SEVEN HABITS OF HIGHLY INEFFECTIVE PEOPLE

MARCH 4, 2007

What makes us effective or ineffective in life? Why do some people find happiness and contentment of heart, while others seem to find life a cause for complaints and a source of bitterness?

In 1989, writer Stephen Covey attempted to explain why some people get ahead while others defeat themselves in his best seller, "Seven Habits of Highly Effective People". The book has sold millions of copies, and remains popular today.

Habits arise from deeply seated dispositions of the mind and heart, which express themselves in patterns of behavior that recur unconsciously. The emphasis throughout Covey’s book is not on behavior itself, but on underlying principles of conduct, which might also be described as fundamental values and visions that guide one in ways that lead to effectiveness in human endeavors and personal relationships, and thus lead to success and self-fulfillment.

What about the bad habits to be avoided? Covey doesn’t address these, but they, too, need to be identified. During Lent, I will write about some of them. I want to identify the dispositions of the mind and heart of highly ineffective people -- the ones who sabotage their own lives by holding on to false values and visions that are destructive of themselves and others.

Life is like a road with many twists and turns. A good road needs lights so we can see the way, but it also needs warning signs so we don't wind up in a ditch, because we took a curve too fast. My columns will be like warning signs that focus on some of the seven sins that can destroy us before we even realize their power to do so. They are called the seven deadly sins for the very reason that they can destroy God’s life in us, disfigure our humanity, plunge us into sadness, and deprive us of the happiness that God wants for us and that we want for ourselves.

The seven deadly sins are: pride, anger, lust, greed, gluttony, envy, and sloth. We may be accustomed to thinking about sin as doing bad things we should not do, or failing to do the good things we are obliged to do. Every sinful thought, word, or action, however, is a behavior, under which lies one or another of the seven deadly sins. These sins are dispositions that reside deep within us like the hidden roots of weeds.

To sin is to choose evil instead of good. The menace which the seven deadly sins pose to us lies in that they make evil appear good and pleasing in our eyes. They are like bad road signs that do not warn us of danger ahead and that can cause us to crash.

In the Garden of Eden, we are told, Eve looked at the fruit God that had forbidden Adam and her to eat, and she saw that it was “pleasing to the eye” (Genesis 3:6). After she and Adam had eaten of that forbidden fruit, God asked them to account for what they had done. Eve’s response was that “the serpent deceived me, and I ate” (v.13). That is the way with evil: it appears pleasing, but its attractive appearance is a deadly deception. Sadly, it is always the sinner who suffers the worst effects of sin.

How can the misery which sin brings into the world be avoided? How can we keep to the straight path that leads to happiness, and to its source and giver, who is God? The primary way is by turning to God and following his commandments. God has given us the commandments not to restrict our freedom or thwart our happiness, but as infallible guideposts to light our way to happiness. Another way to happiness – the one I want to focus on in my next columns -- is to avoid being deceived by evil. This requires getting smart about how the seven deadly sins can quietly take over our lives and enslave us. Examining the sins, and cultivating a healthy fear of their destructive power, is most important to resisting the deception they each contain.

Some say that the wisdom of the past is no longer relevant, because the world has changed so much. This claim is made even about Steven Covey’s book. It is also said erroneously that the notion of “sin” is outdated. What pertains to good and evil, however, and to our efforts to attain life and happiness and avoid destroying ourselves, is of timeless value.

I will begin next week to examine some of the dispositions of mind and heart that are called the seven deadly sins: pride, anger, lust, greed, gluttony, envy, and sloth.

+Bishop Raymundo J. Peña

last updated 05-Jun-2008 9:48 sitemap