Habit #3 – Put First Things First
Everything you do in life is a choice. Every choice has its consequences. Some consequences are good, and some are bad.
You could choose to spend your time on important things or unimportant things. The consequences of each are either achieving your goals or not achieving them.
Picture a fishbowl that is half full of pebbles. You are told to add 3 large rocks and make them fit into the fishbowl. Depending on the size of the rocks, you may not be able to make them fit.
Consider the small pebbles to be all the unimportant things that you spend your time on, and the large rocks to be the really important things. That means if you spend your time first on all the unimportant things, your time will be used up, and you will have no time left over for the really important things.
Therefore, the correct approach is to empty the fishbowl, put the large rocks in first, and then pour the pebbles in, and you will probably see that they all fit.
It is very important to identify what are the large rocks in your life. If you take care of the large rocks first, there will be plenty of time left over for the pebbles.
A man named Wilfredo Pareto once wondered why certain people of equal ability produced such different results. His findings are now famous and are used all over the world, known as the "Pareto Principle", also called the "80/20 Rule".
Pareto found that the relationship between effort and results were not linear. In other words, 80% of all results come from a certain 20% of all efforts.
Therefore, perfectionists who insist on 100% results will have to give 80% more of their time to finish the final 20% of the results. This is not very efficient, and is also described in "The Law of Diminishing Returns", which says that once adequacy is achieved, the opportunity for further improvements may be there, but the benefit of further refinement is not always there. Those who ignore the 80/20 Rule are usually late getting things done, and they say there is never enough time to pursue more important goals.
In summary, the 80/20 Rule can allow you to do up to 5 times more things than the 100% rule, and all of them could be done with adequate results.
Another phrase that fits this concept is "Adequacy is sufficient, all else may be a poor use of time", another way of stating the law of diminishing returns, or extra effort with little extra benefit.
If you are not sure how important something is, ask yourself "What’s the worst thing that can happen if I do not do this?" If you cannot think of a good answer, it may not be worth doing. Instead, spend your time pursuing your most important goals.
Sunday, April 29, 2007
Sunday, April 22, 2007
Read this every day for a week, morning and night, to ingrain it.
Habit #2 – Begin With the End in Mind
The ultimate goal is to get to Heaven. During your journey, you might as well enjoy the thrills of achieving other goals as well. Make a wish list and call them goals, and picture them to be at the top of a staircase. It might help to use the Gap Analysis method as a guide (here is where you are against here is where you would like to be).
Staircasing your goals means to break them up into smaller steps. You can’t jump to the top of the stairs all at once, so just take one step at a time (each step is called an objective). Make a list of all the steps (objectives) you will need to take to reach your goal, and keep moving. Never let a day go by without making progress on at least one small step. Put time limits on completing each step. If you do not use time limits, procrastination will get in your way.
Learn a lesson from the ant. If the ant wants to get from point A to point B, you could toss several objects in its way, and it will go over, under, around, or through these objects to get to point B. Sometimes the only way you can stop it is to kill it. If you keep moving toward your goal, you will most certainly get there as long as you keep moving.
Don’t give up your goal just because you have a temporary setback, or obstacle. If you desire your goal badly enough, just be like the ant and figure out a way around the obstacle and keep moving.
(The Law Of The Farm): When is the right time to take actions? Sometimes it is a mistake to wait. Learn a lesson from the farmer. If you want good crops, in the spring you must prepare the soil and plant seeds. In the summer you must water, fertilize, and weed. In the fall you must harvest when the time is right to avoid rot. Each step cannot wait. If any of these steps are missed or late or done poorly, the farmer will not get a good crop, and the entire year is wasted.
The Law Of The Farm can also be applied to learning, or getting good grades. You cannot neglect studies all year, and then expect to learn or get good grades by "cramming" the night before a test.
Make your own "Mission Statement" which tells the world a little bit about what kind of person you are and how you want to live your life. Here are some ideas, and you can add your own.
