Another Seven!

I am becoming a big fan of the number 7, do not ask me why, I just love when I come across an article about Sevens! So, here you go, another Seven!
Here is the link for the article: http://michaelhyatt.com/seven-rules-for-more-effective-meetings.html
If you have not heard of Michael Hyatt, or have never read his blogs, go do so, right now!
The man is a genius, and I LOVE his posts.

Here are, The Seven Rules for More Effective Meetings:

Establish Hard Edges- Meetings have a Start and End time for a reason. If your organization is open to just a Start time with no worries about the End time then you will face 'Air Time' when your group starts communicating on irrelevant subject matter, or the meeting can lead down a pig trail and off of topic, which can steer the meeting in a whole different direction, causing the purpose for the meeting to not be dealt with. Make sure all participants are aware of you Start and End time, this is the very first step to having an effective meeting. If you have tardy participants start without them. (make sure you have an assigned Note Taker or Secretary to make sure nobody misses anything) Even if you tardy participants get the foot notes they will miss the interaction of being a part of the meeting and they will realize that they MUST be there on time for the next meeting.

Create an Agenda- "Leaders must set the example here" Make sure that your Agendas for your upcoming meeting are circulated to all participants so that there can be some brain storming. Also, it is important to finish off with the set date of your next meeting, (this is another reason you should circulate your Agenda prior to the meeting) if there are any discrepancies, then your members can make it known. Be flexible and be ready with a reschedule date, if needed.

State the Desired Outcome- Always start your meeting with a Purpose, let your team know what the purposed of you meeting is, and what you would like to see the outcome be. Leave room for input from your members, and be OPEN! Otherwise, your team will learn that you already have your mind set, and there is no reason for their opinions.

Review the Minutes and Action Items- By reviewing your previous meeting you revisit the things some members may have forgotten, and you give any absent members the ability to feel like they are still a part of the mission, even if they were not there. Get a Report from members with assignments, if you do this your team will know that you expect dead lines to be reached, and that you are aware of the process they are taking. This will also ignite an emotion of embarrassment if they have nothing to report, which will cause them to be proactive and make sure they have something to report at the next meeting.

Take Written Minutes- I already stated the importance of having a Note Taker or Secretary. Make sure that your Secretary is not documenting conversation, but simply letting what the main points of the discussions are be known. This will remind members of the action plan, the decisions that were made, and a list of duties for your members to work on (and report on) by the next meeting.

Clarify Action Items- "At the end of the meeting, the person recording the minutes should read off the action items. It is particularly important that these be stated in a specific format.

• Start each action item with a verb. For example, “Review Milford contract with the agent” or “Call Jim and get latest turnover figures.”
• Specify the deliverable. What exactly do you expect the person completing the action to do. It must be an observable behavior with a specific end-point. It may be a phone call, a written report, or a presentation. It should not be a process.
• Assign a single owner to each action. No action should have more than one owner. You want one person to blame if the action isn’t completed.
• Agree on a due date. Get a commitment from the person responsible. Be realistic but put it in writing. This is a commitment and should be treated as such."

Having your Secretary review the minutes also give you, as the leader of the meeting, the opportunity to add anything you may want to include.

Determine the Next Meeting Date-Like I said, this is crucial. It also forces your team to practice bringing their Calendars, in case you need to utilize your back-up meeting date. This will be one less thing that you will have to deal with later.

It is my personal opinion that without an effective meeting, you will not have an effective outcome. Get your team up to speed. Expect Excellence and you will Receive Excellence. Be open and honest with your expectations, and never leave your team (or any members) in the dark.

Killing Creativity

If you would like to read the actual post: http://www.creativesomething.net/post/25586178

I am a creative individual, I thrive off of ideas and innovation, and I love hearing a new idea! I have been reading a blog called Creative Something, which is a blog for creative inspiration, motivation and ideas; and I came across the Seven Creative Sins you NEED to Avoid, and I thought it would be a great follow up to my blog about The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People.

So here are the Seven Creative Sins:

Thinking that Creativity is Learned- Creativity is a gift, and it is a gift that we all have. Some people are more creative than others, but we are all capable of new, innovative, neat, and original ideas. Learning new methods of creativity is true, but learning Creativity is impossible.

