The first, and arguabley the most important habit, is being proactive. It is outlined simply as taking responsibility for your life. Sean Covey goes on to say that this habit must be grasped in order to move on to tackle the other sucessful habits.
This chapter goes on to discuss and explore several key traits to being proactive. The first of which is we have the choice to be proactive or Reactive. he says, "proactive people make choices based on values. They think before they act. They recognize they can't control everything that happens to them, but thye can control what they do about it"(pg 49).
Covey goes on to describe several possible scenarios in which people were either proactive or reactive. I am not totally sure whether or not these scenarios were made up, but he claims that these were true stories from real teens. They are very applicable to my teenage life, and I would wager to say they would also be applicable to others. It goes back to the friendly style in which the book was written. It doesent feel like a high and mighty adult talking down to you, but more of older and wiser friend.
One factor that Covey says is an indicator for whether or not people are reactive or proactive is their everyday language. Reactive language includes phrases such as, "I'll try, Thats just the way I am, There's nothing I can do, I have to, I can't, You Ruined my day". In contrast, proactive language is "Ill do it, I can do better than that, Lets look at all our options, I choose to, Theres gotta be a way, and Im not going to let you bad mood rub off on me" (Pg 51).
Covey makes analogies that are also very helpful. He says that a reactive person is like a soda can. He says that reactive people make decisions on impulse. Just like a soda can, when they are shaken up, they explode. Proactive people are like water, shake them up and they are fine. They are cool and collected, and in control of their actions.
More points he makes are how reactive people tend to see themselves as "victims", meaning it is always someone elses fault. He says that traits of reactive people include "are easily offended, blame others, get angry and say things they later regret, whine and complain, wait for things to happen to them, and change only when they have to" (pg 53)
The key to this book is applying what you read to yourslef. When I read this part of the book, I realized that I have alot of these reactive traits. I am not a mass murderer or rapist or anything like that, but i certainly fit the bill for many of these attributes. With this in mind, I will try to apply some of these traits to myself:
Proactive people: Are not easily offended, take responsibility for their choices, think before they actm bounce back when something bad happens, always find a way to make it happen, and focus on things they can do something about, and dont worry about things they cant" (pg 53)
If their is one thing that i will do with this book, it is certainly apply the issues and things that most apply to me. The funny thing that i am noticing is that , the more i read this, the more and more of this stuff actually applies to me. Covey really knew what he was getting into when he wrote this.
The most important thing to remember, I think, when trying to be proactive, is the Choice is yours
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Raleigh,
ReplyDeleteI have not had a chance to read further in my book yet, and I will comment more when I do. I do have one thing to say:
It is going to be a long 6 1/2 months until you graduate. I understand that you are looking forward to the next step. I remember it well. And I remember the "get me out of here" kind of feeling.
As you read this book, I would suggest that you think about how you can take the message and help you and the rest of the seniors be as positive as possible between now and June. I am not suggesting that you will be perfect and there won't be down moments. But the reality is that you can't make it come any sooner.
As the class president, you can help make the next few months something you and your classmates will have mostly positive memories of rather than just biding their time.
Just give it some thought. That is all I ask.
Mr. E.
Raleigh,
ReplyDeleteI read a chapter today, and it was interesting. He called it habit #3 and referred to it as "put first things first". I really felt like I was reading about myself. The main point is that we all focus much of our time on things that we consider immediate, whether they are important or not. As a result of that, we miss the big picture and the things that truly gratify us and allow us to improve. An easy example for me is applying to be a reader for the AP History exam. It is something I have been promising myself I would do for months and would be a positive professional growth experience for me. It would be good for my career and for the school. But I have not done it because I put it on the back burner in favor of things I consider more immediate. But are they really as important as that? I spend lots of time cleaning my house when there are way more important things I should be doing.
This is just one example, but it is something I do all of the time. Covey suggests making notes of the roles you have in your life (husband, teacher, father, coach) and picking your two biggest priorities in each area. He then suggests that you prioritize by week to help you see the bigger picture and help you get out of the cycle of only taking care of crisis stuff. Certainly some day to day stuff is important, but Covey challenges you to analyze how you spend you time by prioritizing and to use at least 20% of you time on less immediate things.
I am going to try and work on this. I already finished my AP reader application!
Let me know how you are proceeding.
Mr. E.