I am going to try…
…to make the world a better place
…to be a friend to those who need one
…to spread happiness
…to promote peace
…to ease someone’s burden
…to learn something new every day
…to be a little bit better at something every day
…to be a little bit smarter every day
…to let other people go first or ahead of me
…to help someone every day
…to make someone smile every day
…to get to Heaven, and help others get there
At first you might not understand the value of a Mission Statement, but when things go wrong and you are not sure what to do, look at your Mission Statement, it may help you get back on track.
Habit #2 – Begin With the End in Mind
The ultimate goal is to get to Heaven. During your journey, you might as well enjoy the thrills of achieving other goals as well. Make a wish list and call them goals, and picture them to be at the top of a staircase. It might help to use the Gap Analysis method as a guide (here is where you are against here is where you would like to be).
Staircasing your goals means to break them up into smaller steps. You can’t jump to the top of the stairs all at once, so just take one step at a time (each step is called an objective). Make a list of all the steps (objectives) you will need to take to reach your goal, and keep moving. Never let a day go by without making progress on at least one small step. Put time limits on completing each step. If you do not use time limits, procrastination will get in your way.
Learn a lesson from the ant. If the ant wants to get from point A to point B, you could toss several objects in its way, and it will go over, under, around, or through these objects to get to point B. Sometimes the only way you can stop it is to kill it. If you keep moving toward your goal, you will most certainly get there as long as you keep moving.
Don’t give up your goal just because you have a temporary setback, or obstacle. If you desire your goal badly enough, just be like the ant and figure out a way around the obstacle and keep moving.
(The Law Of The Farm): When is the right time to take actions? Sometimes it is a mistake to wait. Learn a lesson from the farmer. If you want good crops, in the spring you must prepare the soil and plant seeds. In the summer you must water, fertilize, and weed. In the fall you must harvest when the time is right to avoid rot. Each step cannot wait. If any of these steps are missed or late or done poorly, the farmer will not get a good crop, and the entire year is wasted.
The Law Of The Farm can also be applied to learning, or getting good grades. You cannot neglect studies all year, and then expect to learn or get good grades by "cramming" the night before a test.
Make your own "Mission Statement" which tells the world a little bit about what kind of person you are and how you want to live your life. Here are some ideas, and you can add your own.
I am going to try…
…to make the world a better place
…to be a friend to those who need one
…to spread happiness
…to promote peace
…to ease someone’s burden
…to learn something new every day
…to be a little bit better at something every day
…to be a little bit smarter every day
…to let other people go first or ahead of me
…to help someone every day
…to make someone smile every day
…to get to Heaven, and help others get there
At first you might not understand the value of a Mission Statement, but when things go wrong and you are not sure what to do, look at your Mission Statement, it may help you get back on track.
Sunday, April 15, 2007
Not happy with your current life? Want to change it? Don’t know how? Here’s how.
Develop good habits and get rid of the old habits which hold you back. It will take some discipline on your part (explained at the end of this message), so your desire to change must be great enough to overcome those old habits.
Here is my interpretation of Stephen Covey’s masterpiece, 7 Habits Of Highly Successful People,
one habit at a time:
Habit #1 – Be Proactive (Jesus was very proactive, follow His example, WWJD)
Winners make things happen (proactive), losers let things happen (reactive).
Be a leader, or be led by others. Plan your time or others will plan it for you.
Be first to communicate with other people. Don’t wait for them to call you. Be polite to people, even if they are not polite to you. Give people a bargain, give them a little more than they expect.
Take chances. Get out of your "comfort zone". If you get too comfortable, you might stagnate, and life will become boring. Ships are safer in the harbor, but that’s not why they make ships. Airplanes are safer on the ground, but that’s not why they make airplanes.
Insanity is expecting things to change, while we continue to do things the same way all the time.
You cannot tell a stove to give you heat, and then you will give it fuel. There is not going to be any heat until you first provide the fuel.
You can get anything you want in life, all you have to do is to help enough other people to get what they want, because what goes around comes around.
Life is full of opportunities. Try them. Take risks. It is OK to fail. Thomas Edison failed over 1000 times in his experiments to create the first light bulb. Did he complain about each failure? No, instead he said "Good, now I know one more way that will not work".
