[COMMUNICATED] “Life changing”. “Energizing”. “Real Results”. These are just some of the comments participants in Hasagot’s Five Session Course made after only two of the sessions.

The topic? Stephen Covey’s Seven Habits of Highly Effective People.

A book of world renown, Covey’s course is up there with Dale Carnegie’s Principles of Human Relations as the leading motivators of change in today’s society. The course is offered nationwide, it’s been around for almost thirty years, the cost to participate is a few thousand dollars…and it’s never been offered by a frum venue before.

Hasagot is offering the Seven Habits Course in just a two week spread, for three hour sessions at a time, with Rabbi Yaakov Nussbaum as the course facilitator.

Rabbi Yaakov Nussbaum is a veteran of the self-help and personal development field with a certification from the Franklin Covey Institute.

So who are the attendees at this life changing course? A Rosh Yeshiva. A CEO. Two accountants, some kollel yungerleit. A Chief Tech Officer. Several business owners. A Rebbe. What do they all have in common? The desire to become more effective human beings, to achieve their long term life goals that they set for themselves daily. These aren’t incompetent, confused people. These are worked on, well-spoken individuals who want to become the most effective that they can.

“That’s the course’s guarantee”, Rabbi Nussbaum said. “By learning these seven habits, you will become profoundly more effective in areas that matter most to you in work and personal life. The key word is not successful, which can be general, but effective, which is defined as ‘getting a result today in such a way that you can get even better results in the future’. It’s not about doing better today, it’s about doing better for the rest of your life. It’s not about the present, it’s about the future.”

What is different about this course when given by a frum facilitator to a frum crowd?

“Firstly”, said Rabbi Nussbaum, “It’s gender separate. Secondly, the examples and scenarios used are all geared towards the frum lifestyle. It’s a completely different feeling when the course instructor outlines something that actually happens in your life, and has the added benefit of not being distasteful”.

Interestingly enough, Rabbi Nussbaum shared, was the fact that most of the participants found Covey’s material highly reminiscent of teachings found in mussar seforim. His writing seems familiar and relatable because of it.

The course centers on changing one’s perspective, on finding that one paradigm that changes something from intolerable to manageable, from abhorrent to pleasant. The first three habits are designed to help one achieve independence as opposed to dependence. The next four take things to an even higher level, of achieving a healthy sense of interdependence. It’s not enough to obtain success in business and then shun personal relationships and social interactions. If one wants to be truly effective in life, he needs to be able to relate to others.

After just the first two sessions, participants walked out, completely energized. Many of them owned Stephen Covey’s book, but it was incomparable to having the material taught to them by Hasagot.

They aren’t just learning the habits. They are living the habits. They are going home and internalizing what they have learned. “The atmosphere in the room during the course, said Rabbi Nussbaum, “is completely energized. We don’t just learn the habits. We immerse ourselves in them. We experience them. It’s three hours of good food for thought-and good food, too-, no cellphones, and a positive, re-evaluation of paradigms”.

Personal development is a cornerstone of Yiddishkeit, and the results of this course will surely be life changing.

Contact us to bring Stephen Covey’s 7 Habits Course to your own community, company or institution.

Make sure to look out and register for our upcoming public speaking course!