Introduction

I have observed that the method one employs in reading matters a great deal. Many individuals, from a young age, fail to learn how to study or read effectively, resulting in their efforts often being less than half as productive as they could be. Whether it involves manual labour, studies, or learning, everything seems arduous for them, learning becomes a painful ordeal. The same task that others complete in half an hour might take them four hours, ultimately leading to significant hardship.

The reference book for our lectures this time is The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey. Stephen Covey distilled human habits into seven key points. However, there are arguably more than just seven good habits; some might suggest eight, others nine. The exact number is not the critical point; mastering these seven habits is what truly matters.

Could anyone tell me, upon receiving this book, which part you would start reading first? Would anyone read it from the first word to the last? Some might say the table of contents, which is an excellent habit, as the table of contents is crucial. But after the table of contents, what next? The outline and the preface. Having read the outline and preface, what then? Go straight to the main text. I think you are all excellent, recognising the importance of the table of contents. But can you discern a pattern in the table of contents? The pattern is that, through the table of contents, we can see how the author structured the book.

Open the table of contents of The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. The first chapter is Becoming Proactive, and the second is an overview of the seven habits. This indicates that the first two chapters provide an overview of the entire book. If you were to write a summary, it would essentially be based on the overview presented in the first two chapters. The first two chapters span over a hundred pages, while the table of contents is only twenty or thirty pages long. Therefore, before reading the first chapter, you already have a concise definition and framework of the seven habits. From this, you can deduce that the author follows the habit of providing an overall introduction before delving into each chapter. If you have cultivated a reading habit and you encounter a poorly written book, you can infer that the author might not be skilled in writing.

Upon examining the table of contents, you will find that the first part of the book is essentially an overview of the whole. The first part spans from page 49 to page 99. Of course, there are also brief definitions and a framework of the seven habits beforehand. Page 41 explains how to use the book, indicating that the author adhered to the conventions of writing a book. The knowledge you acquired in secondary school may have faded by now. If there are any liberal arts students among us, perhaps you could refresh my memory. If we were to classify books, how many categories could we divide them into?

Some might say their book is different from mine, which is fine, just examine the table of contents. The table of contents includes testimonials, a dedication to the father, a foreword, instructions on how to use the book, and a brief definition and framework of the seven habits. The first part is Re-Exploring Self; the second part is Personal Victory, Moving from Dependence to Independence; the third part is Public Victory, Moving from Independence to Interdependence; and the fourth part is Self-Renewal and Improvement. So, the content is essentially the same.

Some suggest dividing books into classics, commentaries, treatises, and books. Let's simplify and broadly categorize them. The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People falls into the category of personal improvement and self-help, not fiction. If we categorize books, we would have fiction, biographies – books that tell stories – and then self-improvement books, which typically discuss habits, behaviours, and thoughts. Apart from these, I believe different categories of books require different reading approaches. Today, we will primarily discuss how to read self-improvement books. Reading fiction requires a different approach, entirely distinct from reading self-improvement books. Similarly, reading mathematics or physics requires a different method, as each discipline has its unique characteristics and classifications.

Let's discuss how to read self-improvement books. I have a slight concern in teaching you how to read this book today, which is that you might over-generalise and apply it to everything else, which would be problematic. Therefore, fiction has its reading method, and self-improvement books have theirs. The most crucial aspect of self-improvement books is application to oneself, the implementation aspect.

We have many e-books, but why am I writing on a tablet today? Because I want to establish a good habit for everyone: the habit of writing and doodling. I enjoy writing, so when I bought a tablet, the first thing I checked was whether the characters the pen wrote on the tablet were aesthetically pleasing, whether they had calligraphic strokes, pressure sensitivity, and the ability to conceal and reveal the brushstroke. I enjoy writing and sometimes like to show off, so I have developed a writing habit. I wonder if those who do not write well have noticed that when you look at what you have written, it can be quite upsetting. If you find it upsetting, you will not enjoy writing.

Why does your handwriting look poor? Because the strokes are not straight and neat, appearing as if written with wooden sticks. The characters you write will not be pleasing. Therefore, those who have not studied much since childhood will not have good handwriting, and it will be unpleasant to look at. But it is alright; you can start studying how others write. When you watch me write, you will notice that the characters are not wooden sticks but have calligraphic strokes.

Some may be illiterate, which is fine, but I still think it is essential to cultivate the habit of writing and doodling. The most crucial thing for humanity is inheritance, and how is that achieved? From our ancestors' time, it has been through writing, so writing and literacy are almost indispensable. Some might say they did not study much when young and cannot read, which is fine. Among us, there are people who teach literacy, writing, and reading.

