Stephen Covey Quotes
-
Remember, technology is a great servant, but a terrible master.
-
If my sense of security lies in my reputation or in the things I have, my life will be in a constant state of threat and jeopardy-a fear that these possessions may be lost, stolen, or devalued. If I'm in the presence of someone of greater net worth, fame, or status, I feel inferior. If I'm in the presence of someone of lesser net worth, fame or status, I feel superior. My sense of self-worth constantly fluctu-ates. I don't have any sense of constancy, anchorage, or persistent selfhood. I am constantly trying to protect and insure my assets, properties, securities, position, or reputation.
-
Our lives are the results of our choices. To blame and accuse other people, the environment, or other extrinsic factors is to choose to empower those things to control us.
-
Someone once inquired of a Far Eastern Zen master, who had a great serenity and peace about him no matter what pressures he faced, "How do you maintain that serenity and peace?" He replied, "I never leave my place of meditation." He meditated early in the morning and for the rest of the day, he carried the peace of those moments with him in his mind and heart.
-
Everyone chooses one of two roads in life - the old and the young, the rich and the poor, men and women alike. One is the broad, well-traveled road to mediocrity, the other road to greatness and meaning.
-
We simply assume that the way we see things is the way they really are or the way they should be. And our attitudes and behaviors grow out of these assumptions.
-
You will never be able to truly step inside another person, to see the world as he sees it, until you develop the pure desire, the strength of personal character, and the positive Emotional Bank Account, as well as the empathetic listening skills to do it.
-
The proactive approach to a mistake is to acknowledge it instantly, correct and learn from it. This literally turns a failure into a success.
-
Trust is a function of two things: character and competence. Character includes your integrity, your motive and your intent with people. Competence includes your capabilities, your skills, and your track record. Both are vital.
-
Our struggle to put first things first can be characterized by the contrast between two powerful tools that direct us: the clock and the compass. The clock represents our commitments, appointments, schedules, goals, activities - what we do with, and how we manage our time. The compass represents our vision, values, principles, mission, conscience, direction - what we feel is important and how we lead our lives. In an effort to close the gap between the clock and the compass in our lives, many of us turn to the field of "time management."
-
We must look at the lens through we see the world, as well as the world we see, and that the lens itself shapes how we interpret the world.
-
Communication is the most important single activity of man.
-
When a person has access to both the intuitive, creative and visual right brain, and the analytical, logical, verbal left brain, then the whole brain is working...And this tool is best suited to the reality of what life is, because life is not just logical-it is also emotional.
-
It's not only a matter of when to do things, but whether or not to do them at all.
-
I am personally convinced that one person can be a change catalyst, a 'transformer' in any situation, any organization. Such an individual is yeast that can leaven an entire loaf. It requires vision, initiative, patience, respect, persistence, courage, and faith to be a transforming leader.
-
Balance isn't either/or; it's 'and'.
-
The highest challenge inside organizations is to enable each person to contribute his or her unique talents and passion to accomplish the organization's purpose.
-
People are social beings and want interaction and social learning is the primary form of learning, just as word of mouth advertising is the highest form of advertising.
-
If you put good people in bad systems you get bad results. You have to water the flowers you want to grow.
-
As you live your values, your sense of identity, integrity, control, and inner-directedness will infuse you with both exhilaration and peace. You will define yourself from within, rather than by people's opinions or by comparisons to others.
-
It doesn't really matter how fast you're going if you're heading in the wrong direction.
-
Our character is basically a composite of our habits.
-
The key to motivation is motive. It's the why. It's the deeper yes! burning inside that makes it easier to say no to the less important.
-
Whenever you experience stress of any kind, look into yourself and ask, In what way am I compromising my innermost values in this situation?