The Seven Deadly Sins of Highly Effective People, Part 1

About sixteen years ago, Stephen Covey wrote a book called The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People. I'm not sure that Covey had financial success in mind when he wrote this book. In fact, I'm pretty sure that he believed the "seven habits" could apply to lots of things: parenting, marriage, sports, stamp collecting, etc. But a lot of people who read the book tried to apply it to money-making ability, and - as a result - being an "effective person" soon became synonimous with business and financial ability.

Some people are effective in that way. They know how to get things done in the commercial world. They understand how to turn ideas into money. They know how to manage employees and negotiate with suppliers, etc. in an effective way. Doubtless, their success is attributable to some (or all) of the seven habits. And there is nothing, intrinsically, wrong with being effective in that sense.

But I also think that the pursuit of success, and even success itself, can be spiritually poisonous. Hence, the title of this series: The Seven Deadly Sins of Highly Effective People. In this series, I will try to emphasize the pitfalls - rather than the benefits - of success (and the pursuit thereof), showing how each of the seven deadly sins (pride, greed, lust, etc.) pose very real threats to the "highly effective" person and to those who blindly aspire to be "effective" people. Then, I want to redefine "effectiveness," and the "habits" of effectivenss, using the example of Jesus.

Up next: Success - Another American Idol.

Related Tags: the seven habits of highly successful people, the seven deadly sins, success

[Note: I wrote on this subject once before, early in 2005. Its still there, but I was dissatisfied with the way I handled the subject - didn't do it justice, I thought. So I'm having another go at it here.]