My point is that I hope everyone can start practising writing and doodling when they have time. You should know that those who write and doodle learn a lot. I saw a relatively elderly sister among us who is illiterate starting to do her homework, which is excellent. I will briefly talk about writing and doodling, and you can slowly learn how to draw lines on paper with a pen when you have time. At first, your lines will not be as straight as mine, but I also practised over time.

You will find that I have a habit of writing and doodling. If you develop this habit, you will find it quite enjoyable and will love writing and drawing more and more. If you don't know what to write or draw initially, that's fine; start by cultivating the habit, which is better than not having it. You will discover that writing and doodling, in themselves, engage the brain. The more the brain is used, the more flexible it becomes, so cultivating the habit of writing and doodling is an essential habit for a person.

People Improve Little by Little

Let's talk about how to read this book. The worst thing is reading word by word, fearing to miss a single one. Where does human knowledge come from? Your understanding of any industry or thing starts with recognising just a little. For example, after knowing one per cent, I can know five per cent, and after knowing five per cent, I can know ten per cent, then thirty per cent, then seventy per cent, and finally complete understanding. A person's cognition of things progresses in such a process. The most deadly bad habit in this process is wanting to go from zero to one hundred per cent at once, and if you can't reach one hundred per cent, you remain at zero per cent. This is a terrible habit.

If I know one per cent and tell myself I have made progress; then I know two per cent, and I have improved again; then I will know five per cent, which is a crucial habit. Some people cannot forgive themselves if they find that they do not know one hundred per cent, and they become distressed. When reading personal improvement books, you must start by understanding just a little bit at a time. Why do people develop the habit of remaining at zero per cent if they are not at one hundred per cent? The reason is simple: behind this is a spiritual power of darkness; learning is a very spiritual matter. You will find that if some people cannot draw something beautifully, they won't draw it at all, and they will never be able to draw it beautifully. Never being able to draw beautifully means they will remain at the stage of not being able to draw beautifully until they enter the coffin. See how hard they live their lives.

But if you do as I say and start from one per cent, it doesn't matter if you draw a bit crookedly; improve a little each day, and then you will draw straighter and straighter. When we read these books, we must not read word by word but first establish a framework. What does establishing a framework mean? It means I need to know what the book is about. Becoming Proactive – everyone can understand the words. We often talk about building up people; we must first build ourselves up. Becoming Proactive also has a line below it called Putting it into Action. In our minds, we first remember Becoming Proactive. The meaning of Becoming Proactive is simple, even a fool understands it, so when you read this, have you already understood one per cent? Then look at the table of contents; the first page is still Becoming Proactive, and then Completely building yourself, which is the first chapter.

The second chapter is an overview of the seven habits, and then the third chapter is habit one, the fourth chapter is habit two, and then habits three, four, five, six, and seven. At this time, after seeing the first two chapters, we ask ourselves: what are the seven habits? Then we look at the third, fourth, and fifth chapters. It turns out that we recognise the words of the seven habits; there is nothing difficult. The English version is the same; an overview is a rough discussion. In other words, if we know all these words every time we read a book, have you read one per cent? Certainly, we have. After having one per cent, can we then get to five per cent? It is easy; it's just this little bit, so you often hear me say it's just this little bit.

So what are the seven habits? Looking down, the first habit is Be Proactive. We know what being proactive is, so having read this, do you know two per cent? The second habit is Begin With the End in Mind, which means starting with the end, also known as goal-oriented. This seems less familiar, but that's okay. The third habit is Put First Things First, which means putting important things first. The fourth habit is Think Win-Win, which means good for you, good for me. The fifth habit is Seek First to Understand, Then to Be Understood. We know Know yourself, know your enemy, but Seek First to Understand, Then to Be Understood seems both familiar and unfamiliar.

We know some things and don't know others. Then we can read what we don't know, and compare what we know to see if it's the same as what we think, because we have too many presumptions in our minds. If we see that it's not the same as what we know, we can remove our ideas and put in the ideas of others. The sixth good habit is Synergize, which I don't know.

Looking at it this way, we don't know three, and we know three. The seventh is Sharpen the Saw, which we know. Some people ask if I have read this book; I haven't. Many years ago, when I was about the same age as you, I read the English version. Today it has been translated into Chinese, and although the translation is not particularly good, that's alright.

