This is the seventh and final habit of highly effective people from Stephen Covey’s book of the same title – Sharpen the Saw. At its core lies the principle of creative self-renewal, expressed in our capacity to take care of ourselves so that we may continue to grow and develop. In other words, if we want to achieve results, we need to invest in the means of achieving them – ourselves, and our physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual well-being.
“Daily private victories in the four dimensions of renewal – physical, emotional, intellectual, and spiritual – are the heart of Habit 7. In the language of principles of self-management, this means setting aside time every day for Quadrant II activities – things that are important but not urgent – activities related to the prevention and maintenance of our health and physical vitality (proper nutrition, sports and exercise); to reading, planning, staying informed and reflecting on new information that expands our mental horizons; to applying the principles of empathic communication, interpersonal leadership, and creative cooperation in our everyday interactions with people; and to meditation, communion with nature, or other practices that nourish our spirituality. The four dimensions of self-renewal allow us to care for our wholeness, for our fullness of life.”
In this case, what matters is not only the daily care for our body, our mind, our relationships with others, and our conscience. What matters is that we do this in a balanced way. This means giving equal attention to all four spheres of our activity and not neglecting one at the expense of another. The reason is that every neglected dimension becomes fertile ground for negative forces and energies.
In short, effectiveness happens when self-renewal is practiced daily and in balance. Then our “saw” will be sharp, and it will take far less time to cut down the tree.
“That which we persist in doing becomes easier – not that the nature of the task has changed, but that our ability to do it has increased.”
— Emerson
The effect of daily investment of time and effort in our physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual well-being is synergistic. This means that the effort invested in one direction strengthens us in another. For example, physical exercise helps us maintain better vitality and endurance in mental and emotional challenges. Or investing in our inner victories helps our outer victories happen more easily, more naturally, and more spontaneously.
At the heart of inner self-renewal stands our conscience – it is the inner compass that tells us whether the direction in which we are developing is the right one. If it is the right direction, and the efforts we make to move toward it are daily, tireless, and balanced, the reward is a fulfilled life.
There can be no other reward.
*Translation from Bulgarian
