7 Habits - Book Study Session 2
On October 19 we had the second session of the study for The 7 Habits of Highly Effective
People: Powerful Lessons in Personal Change by Stephen R. Covey.
I this session we discussed Habits 1 and 2.
Thanks to Gordon Brooks for his technical assistance and to Chris Nelson for leading the discussion on Habit 2
Habit 1 – Be Proactive
This is the first of 3 habits which are focused on achieving
Private Victory. The premise is that
before one can move forward in becoming effective in a larger arena, there has
to be victory in the private or personal arena.
This habit is one of the most powerful because it addresses the basic
nature which we all deal with: “Its all
about me.” Even when we say it’s NOT all
about US, most of the time we act as if it really IS all about US/ME. Covey does a good job in explaining the difference
between two models of social interaction:
Proactive vs Reactive. In the
proactive model, the individual accepts responsibility for their own life and
that their behavior is a function of their decisions, not the conditions/circumstances
of their life. The reactive model, which
unfortunately most people start from and never escape, says that our
circumstances, our background, and DNA control our lives, thus they are NOT
responsible for their life or behavior.
He uses the story of Viktor Frankl, a survivor of the Nazi
death camps and his discovery of the ability in spite of the circumstances to
be proactive in relationship to his attitude and responses to what was
happening to him. Regarding Frankl,
Covey writes,
“They could control his entire environment, they could do
what they wanted to his body, but Viktor Frankl himself was a self-aware being
who could look as an observer at his very involvement. His basic identity was intact. He could decide within himself how all of
this was going to affect him. Between
what happened to him, or the stimulus, and his response to it, was his freedom
or power to choose that response.” P. 69
On the other hand, reactive people “build their emotional
lives around the behavior of others, empowering the weakness of other people to
control them.” P. 72. This is most often
seen in the language an individual uses.
Proactive language says “I can” “I choose” “I prefer” while reactive
language concedes all power to the circumstance or others, saying “I can’t” “I
must” “They won’t allow that” etc. The
power of language both to reveal our operating model AND to influence a new
operating model, I think, is powerful.
Also part of this habit is the recognition of the circle of
concern, which is basically everything with which we are concerned, and the
sub-set of the circle of influence.
According to Covey the circle of influence references those parts of the
circle of concern which we can impact through a choice or an action. To go back to Viktor Frankl’s story. He could not influence the fact that he was
in a Nazi death camp, but he could influence how he responded. An illustration from the conversation in the
group cited being caught by a train while running late for work. We can’t influence the train or being caught
(at that moment in time) but we can influence how we respond. Which is not to say we couldn’t assume an
even more proactive stance and make sure we arranged our schedule as much as it
is in our power to do so to not be late.
Habit 2 – Begin with the end in mind
Once we’ve begun to accept the proactive model Covey moves
to the second of the Personal victories: setting the values which are more
enduring, and then living in such a way as to achieve those values. The initial illustration is to imagine you
are attending your own funeral and listening to what is being said about you
and imagining what you would like to have said and from that begin to construct
the type of values and goals which would lead to that end. Covey writes:
“How different our lives are when we really know what is
deeply important to us, and, keeping that picture in mind, we manage ourselves
each day to be and to do what really matters most. If the ladder is not leaning against the
right wall, every step we take just gets us to the wrong place faster.” P.98
He also uses a great
illustration about moving through a jungle at great expense of effort only to
discover that it is the wrong jungle.
This metaphor connects us to the possibility that while we might be making
progress in our life, it quite likely is not toward the goal we would desire if
we took the time to examine our life.
Covey encourages us to construct a personal mission statement which
defines the basic values and goals of our life and then to use that document to
construct similar statements for our family and work life. By creating this statement we will have to
stop the busy movement through what is potentially the wrong “jungle” and begin
to identify what is really most important for us and the heritage which we hope
to leave behind.
Covey spends some time in this chapter discussing the
various centers which people allow to control their life and their destiny,
especially in reactive mode, including:
spouse centeredness, family centeredness, money centeredness, work
centeredness, possession centeredness, pleasure centeredness, friend/enemy
centeredness, church centeredness, and self-centeredness. Identifying your center, within a proactive
model, allows the opportunity to consider how to effectively bring balance to
all the aspects of life based on values.
Covey calls this “principle” centered.
He writes.
“But there are several important differences when you are
coming from a principle-centered paradigm.
First, you are not being acted upon by other people or
circumstances. You are proactively
choosing what you determine to be the best alternative. You make your decision consciously and
knowledgeably. Second, you know your
decision is most effective because it is based on principles with predictable
long-term results. Third, what you
choose to do contributes to your ultimate values in life.” P. 127
The last thing I will reference in this blog post regarding
Habit 2 is Covey’s comments on visualization.
I’m a big personal believer in the power of visualizations. The practice of visualizing our responses and
achievements can have a powerful impact on their becoming reality. Definitely worth considering
Conclusion
So, now it is your turn to share:
- describe a time when you were proactive or
reactive and the effect it had on you and/or those who were involved.
- Have you written a personal mission
statement? What should be some of the
key components of such a statement? When
you “begin with the end in mind,” what immediately comes to your mind and why?
- Any other comment related to the content of these two habits you would like to share?
The next session will be November 9. The discussion for Habit 3 will be led by Dan Irvin and for Gordon Brooks will lead the discussion for Habit 4.