Thinking there is a Right Way and a Wrong Way-Usually, there is more than one answer for any given situation. There is rarely and honest to goodness 'black and white' situation. When it comes to creativity there is always a black, white, green, yellow, or blue way. (you get what I mean) When you are faced with a problem, let your mind flow over the situation, think about a solution, and then challenge yourself to take a different approach and come up with another solution.

Not Taking Risks-Creativity is all about innovation, and pushing the envelope. If you never step out of your comfort zone, you will NEVER meet your full creativity capacity.

Focusing on Logistics-As humans it is instinctual to go by the book, plan an out come, and go the safe route, but if every creative person did just that, then we would have nothing original! The easiest way to steer clear of this 'sin' would be to break out of you shell, and open yourself up to possibilities, forget about guarantees.

Being Creative Half of the Time-I am super guilty of this, I am the type of person that like to follow the rules and go with the flow, I don't like rocking the boat, or stirring up trouble. However, creativity is about just that! Find new ways to stretch your creativity, and expand your knowledge. Ask questions. Find a new way to do something. Try being creative 100% of the time, even the simplest change can do just that.

Creating and Critiquing at the Same Time-This is another thing I am terribly guilty of. I am my biggest critic. As a Human Being you will find yourself mentally bringing your ideas down. Open your mind (yes, to even YOURSELF) let your mind wonder, come up with a crazy idea, and see it through! Challenge yourself!

Duplicating, not Creating-The BIGGEST Creative Sin there is! Never duplicate someone else's work, draw inspiration from and idea or article or product and create your own spin from it. If you find something you like enough then you will respect it to let it be, and challenge yourself to create something completely different.

I hope you find these helpful. What are some other 'Creative Sins' that you would add?

Powerful Pieces

I have a special kind of love for organising, and it is because of that love that I have a deep addiction to LISTS. I make multiple lists daily, I enjoy organising, prioritizing, and re-organising; which leads to more and more lists! So when I came across this blog from one of my favorite bloggers, Rich Gee, I just had to share it!
http://richgee.com/2011/03/top-10-powerful-pieces-of-advice-to-be-successful/

In this blog Rich lists 10 Powerful Pieces of Advice to be Successful (I should mention that Rich is one of my favorite bloggers because I have another great passion for Self Help and Person Growth reading material) while reading this blog and taking what I did from it, I came across another list and I wanted to expand on that list:

6 Key Learnings:
It is my belief that if you understand and respect these 6 keys, your possibilities open up immensely.
1. Don't be rigid about planning out each step well in advance...it's not possible to do.
-By all means plan and plan ALOT when it comes to big or important issues, but do not dwell on every single conceivable out come or pig trail, you will never answer all of your "what if"s, and that is a fact.
2. Build on what you are good at, and avoid relying what you aren't good at.
-Ever heard of 'play to your strengths'? Sure you have, and it is for good reason too. I am a firm believer in reaching out of your comfort zone to find your niche, you never know what hidden passion you may have lying behind your heart. However, when it comes to your big business issues, or important things do what you are comfortable doing, and get help or advice on the things you know are just not your thing.
3. Focus on what you can do for others (start with the boss) rather than whats in it for you.
-Many people will tell you I am a big ball of warm and bright love. I will tell you this, the more you do for others, the better you will feel. There is some amazing and indescribable feeling that you get when you put everything you can into something for someone else, it is an elating selflessness and I challenge you to strive for that feeling.
4. Keep at it. Practice makes perfect.
-If something isn't meant to work, you will feel it. However, you try for something and at first you don't succeed, try again. Try taking a different approach, and you just may end up surprising yourself!
5. Take on big challenges and learn from them.
-You can't win them all, and you defiantly can't win them all alone. If you find failure, learn from it, figure out what went wrong, and you will do better next time. Do not dwell on your mis-haps, but appreciate them for what they are, learning experiences.
6. Make a difference.
-This is the easiest thing to do. What may seem like an insignificant thing to you, may mean the world to someone else. Reach out in your work place, in your family, in your community. Do what you can, its better than doing nothing.

I hope these lists have touched you like they did me!

Networking by Connecting!!!

