MaXIMIze - Habits

As promised, I will share with you my thoughts on and gleanings from my current re-reading of Stephen Covey's The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. So far, in this re-reading to date, I have only read to the first habit, however, in those first 75 pages, I have gleaned a lot.

This book was first published in 1989, and the copy I am currently reading is from the 2004 printing. Interestingly enough, the first tier of the three-tier leadership development program where I work is also reading this book. The participants have been divided into groups of four, and each group is expected to develop and give a presentation based on one of the seven habits during the course of their program.

So, you can see, even nearly 30 years after it was first published, this book is still a worthwhile read.

Okay, back to what I gleaned from my current re-read of it thus far.

The subtitle for this book is "Restoring the Character Ethic." Per Covey, the character ethic is that which comes from the inside, based on life principles. He contrasts this against what he calls the "Personality Ethic" - using the force of our personality to get what we want rather than the strength of our character. We have to work on ourselves, ensure we are coming from and viewing the world from a place based on universal laws and principles. This is the kernel of "seek first to understand and then to be understood." Covey reminds us that we need to work on ourselves and perhaps question our perceptions before we can understand and influence others. He also reminds us that we are the creative force of our lives.

Covey reminds us that principles are natural laws that cannot be broken, and that how we view the world is directly related to how we are in the world. He focuses on the "inside-out" paradigm - what you are inside shines through to the outside.

"We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit." ~ Aristotle

This harkens back to the TED video I shared last January, where Boyd White reminds us to "walk in the world as you want it to be."

Covey also touches on how we move from dependence (early childhood) to independence (adolescence and young adulthood) to interdependence (mature adulthood) in our growth continuum, and how we have to master self first.

"Private victories precede public victories. You can't invert that process anymore than you can harvest a crop before you plant it. It's inside-out." ~ Stephen Covey

He also tells us, "...the more you produce, the more you do, the more effective you are." This reminded me of Malcolm Gladwell and his 10,000 hours principle.

Covey touches on three kinds of assets - physical, financial, and human - and reminds us that in order to keep all in good running condition over the long haul, we need to properly care for and maintain them.

Marilyn Ferguson said, "No one can persuade another to change. Each of us guards a gate of change that can only be opened from the inside. We cannot open the gate of another, either by argument or by emotional appeal."

It took me years to get that concept - change is an inside job!

I have only gotten partway into the first habit - Be Proactive - however, already it reiterates something I have said before - each of us has the choice to react or respond to the actions of another.

Very powerful stuff!

I will continue reading this book and may remark on it more in future posts. And of course, I highly encourage you to add it to your reading list as well!

CALL TO ACTION: Think about what it is you are trying to change in your life. Are you tackling it from inside yourself or is the impetus from change coming from outside?

CHECK IN: In the last post, the Call to Action was when you are moving towards negativity, stop and write down three things you are grateful for in that moment. Did you do so, and if so, how did that refocusing change your outlook in that moment?

NEXT TIME: New month, new theme - Relationships. We will discuss the relationships we have with ourselves and others.

If you have a specific topic that relates to the theme of the month you would like to see discussed, please feel free to post about it in the comments or send me an e-mail about it.

Until next time, Namaste!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Questions? Comments? Feel free to contact me at the e-mail address below.

Beth Henderson, MaXIMIzer
maximize.beth@gmail.com

Maximize - Moving From Bitching to Bragging

So, with the wild winter weather we are experiencing - at least here in the States - are you bitching about the weather and how it is inconveniencing you? Or are you thankful for the precipitation, particularly if you live, as I do, in one of the 14 Western states with drought conditions not seen since the mid-late 1970s?

Even though I have experienced this repeatedly in my life, it still astounds me sometimes - the serendipity of how things come together at times. I had put the topic for this post out there at the end of December (I lay out my blogging year in advance with as many topics as come to mind), and as I'm going through a course on Udemy, we cover coming from a  place of abundance. My notes from that particular lecture are:

"Coming from a place of abundance - a state of gratitude - positivity expands - negativity constricts"

When we are thankful, grateful for something - the much-needed water that winter storms bring for example - we are less bothered by the inconveniences those storms bring us.

I am not discounting the damages and deaths that major flooding and sudden, powerful snowstorms can bring, as seen in some parts of the US in recent weeks, and I do ask that you keep the people who are affected by those acts of Nature in your thoughts and prayers.

My point is rather that every cloud has a silver lining, and we can choose to focus on that or we can focus on the darkness of the cloud instead.

So, are you being expanded by the positivity of gratitude or are you being constricted by the negativity of focusing on the darkness?

CALL TO ACTION: Write down three things you are grateful for right now. Then, for the next week, when you are moving toward negativity, STOP and write down or think about three things you are grateful for in that moment.

CHECK-IN: In the last post, the Call to Action was to take one resolution you made for the new year and break it down into clear, concise, achievable goals and then move out on those goals. How are you doing with that? Feel free to share your progress by leaving a comment on this post.

NEXT TIME: I'm currently re-reading Stephen Covey's book, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, and will report out next week on what I have (re)gleaned from it thus far.

If you have a book you'd like to share that has helped you grow, please feel free to post about it in the comments, or send me an e-mail about it.

Until next time, Namaste!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Questions? Comments? Feel free to contact me at the e-mail address below.

Beth Henderson, MaXIMIzer
maximize.beth@gmail.com

MaXIMIze - Resolutions versus Goals

Well, we are now 10 days into the new year - how are you doing with your New Year's resolutions?

One thing I noticed when I used to go to the gym was that during January, the gym would be packed with people. By mid-February, though, the crowds would thin out again and we regulars could use our favorite machines in peace once more. I noticed the same thing at the start of every semester when I was in college. The parking lot and the classrooms would be full to the gills at the beginning and then a few weeks into it, you could actually get a parking space and a desk without a problem.

You'll notice the title of this blog is Resolutions versus Goals. Resolutions are great, however, in order to follow through on them, you need to set clear, concise, achievable goals.

We've discussed this topic before in this blog, most notably in the post from January 26, 2014, titled Values, Goal Setting, and the Five Whys.

If you make a resolution or set a goal without a clear reason as to why you are doing so, and I mean why YOU are doing so, not why someone else wants you to do so, then you are setting yourself up for failure.

I'll give you an example from my own life.

I've touched on the fact that dealing with my financial piece of life has been a struggle for me. Well, I worked through getting out of debt - except to myself - over the last two years, and am currently debt-free, have money in the bank, and am getting funds back on my taxes for the first time in the last four years.

Why did I do this - what was MY reason for doing so, not someone else's? Freedom, pure and simple. That, and not leaving a mess for my children to clean up. Which is why I am following through on the last goal to meet my resolution of having my financial life in order - getting all my financial paperwork - rental agreement on my apartment, credit card statements, bank statement, insurance policies, titles to my cars, annual benefits information, etc. - in one place and getting my wishes recorded and codified.

I found a Trapper Keeper binder on clearance at Office Depot, and lined up my paperwork in the plastic document protectors you can put in binders. I still have some things to do (make copies of my credit and debit cards to put in the binder, for example), but I have made major strides towards moving my rating of my financial health from a 5 last year to an 8 or higher by the end of this year.

CALL TO ACTION: Take one resolution you made for the new year and break it down into clear, concise, achievable goals. Then, move out on those goals.

Next time, we will discuss moving from Bitching to Bragging, how to move from a place of lack to a place of abundance.

Until then, Namaste!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Questions, comments? Feel free to contact me at the email address below.

Beth Henderson, MaXIMIzer
maximize.beth@gmail.com