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FranklinCovey Blog | Habit
What are you avoiding?
As I have been contemplating the struggles that all of us go through in life, I am reminded of this powerful quote by Albert E. N. Gray:
“The successful person has the habit of doing things failures don’t like to do. They don’t like doing them either necessarily. But their disliking is subordinated to the strength of their purpose.”
I invite you to ponder on this idea in your own life. What are the things you know you have to do but are avoiding? If you were to discipline yourself and create a plan for doing those things, would you find positive, even breakthrough rewards?
For me, I know when I have avoided doing something, I have eventually seen that I’ve paid an even higher price by avoidance. For example, when I neglect my health by not eating right, exercising, or getting enough sleep, because I find it hard to stick to a disciplined regiment, I find myself feeling sluggish and not doing my best work. When I finally subordinate my dislikes to the strength of my purpose, things turn around.
I challenge you to contemplate your life and identify something you are avoiding and make a promise to yourself that you will do it. Make a promise and keep it. Subordinate the things you dislike doing to your greater purpose. I am confident that you the more you do this, the more strength you will build-and the more success you will find. What have you been avoiding? What is the end result you would like to see in your life?
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Be Proactive – The Most Important Habit
I am often asked if there is one habit out of the 7 Habits that is more important than the others. Of course, if you ask me all the habits are important and they form an inter-connected whole or a continuum. I believe for maximum effectiveness, you have to build from one to the other and apply them consistently. From that perspective, Habit 1: Be Proactive provides the foundation for all the other habits. Habit 1 is, undoubtedly, the foundation for leadership at home or at work because it begins with the mindset “I am responsible for me, and I can choose.”All the other habits are dependent upon being proactive and choosing to master and practicing principle-centered living.
The key to being proactive is remembering that between stimulus and response there is a space. That space represents our choice- how we will choose to respond to any given situation, person, thought or event. › Continue reading
Have You Discovered Your Purpose?
Do you have a mission statement? Have you taken the time to put your mission statement down on paper?
According to Dr. Stephen R. Covey a mission statement is like a constitution by which you make all decisions for your life. Highly effective people shape their own future instead of letting other people, their culture, or their circumstance determine it. A mission statement provides direction and clarity for your life, your family, your team and your organization.
Such clarity is critically important in today’s turbulent climate. You may work within an organization with fewer people, fewer resources, more confusion, and more noise-you may be expected to do as much or more with far fewer resources. In order to survive in such an environment, you need a compass to help stay focused and on course in order to make critical decisions and accomplish key priorities.
Benefits of a Mission Statement: › Continue reading
Discover Your Purpose – Building Your Mission Statement
I was introduced to The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People 25 years ago as a freshman in college. The book wasn’t even written yet. I found the lecture series on tape in my campus bookstore, and bought them hoping for some solid advice as I embarked upon my college career.
I liked everything I heard, but some habits and ideas resonated with me more than others. Habit 2, Begin With the End in Mind was a habit that made theoretical sense to me, but it’s application (writing a personal mission statement) just seemed a little too ‘touchy-feely’ to me. It wasn’t that I was against the idea. I mean, ‘if you’re the kind of person that is in to that self-exploratory stuff, that’s great, but that kind of thing just isn’t my style.’ I will be honest, I kind of glossed over Habit 2.
Big mistake. › Continue reading
Feared Thing First
Fear and uncertainty can freeze and immobilize even the strong. Confronting your resistance by taking on your “feared thing first” everyday is the secret to navigating perilous times. This habit has allowed me to regain my sense of purpose for 2009.
We all can take advantage of the current economic uncertainty by contacting our most important stakeholders and looking for opportunities to grow our trust account with them. Many people are frozen and afraid to call their customers and other key stakeholders for fear of hearing bad news. Guess what? The bad news is there whether or not you hear it. Much better to confront reality and give your customer a listening outlet to discuss challenges and feel understood than to abandon the relationship during difficult times. Now is the time to over-communicate with your customers and other key stakeholders. Give them someone they can trust by behaving in ways that inspire trust.
Regain your momentum by doubling your contacts. Call the ones you are afraid to call first. Ask for business. Ask for referrals. Ask for favors. They are as afraid and starved for meaningful dialog as you are. Go for it. Then have the courage and monomaniacal discipline to follow up relentlessly. Don’t take non responsiveness personally. Others are frozen and need your consistent concern to thaw them. Stay with this relentless follow-up and you will be very glad you did. One of two things will happen: 1) ou will have the happy surprise of good news and will grow your business immediately or 2) you will be the first one they think of when things improve, as you were likely one of the very few that communicated with them during tough times. Make doing business at the Speed of Trust your unique competitive advantage this year. Increase your credibility by doing your feared thing first. Everyday.
Author: Greg Link, The Global Speed of Trust Practice Leader at FranklinCovey
Happy April 1
I got up on today, April 1, and unscrewed all of the canister lights in my kitchen, woke up my daughter and told her ‘no school today! too much snow and wind’, came to work and taped down a few mouse balls, and just generally wreaked some havoc and all because of my personal mission statement, after all it is April Fools’ Day.
FranklinCovey has a new “old” audio product just released called “How to Develop Your Personal Mission Statement.” I picked it up, listened, and tried again. I have written mission statements a couple of times and I always ended up feeling like I didn’t quite have it right yet. Sometimes I felt like it was more driven from fear-what if I write this down and I can’t really make it happen? Will that make me a loser in life?
A personal mission statement is based on Habit 2, Begin With The End In Mind. In life, the most effective way to begin with the end in mind is to develop a mission statement, one that focuses on what you want to be in terms of character, and what you want to do in reference to life contributions and achievements. Maybe it’s because it’s Spring, or because of where I am in life, but this time it really stuck. Maybe it’s just as Victor Hugo once said, “There is nothing as powerful as an idea whose time has come.” And the time had come for my mission statement to become a powerful force in my life.
What really helped me out was the CD full of tools that is included in this audio package. It has all kinds of FranklinCovey tools and resources but most importantly it has a personal mission statement builder. I personally needed a sense of destination and the mission statement builder gave me that and created the energy to get me started and the inspiration to finish. In fact, Stephen says that at the beginning of this process there is enormous hope and encouragement as well as fun and happiness. And that for me was the clincher. My mission statement should be fun.
That tool, combined with Stephen’s coaching, got me to a place where I feel like I’m back on course and I can make a difference in this world and I will make a contribution.
So, what does all of this have to do with April Fools’ Day and the pranks I played? My mission is all about living a life of fun and good cheer, learning to have and share fun, showing and sharing love through joyful fun, and leaving a legacy of fun.
So, when it’s all said and done, I want people to come to my funeral and have a rip roarin’ fun party!
Author: Annie Oswald