If you are like me you are fueled by a generation that is constantly networking, I don't find out what my sister is doing or if my mother wants to go to lunch by calling her, I don't even email them anymore, all I have to do is check my mother's Facebook status to see if she is free, or check my sister's Twitter to see when her next Cheerleading Game is. Some will argue the difference between Networking and Connecting, but to me this is Networking, not Connection.
In the business world, however, it is very important to be very comfortable in both areas. While reading a blog from Rich Gee I came across this very fun way of reminding yourself ways to Connect.

"You are in front of a big, white home. You look down and see the mailbox, you look up and see your whole family waving to you, leaning out the top windows of the house. You look over and see a beautifully, ornate chimney with a huge, yellow, leather work glove sitting upon it with all five finger pointing in the air. The glove is holding an old, wooden tennis racket and a bi-plane (like the one Snoopy flies) breaks through the strings of the racket, flys around your high school, comes to a soft landing on your football field and touches the goal post."

This story is a mnemonic. It teaches you how to connect with someone by encapsulating key questions within an inane, weird story you'll remember. Let me break it down:

• Mailbox - Hi, my name is Erica Beck. What's your name? Where do you live? What part of Walton?
• Family waving to you - Are you married? Do you have kids? (if they say no, don't feel uncomfortable, just say, "Boy are you lucky!"
• Huge leather work glove - What do you do? Where do you work? What is it like to work there?
• Wooden tennis racket - What do you do for fun? What are your interests?
• Bi-plane - Do you travel for business? Did you go on vacation this summer?
• High school - Where did you go to school?
• Football field - What sports are you into?
• Goal post - What goals are you shooting for this year?

 So, the next time you are in a situation where you are trying to mingle and Connect with people, remember this fun little story and it will help you out!

5 Work Place Rules You SHOULD Break

To read the article for yourself here is the link: http://www.cnn.com/2011/09/19/living/break-work-rules-rs/index.html?hpt=hp_bn8

1. Stay Away From Emotional Topics
Sure the old rule of thumb is to shy away from personal type of conversation in the work place, but I believe you can grow closer with your colleagues and even your bosses if you jump into personal conversation with them. Appreciate others for their differences and learn to accept other points of views and I believe once you establish the differences in your team you will be able to appreciate your group even more.
As for awkward situations and confrontational situations GET IT OUT! It is so much easier to swallow your pride and get over the fear of what the other person may say or feel than to keep pushing sour grapes to the side. Approach the other person out of love and to solve the problem, not to stoke the fire. Once you get your personal problems solved and out of the way you will be so much more open to team work and process improvement building.

2. Climb the Career Ladder
Everyone has heard the saying, "Dress for who you WANT to be, not for who you are." What if you are completely happy with who you are, what if you love your current position, what if you are self employed; these are some of the questions many people in the business world are starting to consider, and it is known that having a broad range of careers versus a climbing linear career is more appealing to bosses now-a-days. It is no longer about your title, but about being an asset to your company.

3. Do What You Were Hired To Do
It used to be known that you were hired for a reason, and that reason alone; with fear that if you stepped out of those boundaries you would be in trouble. In the new business world it is looked highly upon if you step out of the lines to expand your worth. Take a good look at your position, forget about what you are supposed to be doing and look at what you COULD be doing. Gain some recognition and let it be known that you are more than your job title.

4. Live At the Office
If you burn yourself out at your office and surround yourself with nothing but job related issues you will do just that, burn out. Get a hobby, learn a new skill, pick up a journal or a musical instrument, or just spend some good ole fashioned family time with your loved ones. It is an essential part of your job to work on your personal goals and aspirations, do the things that inspire you outside of your cubicle. By reaching out into your dreams you are flexing your creativity which will make way for new and innovative ideas for the organization. If you get stuck on a task and you just don’t know where to go, take a moment, breathe, and do something that you love to do. You just may unlock a part of your creativity that will open up your mind to a solution you would have otherwise never thought of.

5. Network 24/7
We are in a whole new technological world; there are numerous social networks that make it almost effortless to network with your personal and professional contacts. Get a Facebook, get a Twitter, or find any other social network that works for you in your profession. These outlets make it so easy to network without going out of your way to talk with your contacts. In this fast paced world it is almost impossible to sit down and have a meeting with your colleagues, but you can follow them on Twitter, or message with them on Facebook, and you can stay in the business loop, without everyone having to sacrifice to keep the organization up to date.