Life is full of mistakes. It is OK to make mistakes, because mistakes can be the best teachers. Learn something from every mistake, and try not to repeat the same mistakes.
The biggest mistake you could ever make is to be too afraid to try new things, because you will be missing out on all the exciting things the world has to offer. Never be afraid to ask questions.
You can’t hit a home run if you never go up to bat. If a .300 hitter is considered good, then it is OK to fail 7 out of 10 times.
Never give up. A big shot is a little shot who kept on shooting. Babe Ruth struck out more times than any other player. Is he known as a failure, or a great player?
To live is to achieve, to learn, to love. Make yourself available as a friend to others, and you will find that the world enjoys having you. Some people may not appreciate you, but that just means they do not know you well enough yet.
Learn something new every day, even if it’s only a small thing. Never be afraid to ask questions.
Even if you are on the right track, you still might get run over unless you keep moving.
Use your time wisely, don’t waste it. Time marches on and waits for nobody. Each new day is a gift from God. Some people are not granted this gift; if you don’t believe that, read the obituaries.
God wants you to succeed. Honor Him by doing your best at all times.
It has been said that if you read the same thing for 21 straight days, it will be ingrained in you. Now I do not know where the 21 days came from, and you can do that if you want to, but I figure 7 days is good enough for what this blog is all about, so I plan to post the next 6 habits one per weekend. Make it a habit and give yourself reminders (now) to read this once in the morning when you get up, and once in the evening just before you go to bed, and you will be on your way to forming habits that lead to a better life.
Develop good habits and get rid of the old habits which hold you back. It will take some discipline on your part (explained at the end of this message), so your desire to change must be great enough to overcome those old habits.
Here is my interpretation of Stephen Covey’s masterpiece, 7 Habits Of Highly Successful People,
one habit at a time:
Habit #1 – Be Proactive (Jesus was very proactive, follow His example, WWJD)
Winners make things happen (proactive), losers let things happen (reactive).
Be a leader, or be led by others. Plan your time or others will plan it for you.
Be first to communicate with other people. Don’t wait for them to call you. Be polite to people, even if they are not polite to you. Give people a bargain, give them a little more than they expect.
Take chances. Get out of your "comfort zone". If you get too comfortable, you might stagnate, and life will become boring. Ships are safer in the harbor, but that’s not why they make ships. Airplanes are safer on the ground, but that’s not why they make airplanes.
Insanity is expecting things to change, while we continue to do things the same way all the time.
You cannot tell a stove to give you heat, and then you will give it fuel. There is not going to be any heat until you first provide the fuel.
You can get anything you want in life, all you have to do is to help enough other people to get what they want, because what goes around comes around.
Life is full of opportunities. Try them. Take risks. It is OK to fail. Thomas Edison failed over 1000 times in his experiments to create the first light bulb. Did he complain about each failure? No, instead he said "Good, now I know one more way that will not work".
Life is full of mistakes. It is OK to make mistakes, because mistakes can be the best teachers. Learn something from every mistake, and try not to repeat the same mistakes.
The biggest mistake you could ever make is to be too afraid to try new things, because you will be missing out on all the exciting things the world has to offer. Never be afraid to ask questions.
You can’t hit a home run if you never go up to bat. If a .300 hitter is considered good, then it is OK to fail 7 out of 10 times.
Never give up. A big shot is a little shot who kept on shooting. Babe Ruth struck out more times than any other player. Is he known as a failure, or a great player?
To live is to achieve, to learn, to love. Make yourself available as a friend to others, and you will find that the world enjoys having you. Some people may not appreciate you, but that just means they do not know you well enough yet.
Learn something new every day, even if it’s only a small thing. Never be afraid to ask questions.
Even if you are on the right track, you still might get run over unless you keep moving.
Use your time wisely, don’t waste it. Time marches on and waits for nobody. Each new day is a gift from God. Some people are not granted this gift; if you don’t believe that, read the obituaries.
God wants you to succeed. Honor Him by doing your best at all times.
