Week 4

MOVING FORWARD WITH A DRIVING PASSION

7         Habits of highly effective people

Habit 1. Proactive: Take charge

·         Self-awareness - the ability to control thoughts.

·         Imagination - the ability to mentally create a new reality.

·         Conscience - an inner awareness of right and wrong.

·         Independent will - the ability to act on thoughts.

It is in the ordinary events of every day that we develop our proactive skills. It is in the little things that we show our true character traits. Our response to the little irritations in life will also affect responses to disasters.

Habit 2. Begin with the end in mind: visualize victory.

·         Visualize being at your own funeral. Write a eulogy. What sort of things would you like to be said about you?

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·         Visualize being at your 50th wedding anniversary. What kind of family relationship do you have?

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·         Visualize your retirement day. What do people in your industry have to say about you?

Habit 3. Put first things first:

Important and Urgent Activities

Important But Not Urgent Activities

Not Important But Urgent Activities

Not Important And Non-Urgent Activities

“Things which matter most must never be at the mercy of things which matter least.” — Goethe

“Management is doing things right, leadership is doing the right things.” — Peter Drucker & Warren Bennis

“What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.” — Oliver Wendell Holmes

Habit 4. Think win/win

A frame of mind and heart constantly seeking mutual benefit in business and personal transactions. All parties feel good about decisions and commit to the plan.

Of all the options, Win/Win-or-No-Deal is the most desirable, especially at the beginning of a business or personal association.

There are five dimensions to the habit of thinking Win/Win;

1.       Character: Thinking win/win requires integrity (the value we place on our own principles) on the part of both parties.

2.       Relationships: The Emotional Bank Account is a key to structuring a Win/Win.

3.       Agreements: These give definition and direction to Win/Win. To be effective, agreements should focus on desired results rather than the methods to be followed

4.       Systems: Win/Win can only survive in an organization when the systems support it.

5.       Processes: The essence of structuring Win/Win is to separate the person from the problem.

Habit 5. Seek first to understand, then to be understood.

                Everyone has a natural tendency to rush in and try to give advice or try to fix things before taking the time to diagnose or try to understand why the other person feels the way they do. The trick, however, is to seek first to understand the other person, then to try and be understood yourself.

When you can present your own ideas clearly, specifically, visually and contextually (in the context of your listener’s concerns), you increase the credibility of your ideas.

“The heart has its reasons which reason knows not of.” — Pascal

Habit 6. Synergize.

Synergy means that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. In other words, each of the parts combine to create new and exciting unexpected discoveries that were not possible before. It is a creative force of unparalleled power created in the principles of creative cooperation.

Synergy is the true test and manifestation of all the other habits combined.

“We have committed the Golden Rule to memory; let us now commit it to life.” — Edwin Markham

Habit 7. Sharpen the saw.

Habit 7 is taking time to sharpen the saw. In other words, don’t get so busy sawing that you don’t realize you are using a blunt saw. Take the time on a regular basis to sharpen your saw in the physical, spiritual, mental and social or emotional dimensions.

Sharpening the saw involves four separate dimensions;

1.       Physical exercise – Spending a minimum of 30 minutes per day exercising will vastly improve the quality of the remaining hours every day

2.       Spiritual – Renewing the spiritual dimension provides leadership to your life.

3.       The mental dimension – Formal education teaches the processes of mental development, study discipline, exploration of new subjects, analytical thought and expressive writing.

4.       The social / emotional dimension – Centered in the principles discussed in Habits 4, 5 and 6, the skills required to renew the social and emotional dimension require communication and creative cooperation.

“They cannot take away our self respect if we do not give it to them.” — Gandhi

https://content.byui.edu/file/3dda7de4-cd79-4390-9bcf-3cb660c48dd1/1/The%207%20Habits%20of%20Highly%20Effective%20People.pdf

President Gordon B. Hinckley, “Stand True and Faithful”

“We must be true to ourselves in matters of personal virtue. You and I as members of this Church cannot become involved in immorality. The Lord has said by way of commandment, “Let virtue garnish thy thoughts unceasingly” (D&C 121:45). He is saying to us that we cannot even think about immoral matters. Why? Because evil thoughts lead to evil deeds. Then He has said that if we will let virtue garnish our thoughts, we shall stand with confidence in the presence of God. Think of that. He goes on to say the Holy Ghost shall be our constant companion. Our dominion shall be an everlasting dominion. (See D&C 121:45–46.) What marvelous and remarkable promises these are, and they are given to those who walk in virtue.”

https://www.lds.org/general-conference/1996/04/stand-true-and-faithful?lang=eng