“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.” — Aristotle
WHY nations fail is the sum total of why humans fail. Daron Acemoglu and James Robinson, in their seminal work Why Nations Fail: The Origins of Power, Prosperity, and Poverty, focus on why people with the same geography, the same genetics and the same culture, sometimes living in neighbouring countries, can prosper or decline remarkably differently. Few books have captured my interest as strongly as this one. The authors rightly got the Nobel Prize in 2024.
The rise and fall of nations depends upon collective attributes which lead to the creation of different organisational systems and practices in societies. The collective attitude of a nation begins with the individual. Indeed, individuals in a society demonstrate all kinds of qualities but the character of a nation is determined by the predominant attitudes and behaviour of individuals.
What then makes individuals different? From where do these differences come and how do some develop qualities that take them far in life while others do not change throughout their life? And how so? This is an important question and has bothered many for long. Stephen R. Covey, a big name in leadership and management and the author of global bestsellers (the best known is his classic The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People) also started his professional life with this fundamental question and spent a lifetime researching, writing and explaining the origins of human effectiveness.
He explains in the beginning of this book what he learnt while reviewing literature on human success spanning over 200 years in the US since 1776. He underlined the key emphasis by all writers on character ethic as the foundation of success. Character ethic is made up of characteristics such as integrity, humility, fidelity, temperance, courage, justice, patience, industry, simplicity, modesty, and the golden rule of ‘do unto others as you would have them do unto you’. The teaching of the character ethic is that people can only experience true success and enduring happiness as they learn and integrate these principles into their basic character.
His seven habits were eventually a precipitate of all that he learnt from writers on character ethic over centuries, as well as world religions, not just in America but globally. He referred to these habits as the principles of effectiveness — and principles, unlike values, are timeless truths.
The rise and fall of individuals and nations is not a coincidence.
The essence of these principles begins with the recognition of our life paradigm, that is, our invisible glasses through which we look at the world — in other words, our worldview. It is only when we become mindful of our paradigm that we can realise the importance of paradigm change. The power of paradigm change is also the basis of human conflict resolution.
The other important insight he shares is the framework of human effectiveness that begins inside-out. A personal victory — that is a victory within oneself — is an absolute precondition for any private victory — that is a manifest success. There is no shortcut to this route. No one can positively change the world, nobody ever has or ever will, without first changing oneself. This is a timeless fundamental truth.
In Covey’s framework, there are three habits which need to be developed to change ourselves and three others to be effective outside and then a seventh one to renew.
For inner world change, the first habit to develop is to learn how to be proactive. Rather than reacting to everything all the time, we have to learn how to take things in our own hands by taking initiative. We should inspire the change rather than wait to be inspired. We should select our response to stimuli rather than predictably react to everything. This gives us control rather than being remotely controlled by others.
The second principle is to develop a vision, that is, to develop a habit to begin with an end in mind and then to work towards it. The destination should be clear so that one can travel towards it, rather than feeling lost.
After developing a vision, one can manage oneself better to work towards it by prioritising urgent and important tasks. Most of our time should be spent on important tasks instead of exhausting ourselves with urgent but useless things. This is all about effective time management.
It is only when humans learn to change the lens through which they view the world, become proactive, set a vision and efficiently work towards it that they can affect change in the outside world. The first thing to accept in this context is that interdependence is a higher value than independence. By accepting this, we can work with others in a more respectful and productive way.
The first habit in this regard is to create win-win conditions by developing a mental state of abundance, instead of always complaining about scarcity. Others don’t have to fail for you to win. Both parties can win.
The second principle is to listen to others first rather than insisting that others should understand you. Once you have demonstrated empathetic listening you can expect others to listen to you. This is the basis of effective communication.
And the last principle of public victory is to learn to synergise. This is the art of making one plus one eleven rather than two. When this happens in human relationships and in teams, astounding results are achieved.
Renewal, the seventh habit, is all about refreshing and rejuvenating oneself by creating a work-life balance. Even if you have a Rolls-Royce it cannot be run indefinitely without regular fuelling. Humans are same. Four areas need to be regularly nourished: physical, mental, social and spiritual. This makes us ready to take on the world.
These time-tested and timeless habits make a difference at the individual, family and national level. The rise and fall of humans, and that of nations, is hence not just a coincidence.
The writer is a former SAPM on health with ministerial status, adjunct professor of health systems and president of the Pakistan Association of Lifestyle Medicine.
Published in Dawn, November 28th, 2025