It has been said that if you read the same thing for 21 straight days, it will be ingrained in you. Now I do not know where the 21 days came from, and you can do that if you want to, but I figure 7 days is good enough for what this blog is all about, so I plan to post the next 6 habits one per weekend. Make it a habit and give yourself reminders (now) to read this once in the morning when you get up, and once in the evening just before you go to bed, and you will be on your way to forming habits that lead to a better life.
Saturday, April 14, 2007
Friday, April 13, 2007
How important is it to be rich and famous? Can you name the last 5 people in any of these categories?
Heisman Trophy winners, Miss America winners, Nobel or Pulitzer prize winners, Oscar or Emmy winners for best actor and actress, Tony winners for any music category, World Series or Super Bowl or Stanley Cup winners, MVPs in any sport, or 5 wealthiest in the world?
The point is, even the best achievers are not remembered for very long. The applause dies down, awards tarnish. Personal achievements are forgotten. Certificates and other artifacts are buried with their owners.
The people who really make a long term difference in your lives are not the ones with the most money or fame. The most important people are the ones who care.
You can probably name at least 5 teachers who helped you the most in school, 5 other people who taught you something worthwhile, 5 people who helped you thru a difficult time, 5 people that you enjoy spending time with, 5 heroes who have inspired you, and 5 other people who made you feel appreciated and special.
Your chances of achieving any of the things on the first list are small. Even if you do achieve them, it is questionable how long they will be remembered, or if the world will be a better place because of them.
The second category is far easier to achieve, and it is more important, since these are the things that are guaranteed to make the world a better place.
Heisman Trophy winners, Miss America winners, Nobel or Pulitzer prize winners, Oscar or Emmy winners for best actor and actress, Tony winners for any music category, World Series or Super Bowl or Stanley Cup winners, MVPs in any sport, or 5 wealthiest in the world?
The point is, even the best achievers are not remembered for very long. The applause dies down, awards tarnish. Personal achievements are forgotten. Certificates and other artifacts are buried with their owners.
The people who really make a long term difference in your lives are not the ones with the most money or fame. The most important people are the ones who care.
You can probably name at least 5 teachers who helped you the most in school, 5 other people who taught you something worthwhile, 5 people who helped you thru a difficult time, 5 people that you enjoy spending time with, 5 heroes who have inspired you, and 5 other people who made you feel appreciated and special.
Your chances of achieving any of the things on the first list are small. Even if you do achieve them, it is questionable how long they will be remembered, or if the world will be a better place because of them.
The second category is far easier to achieve, and it is more important, since these are the things that are guaranteed to make the world a better place.
Wednesday, April 11, 2007
The Blues
Everyone gets the Blues once in awhile. Life’s challenges can wear you down. Just don’t let them KEEP you down. Chill out by calming your mind for awhile and listen to some Blues music, it can soothe the soul.
Singin’ The Blues Too Long – by The Rascals
You’ve been singin’ the blues too long
Why don’t you try to find a different song.
You’re singin’ about the blues too long
Go out and get yourself a brand new song.
You know it’s time to make some changes
Changing all to right from wrong.
You’ve been lying awake all night
Trying to think what you should do.
You can’t sleep a wink at night,
Wondering just what you should do.
Wondering never solved a problem baby
Only you yourself can pull it through
You know it don’t take much
To kick yourself free
You’ve got to know where you’re going
And to trust in me.
Do all the things that you think are right
Let your love light up in the morning
In peace all thru the night
Singing the Blues too long
Come on, try this new song
Got no time?
I think it’s time you traveled on
How come you are singing the blues baby,
Don’t you see all the love and the peace
And the happiness going around
Time to make some changes
Changing all to right from wrong
You know it gets better every time you try
And once you’ve got it you can’t deny
No time to waste, no time for fakin’
And if you don’t think so, you don’t believe me baby
I want you to know that you’re mistaken
much of those blues around,
Got no time for being down.
And I think, I think I got the answer baby
I want you to
Get up in the morning
Look all around
See the love in the beautiful things that the Lord has put here
For us to groove on
It’s easy once you try baby
All you’ve got to do
Is look inside.
Oh yeah.
