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Habit 1: Be Proactive is about taking responsibility for your life. Proactive people recognize that they are “response-able.” They don't blame circumstances, conditions, or conditioning for their behavior.
Habit 3, “put first things first,” discusses self-management, leading the effort on the ground to hack your way through the underbrush and reach your destination. Habit 3 encourages you to use time management and emotional awareness to work toward finding what's important to you and following through.
Understand the end result Begin With the End in Mind means to begin each day, task, or project with a clear vision of your desired direction and destination, and then continue by flexing your proactive muscles to make things happen.
Habit 3: Put First Things First is the exercise of independent will toward becoming principle-centered. Habit 3 is the practical fulfillment of Habits 1 and 2. Habit 1 says, “You are the creator. You are in charge.” Habit 2 is the first mental creation, based on imagination, the ability to envision what you can become.
Think win/win. Seek to understand first, before making yourself understood. Learn to synergize. Sharpen the saw.
People who put first things first focus on the important, not just the urgent, act on priorities, plan weekly and act daily. You are putting first things first when you organize your time around the most important things and eliminate the unimportant. Kid Language.
“Putting first things first means organizing and executing around your most important priorities. It is living and being driven by the principles you value most, not by the agendas and forces surrounding you.” – Dr. Stephen R. Covey.
Habit 5: Seek First to Understand, Then to Be Understood® is the habit of listening to other people's ideas and feelings. It's trying to see things from their viewpoints. I listen to others without interrupting. It's about being confident in voicing your ideas. It's about looking people in the eyes when speaking.
The idea behind “think win-win” i.e. habit 4 is to have the courage to seek mutual benefit from all human interactions instead of having winners on the one side and losers on the other. Achieving a “Win-Win” way of interacting with others is more than just being nice or looking for a quick fix.
Running the programImportant – Urgent activities (e.g. Crises, pressing problems, deadline-driven projects)Important – Not urgent activities (relationship building, planning, recreation)Not important – Urgent activities (Interruptions, some calls, some mail, some meetings)More items...
Why is it important? Putting first things first is a really important component of good personal leadership. When this habit is practised, you are considering the impact of your actions on others, remaining disciplined and retaining personal integrity. When you put last things first, you can form negative habits.
Time management is only half of Habit 3, so what is the other half? Learning how to overcome fear and peer pressure.
When this habit is practised, you are considering the impact of your actions on others, remaining disciplined and retaining personal integrity. When you put lastthings first, you can form negative habits. In the above example, you may find that, upon arrival, your mother-in-law raises her eyebrows and then reaches for the washing up gloves. In your mind, this reinforces not needing to do the task in hand, creating a habit of ‘well if I don’t do it, maybe someone else will’. This leads to poor personal management and can have a significant impact on your relationships with others.
In case you haven’t seen the first two posts, ‘Be Proactive’and ‘Begin with the end in mind’, the aim of this blog series is to provide a reminder of these ever-valuable habits, with a personal leadership twist. Each blog gives you insight into each habit and an idea of how you can develop it.
Habit five is about seeing through the eyes of other people. How does Covey describe this habit?
The seventh and final habit is about refreshing and renewing your approach to allow you to undertake all of the other six habits. How does Covey describe it?