The First Good Habit: Be Proactive

The first habit is Be Proactive, and the second habit is Begin With the End in Mind, which seems half-known. The third habit is Put First Things First, which we know. The fourth good habit is Think Win-Win, which seems unknown; the fifth habit, Seek First to Understand, Then to Be Understood, also seems unknown; Synergize seems both known and unknown; and the seventh habit is Sharpen the Saw. Then there is roughly a concept in the mind, and we know what this book is about. Reading with everyone like this is called Be Proactive. Being proactive is very important; being proactive means we begin to actively try. We know what we know and what we don't know. After we have questions in our minds, we then read with those questions.

Many people read blindly, not reading with questions, and as a result, they forget what they are doing. Another characteristic of being proactive is that I like to guess as I read. This sounds bad, but it is actually a good habit. When we hear Be Proactive, we have some of our own views. The book will likely talk about being proactive, but we don't know if it will talk about these things. When we look specifically, what they talk about may not be the same as what we think, but that's alright; we can combine theirs and ours to form our own things, which is equivalent to re-moulding the concept of being proactive, so being proactive is very important.

Being proactive means reading with questions, with our own views and opinions, whether right or wrong, which can be guesses. If it is the same as what I think, then I don't need to read it. Now the question comes: the above talked about establishing a framework, so this whole pile of things is the framework. But the one who writes this kind of book is different from the one who writes novels. Novels, like crosstalk, often drop a punchline and then leave some suspense, which is a different set of things. The most obvious characteristic of writing this kind of book is that the front part of the book is the whole of the book, and the front part of each chapter is an overall summary of that chapter. So is reading hard? It's not hard! Having read the table of contents is equivalent to having read the seven habits, even though many others have not been read yet, but that's alright.

If the front of the first chapter is read for thirty to fifty pages, then that counts as having read it, so the rest doesn't need to be read at all. If you have read the front part of the book and the front part of each chapter, then the problem is solved, right? After I say this, you will know how to do your homework in the future, right? Just like how people write books, the front part of each paragraph is the whole of that paragraph. So reading is very simple; first read the table of contents, and then read the very first small section of the book.

Some books have a longer prelude, and some have a shorter prelude, but the prelude accounts for about ten per cent or twenty per cent of the book, so read this part carefully. Some content accounts for one per cent of the book, and some chapters account for about ten per cent. In English, the starting part of each paragraph is called the Topic Sentence. Seeing the topic sentence, it constantly expands on the topic sentence downwards, which is what that paragraph is going to write about, which is the argument or the evidence, and then it is the expansion below the evidence.

Let me teach you how to read a book; this is how you should do it. Start with the part of the book, the chapter if you get to it, or the section if that’s where you are. Simple, right? Simple. Do you understand why we read like this? Firstly, reading every single word is slow; secondly, it’s easy to forget what you’re doing when you read word by word. Good learners certainly don't read that way. I'm referring to how this kind of book is written, because my books are usually of the self-improvement type, and I generally write them this way: introduce something, then elaborate; introduce, then elaborate. For those of you who aren’t used to reading books, let me expand a bit on how books are written, and how we should read them; we must read in line with the author's method.

Authors typically start by writing the very first point of the book, then the first point of the second chapter, the third, the fourth, the fifth... the initial points of each chapter. After that, they write the content that follows. Remember, each paragraph starts with the very first sentence, without yet writing the rest, because the rest is still in the author's mind. Then, they write the first sentence of the second chapter, followed by the first sentence of the third chapter, and finally, they add the content.

This is not just the way to write a book, but also the way to write a program. Writing and reading books are two sides of the same coin, just like writing software and reading someone else's software. The logic is very clear: you just read out the author's intended meaning, and it’s manageable. But not everyone writes like this, and not everyone has the discipline to do so. Let me give you an example. After I teach you this, you won't be able to listen to sermons on YouTube. Why? The reason is simple. I aim for the bullseye; the arrows all hit the center of the target. That's the goal of writing a book: to make it clear what I want to achieve.

The Seven Habits, what habits? The title, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, states it clearly. Each chapter discusses this, and each chapter has this relationship. But if you listen online, you'll hear many pastors who set up the target, establish the theme, but then the arrows they shoot don’t hit the target. They don’t know where they’re shooting, and after listening, people don’t know what they’re trying to say, which is a problem.

Some people say, That pastor is impressive! I ask, How so? They say, Because I can't understand what he's saying; he talks and talks, but I don't know what he's talking about. What's his argument? I don't know. What's his evidence? I don't know. How does he argue? I don't know. After listening, I think he needs to brush up on his language skills. So, when we read a program, if we can discern how the programmer wrote it, we’re on the right track. If the programmer is disorganized, reading it will be extremely painful. Once it's painful, you know something is wrong. That's why when I lead you in reading the Book of James, it comes out differently from what others read. This James is not the James in Genesis, but the James in the New Testament. James has a very obvious characteristic in his writing: he doesn't hit the bullseye. He makes it unclear what he's trying to say, which is frustrating.

