The habits of highly effective writers can help you succeed

I do not believe in the often expressed view that self help and inspirational books are useless. Let me admit today that I consume them rapaciously.

Of course I am aware that some of them are shallow and pedantic. But I know how to detect those. That is why I want to tell you that if you are an aspiring writer and you have not read Stephen Covey’s The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, then you are missing something that may put you to the path of success.

Stephen Covey makes fundamental statements about life and how he thinks it should be lived.

However, for a writer, you can draw significant lessons from these broad principles. If you are not making any progress towards completing your manuscript successfully, then I suggest that you turn to Stephen Covey’s treatise. He advances a theory of success that stipulates that as an individual, you have to operate from well-defined principles to be effective.

The habits he talks about are basic and represent the principles upon which enduring happiness and success are based. These habits are as good to the writer as they are to any other person interested in success in any endeavour. The person who internalises these habits goes through what he calls a paradigm shift.

Covey borrows the term paradigm shift from Thomas Kuhn’s highly influential landmark book, The Structure of Scientific Revolutions. In this book, Kuhn argues that almost every significant breakthrough in the field of scientific endeavour is first a break with tradition and with old ways of thinking.

Covey argues that when you change your paradigm, you acquire first and foremost the habit of being proactive. For a writer, being proactive means more than merely taking initiative. It means that you take charge of your own life. With this, your behaviour has to be a function of your decisions, not your conditions.

You can no longer blame someone or circumstances for not finishing your writing project.

From this principle, an aspiring writer should learn to be enterprising and make things happen. If she sets aside three hours for writing every day, then there can be no excuse for not doing just that.

Listen to Covey: “Highly proactive people do not blame circumstances and conditions or conditioning for their behaviour. Their behaviour is a product of their conscious choice, based on values rather than a product of their conditions, based on feelings”.

So as a writer, you have to know that success is as a result of the sacrifices you make. You have to learn to keep your circle of influence. As a writer, you have to connect with those in the industry and keep them close.

Covey argues that one has to also imbibe the principle of personal leadership. To acquire this habit, one has to begin with the end in mind. As a writer you have to visualise yourself launching that book if writing is what matters to you. You must have a clear understanding of your destination.

Covey advises on the need to exercise independent will. This involves practising what he calls effective self-management. This is the ability to make decisions and choices and to act in accordance with them. It is the ability to act rather than to be acted upon. In the final analysis you are simply being asked to organise and execute around your priorities.

The challenge here is not for a writer to manage time, but to manage himself. Effective people, according to Covey, are not problem minded, but opportunity minded. They feed opportunities and starve problems. Smart people cultivate the ability to say no to things that are not urgent or important. They also believe in self-renewal in all dimensions including physical, mental, social and spiritual.

Just try and reflect on these ideas as an aspiring writer. Are you proactive? Do you operate from well-defined principles? Are you committed to your calling?

Do you keep your promises to editors? If your answer is yes, then your flight is on the runway.

Egara Kabaji is a Professor.