This is a Blog about a Blog

I have become a Rich Gee fan, if you would like to read his blog for yourself here is the link:
http://www.richgee.com/2011/03/grow-your-business-and-have-fun-with-a-blog/

I get asked the question all the time, "Erica, why do you blog?"
Let me answer this with an extremely simple answer...because its fun!

I love being able to read an article or blog and being able to do my own spin of it. I love being able to take a subject and spin it into my point of view. It is so wonderful to be able to read something, or create an idea, or just get on my soap box and vent for a little while. It doesn't really matter to me if someone reads my posts; the thing about blogging is that I do it for me.
I created Believing in Achievement so that I could journal my personal growth progress. I love reading articles about personal growth and understanding personality types and anything for growing in a personal and professional setting. Blogging has given me a creative and helpful outlet to put my thoughts out there. It has also given me a communication tool to use with my co-workers. It is so uplifting when one of the ladies I work with tells me that they read my blog and that they agree with what I have to say.
Believing in Achievement has given me so much, this blog has helped me grow and it gives me a little getaway during my everyday life. I can escape from my customers or whatever crazy situation is going on in my life, and I can just dwell on what I am thinking. I would encourage everyone to start a blog, even if you do not like to write, just jot down a thought or something that happened to you that day. It is fun, helps open your creativity, and stretches you to keep moving forward.
I am currently working on starting a blog for my BeautiControl. I am an Independent Consultant of their products and I love and believe in the products and everything that the company stands for. This blog is going to help me connect with other women who are using the products or have questions about them, and help me connect with my BeautiControl Team.
Remember you can blog about ANYTHING! That is what makes it so much fun, a blog can be as personal or impersonal as you want it to be.

To Grow Your Business, Leave Your Door Open...

To read the article for yourself go to this link: http://www.richgee.com/2010/05/to-grow-your-business-leave-your-door-open-whenever-possible/

Rich Gee talks about the advice from his older brother and how to succeed in college by leaving his dorm room door open. Now, I never had a dorm life, but I can relate with this method by personality. I believe I am an 'open door' type of person; I am an easy listener and I am easy to conversate with, I make friends easily and I can relate to many different types of people.

This method sparked my interest because of my workplace. These are simple, easy to do ideas and they are just a couple of ways to build your business' success.

• Be open to your current clients/customers. You should always be available with someone who is working with you, or someone you are working for. Have different modes of communication, phone, email, or other social media sources such as Facebook or Twitter. If your client cannot get in touch with you, then how are they going to feel comfortable enough to send more people your way, or return themselves? If there is no communication how are you going to accomplish anything?
• Ask for feedback often. Not only is this helpful for understanding the faults of yourself or your business to help build change, but it is also a very helpful tool to understand what your customers or clients enjoy about you and your business, so that you can keep doing what your people want you to do!
• If you can, meet with your clients face-to-face. In my line of work as a Clerk majority of my business is face-to-face. However, I also answer the phones and deal with customers via email and most of my customers always say, "it is so nice to be able to see the face that has been helping me!" and I believe that is so true in any type of work. Sure meetings and conferences can be more convenient over Skype or the phone, but I believe a team can collaborate better when working face-to-face, and this also builds confidence with your customers or clients. Technology is very advanced and it is easy to take care of business without dealing with a human reaction at all, but I believe we all still crave that human interaction.
• Be flexible with your business model. Leave your 'door' open to new ideas, different input, another point of view, and other things that could help build onto your original idea or concept.
• When out in the world, hide the sunglasses, iPod, and newspaper. Keep yourself open to different types of people, you never know what type of business will present an idea that you could use in your line of work. Don't hide from the world, embrace it, and make it fit your business or work place.
• Ensure that any client/customer touchpoint encourages connection and conversation. Just because you have a website with information doesn’t mean your customer or client can’t hear that information from you or a real person. Ensure that you follow your customers or clients through the process of their business with you. Be open and let your customers know that you are open to whatever mode of communication they find best suits them.
• Use social media (like Twitter, Linked In, Facebook, etc.) A lot of people in the business world shunned these types of outlets for a very long time, but they are now realizing that these outlets open up your span of people you have the ability to communicate with. Be open, be willing, and be ready for the possibilities!
• Play your music loud to attract others. The way I took this idea is, find out what attracts your customers, what attracts other people that would otherwise pass by your business, find out what attracts people and make it loud, make it bright, make it bold and throw it into the next level to keep them people coming!
• Teach your colleagues and team to leave their doors open too. If you are the only one leaving your 'door' open your customers and clients will realize that, and they will favor you and your business, but keep in mind they can find other open door businesses very easily. Get your team involved and if you open some 'closed door' people in your group, then your business will have an even greater effect!

