the people you love. And most importantly, start applying what you have learned. Remember: to learn and not to do is really not to learn. To know and not to do is really not to know."

My wish is that we reflect what we know and what we learn in every area of our lives, and continue on our way with higher motivation.