I'm saying that readers should discern the author's writing style. If someone writes a lousy book, you can't read it well. That's why my mother, even though she's an old lady and hasn't been to school, can understand my sermons. One day, she said to me, Son, I can understand what you're saying, but why can't I understand many pastors? They're speaking Martian, of course you can't understand. I said, That's not surprising. They didn't explain clearly; can you follow? That's the first point: be proactive.

Second Habit: Begin with the End in Mind

Second point: Begin with the end in mind. You'll notice that the contents of this book are similar to what pastors preach. My habits have been this way since I was young; these things are ingrained in me. Deep down, it's all there. Next, let's look at beginning with the end in mind. Remember, we must always keep the goal in our minds; we must be goal-oriented, that is, begin with the end in mind. If I want to go to the small shop downstairs from my house, I must walk closer and closer. If I wanted to go to the shop, but walked in the opposite direction, getting farther and farther away, I’d probably have to circle the earth to get back, wouldn’t that be troublesome? Just like we need navigation when we drive, it must guide us to the right place, so goal orientation is very important.

I must walk towards the goal. When we start reading this book, we establish a goal: to develop seven good habits. If we can't manage all seven, we can develop one good habit, which is to be proactive. The second good habit: goal orientation. So when we think, we must know goal orientation; we must know what we're doing. I'm teaching you how to read a book. You must know why you're reading this book. Our goal is to develop good habits, so don't forget it.

Although the stories in the book are good, you can't forget the purpose of reading this book and just focus on the story. If you forget the goal, you'll forget the theme when you listen to my sermon and only listen to the stories I tell. If you only pick what you like to hear, that's a problem. So, beginning with the end in mind is very important; no matter what you do, you must have a goal-oriented mindset. If you find yourself getting farther and farther away from the goal, we must know that we're not doing it right, that we're making a mistake, so we must begin with the end in mind.

When we think, there are things we need to pay attention to. I'll give you some homework. Let's not talk too much: be proactive, begin with the end in mind, put first things first, think win-win, seek first to understand, then to be understood, synergize. You'll notice that there's a first part: paradigms and principles; a second part: private victory; and a third part: public victory. Reading this, you understand that it starts with the individual; I must become a more capable person, and then develop success in interacting with others.

The second part goes from dependence to independence; the third part goes from independence to interdependence. If an individual becomes capable and very independent, they can complete tasks independently and not just be assistants. Reading this, it becomes clear that the seven habits are divided into the first three habits, which are personal, and the last three habits, which involve interacting with others. The seventh habit is to sharpen the saw. We’ve summarized these contents a bit, and now you should have some understanding of this book.

How We Should Read Books

I want to learn how to read, so how should I read? Before reading this book, I must first establish a framework. You often hear the word framework, but it may confine many people and confuse them, which would be a problem. What does it mean? It means establishing an outline. Do you understand outline? What is a framework? It’s a rough outline. I don't want too many details; without many details, it's just a rough outline. First, I want to learn how to read a book. Second, how do I learn to read a book? I first establish a framework, and how do I establish a framework? By reading the table of contents.

For example, if I draw a frame for you now, can you tell what it is? It doesn't seem like you can. I'll draw some more. Can you see it now? It still doesn’t seem like it. I'll add a few more strokes. Now can you see it? You can see it now. It looks like an old farmer's house, with nothing in the frame. But why are there no tiles? Isn’t the roof leaking? I'm just drawing an idea. I'm just giving you an idea. Now I've added the tiles. Why is there just a line here? I'll add some more lines. It looks more and more like it, but I'm quite good at coaxing children. Kids who study with me will learn. This line is too thin; I'll thicken it. I'll add the bricks to the roof one by one. It doesn't matter if it's not right. The color of our windows at home is blue; it doesn't matter, we'll add blue details. Building a framework has no details; too many details make it look messy.

For those who haven't read many books, let me teach you: reading the table of contents is like building a framework. The first part of the book introduces the book; once we read that, we’ve finished reading the book. The first part of each chapter introduces that chapter, and the first part of each paragraph introduces that paragraph. I don't necessarily read every chapter in detail, but I must read the first paragraph of each chapter. Some people say they can finish reading this book in an hour. Why? Because they only read the table of contents. You say, Is that okay? You're missing so many words! Don't worry, just read the table of contents. If I only read the table of contents, reading the first part of the book means I’ve finished reading it. Look, the first chapter is an overall introduction, and the second chapter is also an overall introduction. If I read these first fifty pages, I'll know a lot of things, so this is how you establish a framework.