Some Motivation for YOU at WORK!

Okay ladies, who doesn’t get stressed? Who doesn’t get worn out by our daily lives? Who marvels at waking up early in the morning? who enjoys sitting in front of the computer for 9 hours, feeling like a tether ball to your desk, or dealing with people who are more than willing to vent their problems onto you (in all of the meanest ways)?
Let’s face it, we all have to go to work, we have to support our family, we have to deal with customers, computers and all of the things that make work WORK. If you are like me there is a divine force that keeps you sane, calm, collected, and gives you the grace to deal with all of those negative aspects of a job. Sometimes I find that comfort through scripture, or from a little inspirational or motivational quote.
I ran across this website one day while trying to find a tiny pick-me-up quote, so I thought I would share it,
http://www.motivational-quotes-for-women.com/work-motivation-quotes.html
It is very easy for me to find inspiration or motivation in a quote from a song, a line from a movie, scripture from the Bible, or even just a little quote (like this website provides) so I hope it will help you also.

Here are some of my favorites:

The very first step towards success in any occupation is to become interested in it.
Sir William Osier

This is so true because, if you have no desire for your work place, organization, or you job in general then you will have no success.

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When people go to work, they shouldn't have to leave their hearts at home.
Betty Bender
I love this quote. Many people look at work or a work place as something they HAVE to do, but it is possible to desire your job. I feel like my organization is filled with people who genuinely love each other, who love the organization, along with all of the things our organization stands for, and who all have a desire to see each other succeed. It is a Blessing to be able to work in that kind of environment.

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Work is either fun or drudgery. It depends on your attitude. I like fun.
Colleen C. Barrett

 "It depends on your attitude" that is so true! If you have the attitude where you come to work already in a negative mood, there is no room to rise up. If you have the attitude where you come to work ready and open to all the possibilities your job and life have to offer, then you will not only benefit yourself, but you will also benefit the people you work with.

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Better to do something imperfectly than to do nothing perfectly.
Robert H. Schuller

This quote says everything...

23 Qualities of a Great Leader

I wish I could share the link to this article, but I have not been able to find it since the day I printed it out. I found this article on CNN.com (from CareerBuilder.com) and I completely agree with all 23 Qualities. This article is a compilation of just a handful of characteristics from five credible people. These five people include, Rachael Fisher-Layne, VP of media relations, JCPR, a public relations agency; Darcy Eikenberg, a leadership and workplace coach, Red Cape Revolution; Tom Armour, co-founder, High Return Selection, a recruitment firm; Mike Sprouse, CMO, Epic Media Group, and author of "The Greatness Gap"; and Nancy Clark, author of "18 Holes for Leadership".
I am not going to go through all 23 Qualities; however, I will touch on my, personal, top 10. In no particular order;

Honesty-This is such an important characteristic to me, you must always be honest with your team or group, no matter what. If you toss this Quality out of your priorities you will just encourage your team members to do the same thing, and it can be very difficult to lead a group of people that are not honest with you.

Passion-No matter what your vision, mission, or goal is you MUST be passionate about it. If you are not passionate about your mission how can you effectively lead a group of people to meet your goal? Passion is a driving force, a NEEDED driving force when you are trying to lead your team through the process of reaching your goal.

Respect-If you play favorites in your group your members will pick up on it. A group that does not feel respected will not show respect. Respect yourself, respect the members of your group, and respect the strengths and weaknesses of your team.

