Stephen Covey Quotes
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Remember that our reactions are a product of our perceptions, and our perceptions are a result of what is at the center of our life.
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Suppose you were to come upon someone in the woods working feverishly to saw down a tree. "What are you doing?" you ask. "Can't you see?" comes the impatient reply. "I'm sawing down this tree." "You look exhausted!" you exclaim. "How long have you been at it?" "Over five hours," he returns, "and I'm beat! This is hard work." 'Well, why don't you take a break for a few minutes and sharpen that saw?" you inquire. "I'm sure it would go a lot faster." "I don't have time to sharpen the saw," the man says emphatically. "I'm too busy sawing!"
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Basing our happiness on our ability to control everything is futile.
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In our own lives, having a mind-set of expecting to win increases our odds of winning. It helps us get better results. And better results help us increase our credibility and self-confidence, which leads to more positive self-expectancy, and more winning - and the upward cycle continues. It becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.
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Attending church does not necessarily mean living the principles taught in those meeting. You can be active in a church but inactive in its gospel.
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You can't hold someone accountable for results if you supervise their methods.
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I don't read blogs but occasionally people tell me about what they contain, and I do take questions that come from blogs.
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It's better to be humbled by the word than by the force of circumstances.
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The only person over whom you have direct and immediate control is yourself. The most important assets to develop, preserve and enhance, therefore, are your own capabilities. And no one can do it for you. You must cultivate the habit of leadership effectiveness for yourself - and doing so will be the single best investment you will ever make.
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None of us see the world as it is but as we are, as our frames of reference, or maps, define the territory.
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All broken relationships can be traced back to broken agreements
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The 'Inside-Out' approach to personal and interpersonal effectiveness means to start first with self; even more fundamentally, to start with the most inside part of self, with your paradigms, your character, and your motives. The inside-out approach says that private victories precede public victories, that making and keeping promises to ourselves recedes making and keeping promises to others. It says it is futile to put personality ahead of character, to try to improve relationships with others before improving ourselves.
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We do make a difference - one way or the other. We are responsible for the impact of our lives. Whatever we do with whatever we have, we leave behind us a legacy for those who follow.
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Leadership is communicating people's worth and potential so clearly that they come to see it themselves.
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Doing the right things for the right reason in the right way is the key to Quality of Life!
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Principles are the territory. Values are maps.
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Security represents your sense of worth, your identity, your emotional anchorage, your self-esteem, your basic personal strength or lack of it.
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Don't argue for other people's weaknesses. Don't argue for your own. When you make a mistake, admit it, correct it, and learn from it / immediately.
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Principles are natural laws that are external to us and that ultimately control the consequences of our actions. Values are internal and subjective and represent that which we feel strongest about in guiding our behavior.
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If we spend most of our time concerned about things we cannot truly directly influence, what we can influence will be reduced. If we spend our energies on those things over which we can expect positive results, we will expand our influence.
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Sometimes poor behavior is simply bad execution of good intent.
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Inspire (from the Latin inspirare) means to breathe life into another.
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Our behavior is governed by principles. Living in harmony with them brings positive consequences; violating them brings negative consequences.
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Most learning is social, or what I call the cultural DNA. Everyone knows that word of mouth advertising is the best advertising. That's social learning.