Begin with the End in Mind

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Stephen Covey's system is organized into seven (7) habits, to coincide, perhaps, with the seven days, the seventh day accordingly being set aside for reassessment, re-evaluation, contemplation. I begin here with the second habit, Begin with the End in Mind.

Covey believes that there exist "natural" principles, which are basic and timeless, and part of the seven habits system is to develop a framework from which to view life that makes these principles priorities. Such principles include "obvious" notions that are nevertheless sometimes hard to keep to, such as "Always treat people with a respectful tone," or "Remember that being a jerk usually pays off badly for the person being a jerk, simply because others can normally detect a person's sour motives."

Covey's seven (7) habits could, then, perhaps be rearranged so that Begin with the End in Mind is his first habit. This would work fine, and is perhaps even more logical, but we have to include the caveat that this is because the first of his habits is a pre-condition for all the rest: You can and should form good habits and break bad habits. In other words, Stephen Covey's seven (7) habits of highly effective people start with the habit that you can and should affect your own habits!

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