Listening to audiobooks is the same. The most important thing is to read what the author wrote. If someone writes you a letter saying, I love you, and you read it as I hate you, you've misinterpreted it, which is a problem. We should read the way the author wrote, reading out what the author intended. That's the powerful part. If you read someone else's program and can't figure out how they wrote it, that's really bad. No matter what you do, always start with a framework. For example, when building a house, you don't start painting before the house is built, do you? Are you painting the air? If the walls aren't up, you don't put the bed inside, do you? That's not how it's done. It always starts with the roughest parts, and then it gets more and more detailed, finally leading to fine decoration or soft furnishings. So, everything must start with a framework.

When it comes to living life, shouldn’t we have a framework? That thing is called a plan. I hope that the pastors among us will teach those under them what I teach you. What is a plan? A plan is the framework for what you want to do. I want to do this, I want to do that, this is how it should be done; once you clarify these things, and then do it, it turns out great. This is one way to read a book.

I'm not teaching you these seven habits; I'm teaching you how to read this book on the seven habits. I don't want to go through it again; the book explains it better than I do. I don't want to read the book to you again. If you want me to read it, I can make an audiobook for you, but I must teach you how to read. What kind of book? A self-improvement book. I think I would be a good tutor, even though tutoring is now being banned. But without God, I couldn't do it, because God doesn't want me to do that. God wants me to do what I'm doing today. How to apply it to yourself? Go back and read the book. After reading it, you'll find that there's not much to it, just these few things.

If you feel the book is thick when you read it, that you've never read such a thick book before, that you've never finished a hundred-page book, or a two-hundred-page book, if you follow my method, you can actually finish it in one hour, or ten hours, or twenty hours, or a hundred hours. I want to tell you that there's something called in-depth reading, but it isn't done right away. There's something called broad reading. If you understand what I mean, you'll know that reading must start with broad reading and then move on to in-depth reading. In-depth reading doesn't mean reading from the first word to the last; in-depth reading actually means thoroughly understanding each chapter. How can you thoroughly understand it? You must first establish a framework, because once you establish a framework, you won't stray.

Broad reading is roughly reading it, a quick read. Have you ever done woodworking? If you do woodworking, you'll find that you must start by drawing lines. Why do you draw lines first? Why don't we just start working right away? If there are no lines, where do you work? If there are no holes where there should be, and there are holes where there shouldn't be, can the wood still be used? So you must draw lines first. Broad reading is to get a rough understanding. During in-depth reading, there won't be a millimeter or a centimeter of difference.

Conclusion

I'll give you some homework. You don't need to read too much, just read the first chapter. I also hope that the group leaders among us will take on the responsibility of being pastors, because group leaders play a very important role. Especially those of you who have read this book, you can put aside your work for now. Ministry leaders, don't push too hard. Let's solve the problem of knowing how to read first. This week, let's understand the first chapter. The first chapter is only twenty-eight pages long, and it's about comprehensively creating yourself from the inside out. Of course, it's also good to read the others to establish a framework. Next week, I'll give you a small summary. Those who can't read can listen.

Based on my years of experience, your IQs are not low. Especially those of you who haven't been able to do anything well in the past few years, it's because you haven't done it right. If you follow me, you’ll definitely succeed. You'll become more and more skilled. Who knows, at seventy, you might become Jiang Ziya! If you're eighty, it doesn't matter, because it's okay to be Jiang Ziya at eighty. Don't be lazy. Although you can lie flat, you can't lie flat forever.

I will, by all means, bring you out of these bad habits and establish a new set of good habits. From now on, you will be a highly effective person. Perhaps one day your boss will say, How have you changed recently? You'll say, Hey, you don't know, I learned seven good habits from our pastor. Looking at you, they'll see that you've become different. It takes others four hours to get their work done, but you finish it in half an hour. Others work for a month and don't achieve anything, but you complete a month's worth of work in a week. Is that the same? It’s not the same.

When you read the last three habits, your interpersonal relationships will greatly improve. We'll adjust little by little, and after this round, everyone can grow a little. But how much can you grow? Growing by 10% or 5% is already very good. The next time I lead you to read another book, you can grow a little more, and then you'll be amazing. We will continuously strengthen the country through learning, continuously strengthen our brains through learning, continuously strengthen our bodies through learning, and continuously strengthen our bodies through learning. We will get better and better! May God bless you all.