Confidence-A great leader has got to have confidence, because if you do not believe in yourself, no one will. Have the confidence to know that you are a great leader, and have the confidence in your team or group.

Clarity-You must be clear about your intentions as a leader. It will be very difficult for your team to reach goals if there is confusion about the process or the next step to take, or even of the goal itself.

Care-This Quality is not just about caring for yourself and your group, but you must also care about the business, the work you and your team members do, and the community your business operates in. If you do not care, your team will not grow or build lasting goals.

Integrity- A great leader is not just a person who is respected, but someone that is worth that respect. You must be honest and follow through with the things you say you will do for your team.

Compassion-For this one I must quote the article, “Talented people want to work for leaders and organizations that truly care about their employees and the communities in which they operate." Do not manage your business or your team at the expense of your team members and especially not at the expense of your customers.

Collaborative-A great leader is a great listener. Ask for and listen to feedback and ideas from your team or group. Sometimes you may have to really dig to get ideas from some of your team members, but you never know when a different point of view may breed a revolution for your group.

Supportive-This is close to the most important quality to me. You must be a supportive leader. Be supportive of your team members, goals, input, feedback, and new ideas. If you shut down or ignore your members and their contributions, then they will not be supportive of your leadership.

Habit 7: Sharpen the Saw

If you would like to read the article for yourself: https://www.stephencovey.com/7habits/7habits-habit7.php

This Habit is our last Habit, and I couldn’t imagine a better note to leave this subject on. Sharpening the Saw is all about YOU! It is not about improving something or picking up a new skill, it is about taking what you have, enhancing those qualities, values, morals, etc. and finding a balance.
That balance needs to be found between these four areas of your life: physical, social/emotional, mental, and spiritual. You can enhance your physical life by exercising, eating healthy, and simply loving you for you! You can enhance your social/emotional life being social, reaching out to new types of people and interacting with people of different personalities and interests in order to keep you open and accepting. You can enhance your mental self by taking up a new hobby, learning a new process or even by simply reading a new book. You can enhance your spiritual self by relaxing, meditating, re-reading your favorite verses of the Bible, or simply by saying a little prayer.
If you continually renew and revive yourself in these four main areas you are continually growing; and nothing is better than self growth (that is what this whole blog is about!). When you strive to live a life of balance it takes work and time and finding what works for you, when you are working to better yourself, either by understanding or growth it takes time to find harmony. It is important to understand that you can burn yourself out, or over do what you set out to finish.
'Sharpen the Saw' is about taking yourself (in every aspect) and simply doing a little stretching. If you enjoy reading a blog, try reading a book. If you enjoy writing, try another genre. If you enjoy eating healthy, try a new recipe. Keep yourself open to new things, you never know what little divine pleasure you may find in something you never saw yourself doing.

Habit 6: Synergy

In case you would like to read the article for yourself: https://www.stephencovey.com/7habits/7habits-habit6.php

Just this morning on our drive to work I was talking with my co-worker, who I car pool with, on this very subject. The habit of Creative Cooperation is a beautiful habit to attain. Two heads are always better that one, in my opinion. However, both of those heads need to be working towards a common goal TOGETHER, not in competition or to beat out the other.

In order to grasp this goal you must first understand that you do not hold all of the answers, ever. You are not the center of process, and yes, your group can go on without you. You must know that your opinion is valued, and like-wise, you must value the opinions of the other people in your group or team.

No matter how many times you have done something, or read about something, or researched a topic, or played out the game plan on your own you must utilize SYNERGY with the other people in your group or team or you will fail. You may reach the goal that you and your team set out to accomplish, but you will fail because you did not achieve your goal as a team.

This can pertain to your day-to-day office environment, or to a new work group, or to your life in general. The use of synergy lets us uncover and discover things we would not have on our own.

At the end of this article Covey says,
"Valuing differences is what really drives synergy. Do you truly value the mental, emotional, and psychological differences among people? Or do you wish everyone would just agree with you so you could all get along? Many people mistake uniformity for unity; sameness for oneness. One word--boring! Differences should be seen as strengths, not weaknesses. They add zest to life."

