Covey Was Only 1/7 Correct

Imma let you non-teachers have a glimpse behind the curtain. Prepare yourself to be underwhelmed.

 At the beginning of the year, there are teacher inservice days and some part of those days is spent in some sort of pep rally to get us ready for the year ahead. There's some cheerleading and a big reveal of some sort of initiative or theme or something for the year.

My first maternity leave meant that I missed the beginning of one school year. That was the year that the teachers underwent Covey training. As in the 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. Maybe these training days were mind-blowing and life-altering. Maybe Covey himself was there. I don't know. What I do know is that I missed out on habits 1-6.

I only got the benefit of habit 7: Sharpen the Saw.

Guess what?! I still have no idea what the first 6 habits are because, spoiler alert, YOU ONLY NEED ONE!!!

Sharpen the Saw: Balance and renew your resources, energy, and health to create a sustainable, long-term, effective lifestyle. It primarily emphasizes exercise for physical renewal, prayer (meditation, yoga, etc.) and good reading for mental renewal. It also mentions service to society for spiritual renewal.

Blah blah blah.

What it boils down to is take time for yourself. Do things you love.

Covey probably couldn't have built an HR empire out of only one habit for highly effective people, especially if that one habit was "Go to the bar!" "Get a massage!" "Take a mental health day!"

But, seriously. I have embraced this.