Wisdom from habits Flashcards
(24 cards)
Take the initiative. (Be proactive)
Taking the initiative doesn’t mean being pushy, obnoxious or aggressive. It means creating an atmosphere where others can seize opportunities and solve problems in an increasingly reliant way.
Take responsibility for your life. (Be proactive)
Highly proactive people don’t blame circumstances, conditions or conditioning for their behavior. Their behavior is a product of their own conscious choice.
Make and keep commitments. (Be proactive)
The commitments and promises you make to yourself and others - and your integrity to those commitments - provide the clearest manifestations of your proactivityé
Be a model not a critic. (Be proactive)
Look at the weaknesses of others with compassion, not accusation. It’s not what they’re doing or should be doing that’s the issue. The issue is your response to the situation and what you should be doing.
Act or be acted upon. (Be proactive)
It’s your responsibility to act in any situation. If you wait to be acted upon, you will be acted upon. Growth and opportunity consequences attend either road.
Listen to your language. (Be proactive)
Your language is a very real indicator of the degree to which you see yourself as a proactive person. That is, it’s better to say “I choose” rather than “I can’t,” or “I control my feelings” rather than “They make me so mad.”
Focus on your Circle of Influence. (Be proactive)
Proactive people focus on their Circle of Influence, They work on the things they can do something about.
Understand your ultimate destination. (Begin with the end in mind)
Begin today with the image of the end of your life as your fame of reference by which everything else is examined. Each day will then contribute to the vision you have of your life as a whole.
Expand your perspective. (Begin with the end in mind)
You don’t have to wait for external circumstances to create perspective-expanding experiences. You can do so by yourself: visualizing your own funeral (how people will eulogize you?), visualizing how you’d feel if a family member died, and so on.
Determine you center. (Begin with the end in mind)
Determine whether you life is money-, work-, spouse-, pleasure-, possession-, church-, friend-, enemy-, and/or self-centered. the idea is to create one clear center from which you consistently derive a high degree of security, guidance, wisdom, and power.
Use you whole brain. (Begin with the end in mind)
Instead of just using the side of your brain that tends to be dominant, cultivate the ability to have good crossover between both sides so that you can sense what a situation calls for and then use the appropriate tools to deal with it.
Affirm and visualize. (Begin with the end in mind)
Create affirmations with these basic ingredients: They’re personal, positive, in the present tense, visual, and emotional. Then, each day, visualize the realization of these affirmations. You’ll find that your behavior and circumstances will change for the better.
Develop a personal mission statement. (Begin with the end in mind)
Write down your philosophy of life, focusing on what you want to be (character) and do (contributions and achievements), and on the values or principles upon which being and doing are based.
Identify your roles and goals. (Begin with the end in mind)
Identify the specific roles you play in different areas of your life, and then think about the long-term goals you want to accomplish in each of those roles. Roles and goals give structure and direction to your personal mission.
Organize and execute around balanced priorities. (Put first things first)
The way you spend your time is a result of the way you see your time, and the way you really see your priorities, which should grow out of your principled-centered personal mission.
Manage your self. (Put first things first)
Effective management is putting first things first. If you are an effective manager of your self, your discipline comes from within; it is a function of your independent will. You are a disciple of you own deep values and their source.
Plan your week. (Put first things first)
Weekly organizing gives you the freedom and the flexibility to handle unanticipated event, to shift appointments if you need to, to savor relationships and interactions with others, and to deeply enjoy spontaneous experiences.
Schedule your time wisely. (Put first things first)
Check your monthly or annual calendar for any appointments you may have previously made, and evaluate their importance in the context of your goals.
Delegate responsibility. (Put first things first)
Transferring responsibility to other skilled and trained people enables you to devote your energy to other high-leverage activities. Delegation means growth, both for individuals and organizations.
Learn to say no. (Put first things first)
Decide what your highest priorities are, and have the courage and independent willpower to say no - pleasantly, smilingly, and unapologetically - to the things that are less important to you.
Build personal relationships. (Put first things first)
By focusing on relationships and results rather than time and methods, you can become a listener, a trainer, and a consultant to those in your sphere of influence. Your effectiveness - and that of those around you - will increase dramatically.
Take the Win-Win approach. (Think Win-Win)
Win-Win sees life as a cooperative, not competitive, arena. Win-Win is based on the paradigm there’s plenty for everybody, that one’s person success is not achieved at the expense - or the exclusion of the success - of others.
Adopt the abundance mentality. (Think Win-Win)
An abundance mentality flows out of a deep inner sense of personal worth and security. It stems from the paradigm that there’s plenty out there… and enough to spare for every body. It opens possibilities, options, alternatives, and creativity.
Develop and maintain integrity. (Think Win-Win)
Integrity is the value you place on yourself. As you clearly identify your values and proactively organize and execute around those values on a daily basis, you develop self-awareness and independent will by making and keeping meaningful promises and commitments.
