SEVEN BASIC HABITS OF HIGHLY EFFECTIVE PEOPLE

HABIT	HABIT DESCRIPTION	FULL DESCRIPTION
ONE	BE PROACTIVE (Principles of Personal Vision)	* You are the programmer, not the program * You are the product of your choice and your decisions, not your conditions or conditioning * Acting based on your values rather than re-acting based on emotion or circumstances
TWO	BEGIN WITH THE END IN MIND (Principles of Personal Leadership)	* You are the programmer, write the program * You are the architect of your life, draw up the blue print (your values, mission and goals) * All things are created twice --- first mentally, then physically * Avoid costly waste of time and effort on things that are not in harmony with your goals and missions in life
THREE	PUT FIRST THING FIRST (Principles of Personal Management)	* Organize and conduct your life around your mission, values and goals * Plan your time and energy to accomplish what really matters most to you * Think through each important role in your life * Select long-term and weekly goals to achieve success in each role
FOUR	THINK WIN/WIN (Principles of Interpersonal Leadership)	* When your life is centered on your personal mission and anchored to your values, your security will come within * Win/Win thinking begins with a commitment to explore all options until a mutually satisfactory solution is reached or to make no deal at all
FIVE	SEEK FIRST TO UNDERSTAND, AND THEN TO BE UNDERSTOOD (Principles of Communication)	* The key to effective communication is to seek first to understand the other person --- to step out of your own autobiography and to deeply, authentically understand another person's frame of reference before attempt to share your own * Diagnose before you prescribe * Listen to understand rather than to reply * Find ways, based on the other person's frame of reference, to communicate your own ideas most effectively
SIX	SYNERGIZE (Principles of Creative Cooperation)	* Synergy results from valuing differences, from bringing different perspectives together in the spirit of mutual respect * People then feel free to seek the best possible alternative, often a "third alternative" that is better than either of the original proposals
SEVEN	SHARPEN THE SAW (Principles of Renewal)	* Cultivating this habit means having balanced, systematic program for self-renewal in each of the basic human dimensions --- physical, spiritual, mental and social/emotional * We are the instrument of our own performance, and failure to maintain the instrument leads to lessened effectiveness in performance in every other area of life

Based on 7th Habits of Highly Effective People book, Stephen R. Covey.

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first thing first

Stephen Convey taught us in rule no 3 "First thing first". It is the principle of personal management.. where u organise and conduct your life with a mission, a set of values and goals. Time mgmt is especially important here. However, what brings me to this subject is the focus on what really matters most to you.

We live a life full of distraction.. constantly being influenced by what the media and others say.. without sufficient time alone to really ask ourselves what we really want. In fact, some of us are even too afraid to ask themselves this question - perhaps due to fear that we cant achieve it.. due to lack of self-confidence?

Buddha had a similar explanation to First Thing First. Extracted from the book Happiness by Matthieu Ricard.
It reminds us of the Buddha story of someone being hit by an arrow. Imagine you are being struck by an arrow! U wont be asking questions such as who hit u with an arrow, what material the arrow is made of, or if there's poison on the arrow.. U would probably be thinking how quickly and safely u can remove the arrow to save your precious little life!! rite? ;-)

So, First Thing First do have a few ways of looking at it but essentially it makes u think about all those important aspects of life.