Habit 7 of [[The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People]]

# Summary

The name comes from a story of a man sawing a tree for hours with a blunt saw, too busy to stop and sharpen it. Habit 7 is regular renewal of yourself, the one asset you use for everything else. It keeps the other six habits possible and is a Quadrant II activity (see [[Put First things first]]): important, never urgent, and so easy to skip.

# Key ideas

- **Four dimensions of renewal**:
  - *Physical*: exercise, nutrition, rest and stress management.
  - *Spiritual*: clarifying your values and commitments through whatever renews you, such as meditation, prayer, time in nature, music or reading.
  - *Mental*: reading, writing, learning, planning and limiting passive entertainment.
  - *Social/emotional*: service, empathy and strong relationships. It is exercised in daily contact with others and draws on Habits 4 to 6.
- **Balance**: Neglecting one dimension weakens the rest, so all four need attention.
- **Daily private victory**: Covey recommends about an hour a day on the physical, spiritual and mental dimensions.
- **P/PC balance**: Renewal is investment in production capability, the goose that lays the golden eggs.
- **The upward spiral**: Growth repeats a cycle of learn, commit and do at ever higher levels, guided by conscience.
- **Renewal in organisations**: The same four dimensions apply as economic, purpose, development of talent and human relations.

# In practice

- Write down one activity for each dimension and schedule them into your week.
- Protect a daily hour for renewal before other demands take it.
- Review each week which dimension you neglected.