Stephen Covey Quotes
-
You can retire from a job, but don't ever retire from making extremely meaningful contributions in life.
-
It's better to be humbled by the word than by the force of circumstances.
-
The key to success is dedication to life-long learning.
-
Opposition is a natural part of life. Just as we develop our physical muscles through overcoming opposition - such as lifting weights - we develop our character muscles by overcoming challenges and adversity.
-
Every person in the organization must change inside their hearts and minds, so that they themselves become principle centred.
-
The challenge is not to manage time, but to manage ourselves.
-
I don't read blogs but occasionally people tell me about what they contain, and I do take questions that come from blogs.
-
Principle-centered people are constantly educated by their experiences.
-
Remember, technology is a great servant, but a terrible master.
-
It's not enough to have values without vision ; you want to be good, but you want to be good for something. On the other hand, vision without values can create a Hitler . An empowering mission statement deals with both character and competence; what you want to be and what you want to do in your life.
-
How does humility manifest itself in leadership and in life? A humble person is more concerned about what is right than about being right, about acting on good ideas than having the ideas, about embracing new truth than defending outdated position, about building the team than exalting self, about recognizing contribution than being recognized for making it.
-
Happiness can be defined, in part at least, as the fruit of the desire and ability to sacrifice what we want now for what we want eventually.
-
Valuing differences is what really drives synergy. Do you truly value the mental, emotional, and psychological differences among people? Or do you wish everyone would just agree with you so you could all get along? Many people mistake uniformity for unity; sameness for oneness. One word--boring! Differences should be seen as strengths, not weaknesses. They add zest to life.
-
The universal elements are integrity, vision, discipline, passion, governed by conscience. Conscience has been educated through studying and pondering the universal, timeless principles of all six major world religions.
-
Moral authority comes from following universal and timeless principles like honesty, integrity, treating people with respect.
-
We don't invent our missions, we detect them.
-
Actually I did not invent the seven habits, they are universal principles and most of what I wrote about is just common sense. I am embarrassed when people talk about the Covey Habits, and dislike the idea of being some sort of guru.
-
The personal power that comes from principle-centered living is the power of a self-aware, knowledgeable, proactive individual, unrestricted by the attitudes, behaviors, and actions of others or by many of the circumstances and environmental influences that limit other people.
-
Trust is a competency. It's something you can get good at. It's a strength you personally, and your team and your company can master. Being good at it will elevate every other strength you have.
-
Habit 7 is taking the time to sharpen the saw. By renewing the four dimensions of your nature - physical, spiritual, mental and social/emotional, you can work more quickly and effortlessly. To do this, we must be proactive. This is a Quadrant II (important, not urgent) activity that must be acted on. It's at the center of our Circle of Influence, so we must do it for ourselves.
-
Anytime we think the problem is 'out there,' that thought is the problem. We empower what's out there to control us. The change paradigm is 'outside-in' - what's out there has to change before we can change. The proactive approach is to change from the 'inside-out': to be different, and by being different, to effect positive change in what's out there - I can be more resourceful, I can be more diligent, I can be more creative, I can be more cooperative.
-
The key is taking responsibility and initiative, deciding what your life is about and prioritizing your life around the most important things.
-
If I really want to improve my situation, I can work on the one thing over which I have control - myself.
-
Only after we can learn to forgive ourselves can we accept others as they are because we don't feel threatened by anything about them which is better than us.