(from the album "Once Upon A Dream", the mournful tones of piano, horns and other instruments only add to the effect of the lyrics)
Everyone gets the Blues once in awhile. Life’s challenges can wear you down. Just don’t let them KEEP you down. Chill out by calming your mind for awhile and listen to some Blues music, it can soothe the soul.
Singin’ The Blues Too Long – by The Rascals
You’ve been singin’ the blues too long
Why don’t you try to find a different song.
You’re singin’ about the blues too long
Go out and get yourself a brand new song.
You know it’s time to make some changes
Changing all to right from wrong.
You’ve been lying awake all night
Trying to think what you should do.
You can’t sleep a wink at night,
Wondering just what you should do.
Wondering never solved a problem baby
Only you yourself can pull it through
You know it don’t take much
To kick yourself free
You’ve got to know where you’re going
And to trust in me.
Do all the things that you think are right
Let your love light up in the morning
In peace all thru the night
Singing the Blues too long
Come on, try this new song
Got no time?
I think it’s time you traveled on
How come you are singing the blues baby,
Don’t you see all the love and the peace
And the happiness going around
Time to make some changes
Changing all to right from wrong
You know it gets better every time you try
And once you’ve got it you can’t deny
No time to waste, no time for fakin’
And if you don’t think so, you don’t believe me baby
I want you to know that you’re mistaken
much of those blues around,
Got no time for being down.
And I think, I think I got the answer baby
I want you to
Get up in the morning
Look all around
See the love in the beautiful things that the Lord has put here
For us to groove on
It’s easy once you try baby
All you’ve got to do
Is look inside.
Oh yeah.
(from the album "Once Upon A Dream", the mournful tones of piano, horns and other instruments only add to the effect of the lyrics)
Tuesday, April 10, 2007
Tuesday after Easter
The Prayer of Saint Francis (do this and assure your spot in Heaven)
Lord, make me an instrument of your peace
Where there is hatred, let me sow love
Where there is injury, pardon
Where there is doubt, faith
Where there is despair, hope
Where there is darkness, light
And where there’s sadness, joy.
O Master grant that I may never seek
So much to be consoled as to console
To be understood as to understand
To be loved as to love
For it is in giving that we receive
It is in pardoning that we are pardoned
And it is in dying that
We are born to eternal life
The Prayer of Saint Francis (do this and assure your spot in Heaven)
Lord, make me an instrument of your peace
Where there is hatred, let me sow love
Where there is injury, pardon
Where there is doubt, faith
Where there is despair, hope
Where there is darkness, light
And where there’s sadness, joy.
O Master grant that I may never seek
So much to be consoled as to console
To be understood as to understand
To be loved as to love
For it is in giving that we receive
It is in pardoning that we are pardoned
And it is in dying that
We are born to eternal life
Monday, April 9, 2007
Monday after Easter
To those who followed these posts all during Lent and Holy Week, I hope this has been beneficial for you maybe like a mini-retreat or a Catholic refresher course. You can repeat this for Lent every year as long as this blog stays on line, just add it to your Favorites or Bookmarks and navigate back to the same links.
Several of the passages were from the remarkable little blue Pieta Prayer Booklet which contains several other amazing promises. I have a few extra copies for the first few people who ask, I can mail it to you. If I run out, you can order this booklet, call the MLOR Corporation at 616-731-4490.
This blog does not end here. More posts will appear in the days to come, so keep checking it periodically. The next post will be from someone who figured out the simplest explanation with specific examples on how to get to Heaven.
To those who followed these posts all during Lent and Holy Week, I hope this has been beneficial for you maybe like a mini-retreat or a Catholic refresher course. You can repeat this for Lent every year as long as this blog stays on line, just add it to your Favorites or Bookmarks and navigate back to the same links.
Several of the passages were from the remarkable little blue Pieta Prayer Booklet which contains several other amazing promises. I have a few extra copies for the first few people who ask, I can mail it to you. If I run out, you can order this booklet, call the MLOR Corporation at 616-731-4490.
This blog does not end here. More posts will appear in the days to come, so keep checking it periodically. The next post will be from someone who figured out the simplest explanation with specific examples on how to get to Heaven.
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