I would have to honestly say, majority of the time I just want everyone to get along. I believe in order to appreciate people you must appreciate what makes up the person as an individual, and that (as humans) is a very difficult thing to do. I have witnessed one of my co-workers honestly try to understand and appreciate all of the different personalities and personal habits that make up our office. It is a very humbling thing to see, because I can honestly say I do not. On most days I have no desire to understand the women I work with; I just want to get through the day in harmony like we all work inside of a Disney movie. However, that is not reality. In order to achieve harmony (in real life) you must strive for it, work for it, and if everyone is working for that same thing you will achieve it.

Habit 5: Seek First To Understand, Then To Be Understood

Just in case you would like to read the article for yourself:
https://www.stephencovey.com/7habits/7habits-habit5.php

I have read over this article so many times, on a few different days, trying to think of what to say, and how to reflect. I really wanted to let the concept of this Habit to sink deep into me, because I believe it is something we all do, whether we realize it or not.
My organization had a class the past two days on Effective Listening and Feedback, and it had everything to do with what Covey is talking about in this article.
Personally, I do this a lot, I always say "I can relate...", because in my line of work I deal with other people constantly, whether it be on the phone or face to face. This phrase always seems to calm a person down, or make them more susceptible to what I have to say to them, and make them feel better all around. However, I can appreciate when it may be best to leave my opinion or personal recall out of the conversation, and just listen.
Oh, to just simply listen when someone is talking to you can be such a difficult task. I know for some of my fellow Millennials (who are all about technology) a text, or a quick comment on Facebook seems to get a point across just as effectively as talking to someone face to face, and I think that right there is how society as a whole is losing what it means to LISTEN to someone.
Most modes of conversation used today are all one sided, no back and forth. Sure, there is the 'reply' button, but we are losing even the simplest listening skills by only throwing a response into the wavelengths and expecting a person to get what we are saying.
There is no emotion, or tone, or eye contact, or feeling in a text message. The message you type to someone is up to them to interpret, no matter what the content is about.

Humor me with this; check your last email conversation. I am sure the very first email, whether to or from yourself, is about a paragraph long, full of a task or questions. Now go to the very last of those emails, I am willing to vouch that it is only one or two worded. The conversation dwindled from a paragraph to just a few words, because when we are communicating through technology there is no back and forth. We are constantly looking for a response, we read a message with only the intent to respond until the conversation has nothing left for us to respond to.

Don’t get me wrong, I truly believe in the benefits of technology, text messages, Facebook and other social media. However, I also believe in the power of communication by face to face interaction. I would like to encourage you to have a face to face conversation with someone, anyone, and just simply listen to them. Strike up a conversation and simply submerge yourself in hearing what that person has to say about anything, with no intent to respond back. Appreciate a conversation without an objective.

 

Habit 4: Think Win-Win

If you would like to read the article for yourself:
https://www.stephencovey.com/7habits/7habits-habit4.php

This habit is a very difficult thing for people to do, because it goes against human nature. This habit requires alot from a person, mentally. However, if you can get into the mindset of having a win-win attitude you will have a far more positive outlook on life, thus achieving maturity and gaining success in a way you would otherwise not have been able to reach.
In this article Covey says, "A person or organization that approaches conflicts with a win-win attitude possesses three vital character traits:

1. Integrity: sticking with your true feelings, values, and commitments
2. Maturity: expressing your ideas and feelings with courage and consideration for the ideas and feelings of others
3. Abundance Mentality: believing there is plenty for everyone"

Whenever you start thinking about goals and your personal aspirations these are some very difficult characteristics to hold on to. It is very easy to get into the Win-Lose mentality, where your out look is: 'if you win, then that means I lose' and vise versa, 'if I win, then you are the loser'. This is our human nature, to have the desire to come out on top, to win, to achieve, to gain something the competetor could not. When we get past our human nature and that Win-Lose mentality then we can begin to grow and widen our range of posibilities.

