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.