We can expand our influence by focusing on what’s in our control. But what if we did not need to change our feelings, but only make our actions align with what is most important to us? Before you feel disappointed by that, consider this… Maybe the big reason we become stuck by procrastination is because we’re looking for a way to feel different. What is the secret? Sit down and work, whether you feel like it or not. But we can choose what is important to us-our values-and base our actions on those values.įor example, the bestselling author Steven Pressfield wrote a great book called The War of Art where he explains the secret to overcoming procrastination in creative projects. We cannot control what happens to us, which includes the weather, other people, even our moods. We can be driven by values more than impulses. Between stimulus and response, there is a gap where we have self-awareness and we can decide. He called it “the last human freedom,” being able to choose how we will respond to our situation. In those dehumanizing conditions, Frankl saw that he could choose to to suffer heroically rather than sinking into hopelessness. Yet beginning in the 1940’s, a new paradigm arose from psychologist Viktor Frankl, who survived the Nazi concentration camps of WW2, where millions of Jewish people died. He could cause dogs to drool by ringing a bell, leading to a theory of psychological determinism-that we are determined by our biology, our past, our environment. This view largely came from the Russian scientist Pavlov’s experiments on dogs and other animals in the 1890’s. For a long time, the dominant view of psychology was that humans were biological machines with no free choice. We have the freedom to choose our response. In fact, many of Covey’s examples relate to parenting, as he had 9 children and 55 grandchildren. His teachings focus on principle-centred leadership, which can be applied in the workplace or at home. His most famous work was The 7 Habits… book, which has now sold over 50 million copies, making it the best-selling self-help book ever. Stephen Covey was a popular author, professor and speaker. And that’s what we would all want, isn’t it? About Stephen Covey These virtues takes time to develop, but they create success that is lasting. In the last 50 years, authors offered more quick-fix techniques, aimed at improving superficial things like our social image.īut success authors from over 50 years ago, from Benjamin Franklin to religious scriptures, they taught people how to develop character and adopt timeless virtues like honesty, discipline and humility. Stephen Covey calls it “Character Ethic” vs “Personality Ethic.” Before writing this book, he studied over 200 years of past writing on success, and he saw a fascinating pattern. Why would The 7 Habits book be able to help us? Because these habits aim to change our character from the inside-out. We all want to succeed and improve our lives. Character is like the 90% of the iceberg that is hidden underwater and actually causing it to float, while reputation is the top 10% that we can see.
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