Habits

 I recently was able to read Stephen R. Covey's book "The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People". This is a book everyone should read. I was reminded of the "7 habits" this week. Those habits are:

1.      Be proactive.

2.      Begin with the end in mind.

3.      First thing first.

4.      Think “win-win”.

5.      First seek to understand, then to be understood.

6.      Create synergy.

7.      Sharpen the saw.

Every one of these seven goals can change our lives and make us better people. It can help us become the people the world needs desperately right now. Just think about number five, “first seek to understand, then to be understood”. What if we listened, and I mean really listened first before we reacted. If we did just this one habit, it could change your world. We would learn things if we opened our mind to others’ ideas and thoughts. Covey states, “communication is the most important skill in life”. The key is to be present. Care enough to want to listen and understand what they are saying. You may not always agree, but you will understand a little bit more about them.

Have you been to your child’s game or been in some sort of competition and you have the win-lose mindset? I know I have. Covey wants us to think differently. What if we went from a win-lose to a win-win mindset? How would this change the world around you? It would not only change those you are working with or playing against, but it is also going to change you. You will go from wanting to succeed while others fail to being a cheerleader to everyone. You will see that when they succeed everyone succeeds. To me, this would be a relief. It would be a better world. The competition would still be there, but it would be there in a way that wants everyone to win.

With a few habits we can change the world. It may seem small but if we all did it, it would be life changing. President Gordon B. Hinckley shared this thought from the April 1996 General Conference, “Look for the good in those about you, and emphasize that good.”