Well we’re at lesson five (5) in our journey to learn the seven (7) habits of extremely successful people. We have covered:
Being proactive;
Having the end game in mind;
Putting 1st things 1st; and
Thinking win-win when confronted with conflict.
The 5th lesson is “seeking first to understand, then to be understood”. This concept deals with listening. How often do you really listen to another person? If we are honest what we mostly do is evaluate and judge the other person because of the “video” we have running in our heads about that person. That’s what prejudice is all about. We all have video clips running in our heads-those videos have been placed in our heads and hearts by our parents, by our experiences, what is said by others, or our own experiences. What if we erased all the preconceived videos and just tried to experience each other on a fresh basis with each new interaction. Wouldn’t the world be a better place? You have the power to erase the video clips in your head that are negative not only for others but more important FOR YOURSELF!
Monday, May 19, 2008
Sunday, May 18, 2008
Win/ Win
In continuing with the Seven (7) Habits of Extremely Successful people, Lesson Four (4) is “”Think Win/Win”. When you adopt the attitude of Win-Win you have an attitude whereby mutually beneficial solutions are sought that satisfy not only your needs but in the case of conflict, both parties involved in the conflict. This is probably not how most of us operate. We too often think that the only way “I can get what I want” is to adopt an attitude that “I need to make sure your needs are not met”.
Actually when we live our lives with the concept that a “Rising tide lifts all boats”, then we will live with an attitude of Win-Win. I don’t need to beat you down to feel important— we are all important, successful and special in and of our selves. In fact, the next time you are in a conflict practice this strategy and you will find that the other person will be more prone to look at themselves and how they contributed to the conflict as opposed to trying to lay blame on you!
Have a GREAT HIGHLY SUCCESSFUL day. Be proactive (Habit 1), remember your end game (habit 2), put 1st things 1st (Habit 3) and adopt a Win-Win attitude. You are successful people; let’s work on becoming highly successful/
Actually when we live our lives with the concept that a “Rising tide lifts all boats”, then we will live with an attitude of Win-Win. I don’t need to beat you down to feel important— we are all important, successful and special in and of our selves. In fact, the next time you are in a conflict practice this strategy and you will find that the other person will be more prone to look at themselves and how they contributed to the conflict as opposed to trying to lay blame on you!
Have a GREAT HIGHLY SUCCESSFUL day. Be proactive (Habit 1), remember your end game (habit 2), put 1st things 1st (Habit 3) and adopt a Win-Win attitude. You are successful people; let’s work on becoming highly successful/
Thursday, May 15, 2008
Prioritize
Continuing with our exploration of the Seven (7) Habits of Highly Effective People, Lesson Three (3) is focused with the concept of “put First Things First”. This concept involves a person’s ability to PRIORITIZE efforts that will lead to short term goals and immediate gains at the expense of effort that may appear to be urgent but has no benefit what so ever.
I often hear employees talk about how “hard” they work. This is about working smart and not hard. A smart skill to learn is the art of delegation. Delegation allows you to magnify yourself through others and thus getting more done with the limited time you have. Again working smart and not hard.
When you are feeling frustrated because you feel like you are spinning your wheels and not getting anywhere, evaluate if you are expending energy in work that has no gain. Also evaluate why you may be stuck in the rut of high expenditure and low gain. Remember the lesson from last week; be careful not to follow behind something stupid which is what we do when we waste our energy in efforts with little or no gain.
Maya Angelou put it beautifully when she said, “Most people don’t grow up. Most people age. They find parking places, honor their credit cards, get married, have children and call that maturity. That’s not maturity it’s just AGING!
I often hear employees talk about how “hard” they work. This is about working smart and not hard. A smart skill to learn is the art of delegation. Delegation allows you to magnify yourself through others and thus getting more done with the limited time you have. Again working smart and not hard.
When you are feeling frustrated because you feel like you are spinning your wheels and not getting anywhere, evaluate if you are expending energy in work that has no gain. Also evaluate why you may be stuck in the rut of high expenditure and low gain. Remember the lesson from last week; be careful not to follow behind something stupid which is what we do when we waste our energy in efforts with little or no gain.
Maya Angelou put it beautifully when she said, “Most people don’t grow up. Most people age. They find parking places, honor their credit cards, get married, have children and call that maturity. That’s not maturity it’s just AGING!
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
Visualize
Continuing with the 7 habits of extremely successful people, the second habit states that you should begin each day, each project, each adventure, each new phase of your life with the End in Mind! What this means is that we should each set long term goals for our lives. VISUALIZE! Form a mental picture of where you want to be next. If you have an ideal body weight and shape, visualize yourself that way and fixate on it. You will find that you will curb your eating habits and exercise habits to match your visual image of yourself. If you want wealth, then visualize yourself wealthy and you will find yourself adopting those habits that puts you in wealth and not in debt. If you want a successful business visualize what that means down to the stationary paper you will buy.
After my first marriage, I didn’t know if I wanted to be in a relationship again. After about a year, I decided that I wanted to be married again. I began to pray and visualize specifically the type of man I wanted. I stated his height, his ethnicity, his temperament, his ability to love my children, and the most important fact was that he had to share my spiritual beliefs and be MY PRINCE. I also visualized the date at which I wanted to be engaged and then married. I repeated this mantra each day and never lost site of the END GAME! Exactly in the time frame I specified I got my Prince down to EVERY detail! That makes you want to holler and cry out for help! VISUALIZATION and long term planning works! Try it! How can it hurt. You see most people don’t try this technique because they fear disappointment. The fear of disappointment is the single reason that blessings are blocked in your life.
Stop being disappointed and begin to believe in your true North Compass! Visualize your future and get out the rut of disappointment and lost!
After my first marriage, I didn’t know if I wanted to be in a relationship again. After about a year, I decided that I wanted to be married again. I began to pray and visualize specifically the type of man I wanted. I stated his height, his ethnicity, his temperament, his ability to love my children, and the most important fact was that he had to share my spiritual beliefs and be MY PRINCE. I also visualized the date at which I wanted to be engaged and then married. I repeated this mantra each day and never lost site of the END GAME! Exactly in the time frame I specified I got my Prince down to EVERY detail! That makes you want to holler and cry out for help! VISUALIZATION and long term planning works! Try it! How can it hurt. You see most people don’t try this technique because they fear disappointment. The fear of disappointment is the single reason that blessings are blocked in your life.
Stop being disappointed and begin to believe in your true North Compass! Visualize your future and get out the rut of disappointment and lost!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
