I always think so long as I can learn only one thing in a book and take it in my real life to improve myself or solve my problems, that is worthy for the time what I spent for the book. Also that is my rules to read.
"The 7 habits of highly effective people "is a nice book. It's classical in this kind of books. I am glad I can know it and finish reading it. There are many new and sagacious opinions, I have learned a lot.
There are many people have achieved an incredible degree of outward success. But they are not happy. They have inner hunger. We all will be them, actually, maybe we can`t have the achievement and also lose the direction. Many people don't know what he/she want to do and want to be in the whole life. That hit me. The writer let us think and start to find out what are our really wants. Think about you are in the funeral of yourself, what would you like your family and your friends to say about you. That means” begin with the end in mind.” The most important thing is to find out what`s your definition of success. That makes you do everything meaningful and valuable.
Then we should have a map, it is the way that how can we reach our destinations, it bases upon our perception. And my perception is changing during learning, reading and the experiences. So my map is updating continuously. Sometime I am not clever enough to find out if the map is the best, we all make sure what we have believed at first, and it`s hard to change the point of us. The writer let me know that sometimes the different opinions mean the different aspects of the real thing. we should learn how to listen and be open to other`s perceptions, thereby getting a large picture and a far more objective view. That can make us update our map to better.
when we have the goals and our own map, then we can do something to make sure our goals be achieved. In this process we have many chances to grow. Sometime even though we make a little change in the perception, it will make a big change. For example, I learned a lot in the TV play series named "Desperate housewives", I looked at people as a simple and naive way that she/he is good or bad before. If a person had some personality which I didn`t like, I would make a negative evaluation of this person, and far away from her/him. But this drama changed my perception, It let me know that there is on one be perfect, if I cannot accept the worst aspect of her/him, I also have no right to own the best aspect of her/him. That is a little thing, but a big change.
I know I am wrong and I change a better opinion, those all thank our human`s super ability, that is self-awareness. We can stand apart to observe the way what we think and what we feel. That makes us see and evaluate our paradigms, that also makes us know that we are not our thoughts, moods and feelings. So we can change our habits and make growth come true. That is the last of the human freedoms. This ability is important because it can makes us keep awake and think clearly. That sounds simple, but it`s so hard actually.
Also there is one thing that is so important we should know. We can change the perceptions and update the opinions, but there are some principles just like lighthouse, they are unchanging and unarguably as gravity is in the physical dimension. Principle is deep and has universal application, it is territory. If we have values are aligned with principles, we will have the truth and we will live in happiness.