The 7 habits of highly effective people: Takeaways from YC’s lunch & learn

At a recent Y Combinator lunch and learn, Visiting Group Partner Francois Chaubard mentioned that he rereads The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People every single year. When someone with that track record says a book is worth an annual revisit, it’s worth paying attention.

Here are the habits that stood out most:

Here are some highlights:

Habit 1: be proactive

Focus on your circle of influence (what you can control) vs your circle of concern. Stop wasting energy on things outside your control. No more blaming circumstances, genetics, or others.

Habit 2: begin with the end in mind

Define your personal mission. Live by design, not default. The book asks you to visualize your funeral, what do you want people to say about you?

Habit 3: put first things first

We get trapped by urgent tasks while important, non-urgent goals (Quadrant II - important but not urgent) languish. These are the things that actually move the needle.

Marie's implementation:

• Weekly goals on a whiteboard for visual accountability
• Daily Slack bot reminder at 7pm to set tomorrow's important goals

Building a startup makes it easy to live in "urgency mode" 24/7. This framework is helping me step back and work ON the business, not just IN it.