Habit 3: Putting First Things First

If you would like to read the article for yourself:
https://www.stephencovey.com/7habits/7habits-habit3.php

Covey explains in this article that the Third Habit is what you get when you put the First and Second Habit together. The First Habit is about being Proactive, and understanding that you are in control of your life; The Second Habit is about Vision and seeing what is important about your goals and ambitions, and The Third Habit is about organizing those visions into reality.
When looking at this Habit you must ask yourself, "What are the 'First Things'?"
For myself, The First Things are providing for my family, which means making sure our bills are paid, we have food on our table, our cars are in shape to get us from point A to point B safely, and that we are able to live in a safe and warm home; providing for my family also means, making sure that my husband and I keep God as the main focus in our relationship, making sure that no matter what goes on during the day that my husband knows how much I love and respect him, making sure that once our baby girl arrives that she has a safe place to sleep, plenty of food to fill her tummy, and all of the love that two people can provide.
The First Things may be different from one person to another, but in order to reach your goals and aspirations it is very important to understand that you can not to lose sight of what your 'First Things' are.

Habit 2: Begin with the End in Mind

Just in case you would like to read the article:
https://www.stephencovey.com/7habits/7habits-habit2.php

Today we start off with the question of, "Are You Who You Want To Be When You Grow Up, Really?"
I can honestly say, today, I am not who I thought I was going to be, never in my life did I believe I was going to be 19 years old, happily married to a very loving, caring, and God honoring man, expecting a bouncing baby girl, with a full time job where I have a family of co-workers who care and love each other in a very real way. My plans for me at 19 were College, part time job to help get me by, no boy friend to distract me, and just hanging out with my friends.
However, thanks to many different situations that have occurred since I graduated High School I feel thoroughly fulfilled in where I am in my life right now. I may not be where I thought I was going to be, but I feel like I am exactly where I need to be. I see so many people that I graduated with, people with dreams and aspirations that are not as fulfilled as they thought they would be in just a couple years, and I praise God that I am where I am, and not where I wanted to be.
It is a very difficult thing to do, what Covey explains as, the Mental (first) creation, where you envision your goals, and bring that to the Physical (second) creation, where it is a real tangible thing. For someone like me it is a difficult thing to do, because my ideas are always changing, and my goals and time lines are never written in anything stronger than play doh. However, I do believe it is vitally important for those goals and aspirations to be made. I believe you should always be reaching for something, aspiring for the next goal, and expanding your passion for anything that applies to yourself. It is a scary place to be if you find yourself with no goals, hopes, dreams, or aspirations, because if you are not reaching for something or striving to achieve anything at all then you have no more passion, you are essentially dead. So even if you are like me, and your mental blue prints never turn into sky scrapers, remember that it is important to, at least, doodle those blue prints down so that you can mark your mental process to your next work of art.

Habit 1: Be Proactive

In case you would like to read this for yourself:
https://www.stephencovey.com/7habits/7habits-habit1.php

This reminds me of something I once read from John Maxwell, he was talking about his wife and how she answered the question of, "Does John make you happy?" and she responded, "No, he doesn't. That is my responsibility." As in, other outside forces can affect your surrounding, but you choose your output.
Steven Covey talks about Reactive people and how they respond to their surrounds, such as, the weather; if the weather is gloomy, their outlook is gloomy as well. To be Proactive you must choose to be happy, choose to be successful, and chose to be positive. We choose every part of our journey of life; sure we do not always ask for things that we are given, like losing a loved one, or the car breaking down on the way to work, or in my personal case becoming pregnant. However, you choose how you respond to what you are given, you can choose to view everything from a positive angle, or you can choose to view it from a negative point of view.
Steven Covey also says that the difference between Reactive and Proactive people, are that Proactive people are "Response-able". Proactive people do not blame outside forces for their behavior, they acknowledge the fact that they choose their reactions. I completely agree with this, and I believe if we all took this into consideration and strive to make a conscious decision on a daily basis, then we can all begin to form the first 'habit' of being Proactive.

The Habits of Highly Effective People

Like I have stated, I am starting this blog as a journal for myself. I enjoy reading and learning new things, and I have been searching for my next book. Lately, all of the books I have read are about Pregnancy and Babies, however, I am looking for a book to better myself, and while reviewing a few that I have heard about, I ran across Stephen R. Covey's 'The 8th Habit'. While researching this book I, naturally, had the question of "What are the OTHER 7 habits?" This is how I found ‘The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People’. So this blog is going to follow my journaling as I travel through the 7 Habits and what they mean to me.