I’ve taken a pause in reading “7 Habits” to switch to the Audio Book, which means I wont get to the 3rd Habit till tomorrow. But a cycle of listening during the day on my commute, and then reviewing the text and writing/blogging my impression will continue from then and gives me a chance to go over the first two habits again.
In the meantime I got to thinking more about how I can actively improve my quality of life, right now. The most obvious next action is getting back down to base principles: Actually do something about it. (Be Proactive!)
So, from today on in I’ll make a point of doing one meaningful and practical thing each day that will improve my environment or situation in some way, I know there are a ton of little jobs I have to do around the house that I avoid doing because combined they are a huge effort, but on their own each can be done in moments and by looking at it that way, it becomes a manageable objective.
This is as always mostly common sense, but as a chronic procrastinator it’s a big step to start shuffling over all my outstanding jobs, most of which don’t even make my task lists, things like “Take TV to the repair shop and get it made safe, so I can make a fish tank” never feature in the forefront of my mind, until I once again trip over the TV getting into my bedroom, but rather then do anything with it, I just shuffle around it. Just doing that one simple thing would change the flow of a normal day quiet profoundly, and leads into a whole new opportunity at the same time. (That been: Getting some fish)
If I keep going with the one job per day routine then after a week things start to look positivity organized.
ninawills | 03-Jul-06 at 2:36 am | Permalink
Been meaning to post a comment since last week, but saw that you’ve changed the setting to add authentication. Nways, thanks for the password
I share your view about the book and the tape not exactly in sync. The gist of the message is consistent, but of course the anecdotes used are different. I’ve listened to the entire 7 Habits on tape as well several variations of it. One was called 7 Habits: Applications and Insights. That was a bit lengthy, 5 cassete tapes (it’s old!) but I finished it anyhow. Think it dragged a bit in the end but all in all, it added on to the 7 habits message quite nicely.
Am currently listening to Principle Centered Leadership. Essentially it builds on the second habit “First Things First”. It’s about 1 hour and 10 minutes. I think this one is my favourite coz the message really touched a cord. I’ve been living my life on the clock for far too long and regretably, I’ve paid the price. I know where is my True North but am still struggling to live my life guided by my moral compass.