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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Stephen Covey's Seven (7) Habits of Highly Effective People

Click on This Line of Text for More on Stephen Covey and The Seven (7) Habits of Highly Effective People

Stephen Covey's Seven (7) Habits of Highly Effective People is a well-known book that came out about fifteen years ago. It is easy to lump this book in with a lot of other pop-psych literature out there, much of which teaches people questionable things about life and themselves, but, having been a bit of a veteran of the self-help genre , I have gone through Stephen Covey's work with a tooth-comb, and I must say that it is sound stuff.

Stephen Covey's work, moreover, is more than "sound stuff." His Seven (7) Habits of Highly Effective People book is dense, thoughtful, and full of profound and very important observations. I have been burned by some of the worst stuff out there, so I know whereof I speak!

Stephen Covey's Seven (7) Habits of Highly Effective People is going to be the subject of this blog. I am just finishing a masters degree in inter-disciplinary humanities and philosophy, and I have a fairly large familiarity with experimental/theoretical psychology, albeit in an informal and "lay" sense, so hopefully I can do justice to this text, and be appropriately analytical and critical.
Stephen Covey's Seven (7) Habits of Highly Effective People system requires organizing and planning in detail, and in an ongoing way. Maybe something found by clicking on this line of text might help you with this...
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