By Vijai P. Sharma, Ph.D Yes, you read it right. It's not a misprint. In this article, I will discuss the seven habits of highly ineffective people. It is as important to know about the habits that can make us ineffective as it is to know the ones that make us effective. The credit for identifying the seven habits of ineffective people goes to John Covey, the brother of Steven Covey who is the celebrated author of the book, Seven Habits of Highly Effective People. Incidentally, I smell some sibling rivalry there, don't you? At any rate, the
first habit that really holds the master key to the treasury of failures is, "Be reactive. Always doubt yourself and blame others." By being reactive you don't have to take a preventive action, entertain a forethought or plan for anything in advance. You can avoid decisions forever by continuing to doubt yourself. If you don't take a decision in the first place, how can you blame yourself. This way, you also reserve the right to blame others for the inconveniences and difficulties. The
second habit is to "work without any clear end in mind." Then whichever way it ends, look at it philosophically, "That's the way things sometimes happen. " The fact that the outcome didn't turn out to be so great is nobody's fault and certainly not yours. The
third habit is to "do only what is urgent." You will have the satisfaction of doing the urgent thing while avoiding crises until things catch up with you.