Covey's Habits

A detailed Summary of Covey's Habits

Proactive. Covey tells us how we should be taking more initiative and control of our lives. We are the only ones that have control over our lives. Covey uses the story of Victor Frankl to explain the total control we have to shape our own thoughts and feelings. Victor was a Jew held in a German death camp during the second World War. Victor realized that even though the Germans had control of the environment that he was in and the ability to kill him at anytime, he could still have control of his thoughts and feelings. Victor could project himself into other places that he found comforting. By doing this, he would almost forget about where he was. His attitude changed and helped encourage hundreds of other people around him. Highly effective people understand and use this ability that everyone possesses. We need to take control of our selves and realize that we can shape our thoughts. By being proactive we are not as prone to have our environment shape the way we think or feel. Non-proactive people tend to be emotional butterflies: "when people treat them well, they feel well; when people don't, they become defensive or protective . . . allowing the weaknesses of people to control them." People who are proactive take more initiati

things we do in our lives. Why do we do these things? What is the purpose of them? A person needs to look at himself or herself, realize what it is they want their life to be and do actions and activities that promote that outcome. This is well conveyed by Covey's illustration of the funeral. He talks about going to a funeral and finding yourself in the coffin. If four people were speaking, one from your family, one from your friends, one from your church group, and the last from your place of employment, what would you want them to say about you. This gives a good idea of what he means. We need to always think, "is this going to create the image or persona I want?" A good way of doing this is by sitting down and writing a personal mission statement. By taking the time to think and write down what you want in life you create a perfect catalyst for beginning the process. After reading this second habit, I can't help but think of Christianity. I often hear people talk about their new religious outlook and stance in life as being "born again." This phrase seems to be the essence of what Covey is saying. As Christian we can we can use this as the beginning of our new Christian life. The counselor in me sees ample opportunity to use and implement this strategy. Many people coming to counseling are looking at their lives and wanting more. Beginning with the end in mind would be perfect for a well functioning person with life achievement issues. It helps create a sense of power over their lives again. It allows them to stop and regroup themselves. They can create the ideal realistic person they want to become and set ways of forming themselves into that person. A down side of this occurs when people set standards or goals outside of their personal abilities. This only sets them up for greater disappointment and hardship on themselves. Put First Things First. Habit three is the "fulfillment, the actualization, the natural emergence of habits one and two."

Covey conveys to the reader that we must first prioritize what needs are to be met and in what order. We need to realize what the consequences of our different activities and actions are and rank them in order of importance. Once you realize what it is you do, you have to find the results of these actions. Then you rank them in order of the repercussions they create and do the things that create the most positive outcomes concerning you goals in life. If you want to be liked by more people, you move up being friendly and outgoing in your personal activities. We need to put first the things that help create or are a catalyst toward end products we desire. Time management is a crucial concern for positive outcomes. We have to be aware of what needs to be focused on in our lives and be able to focus on it. We need to be able to look into the future. We need to realize what needs to be done now to effect the future. We also should look at the present. We should monitor ourselves and understand how to implement the things needed for our personal wants and goal outcomes. "Put First Things First" appears to be the very implementation tool for setting the fir

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Approximate Word count = 2103
Approximate Pages = 8 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: Science