Tuesday Part 2: Seven Habits of a Highly Effective Me

So Stephen Covey died yesterday which is tragic and sad. RIP Dr. Covey.  In honor of him, I want to talk about The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People a book I haven’t read but am now a certified Wikipedia expert on…

Independence or Self-Mastery

So I hear the first 3 habits are about moving from dependence to independence, something I value a great deal in life.

• Habit 1: Be Proactive - Take responsibility for your choices and the consequences that follow. “No glove, no love “really this is 2012 and they have drug- resistant strains of Gonorrhea taking folks out the game.  “You break it, You buy it “also works and does apply to everything I own…
  *be careful fellas women in 2012 are suing for broken hearts and broken promises
• Habit 2: Begin with the End in Mind - clarify your deeply important character values and life goals. My mission statements are “kitchen ninja” and “Jack of all trades master of None”!

• Habit 3: Put First Things First - Prioritize, plan, and execute based on importance rather than urgency. I have mastered this concept and developed a slight obsession with post-it-notes and dry erase boards.  I’m a list maker, a planner, a prima donna of procedure. I just need to figure out how to use that to enrich my relationships. Apparently the list of what I want in a partner is ineffective because I rarely follow it; case in point, the last 3.5 years of my life.

Interdependence

So I read the following 3 habits have to do with Interdependence. My kindergarten report card did say “plays well with others”; I just grew out of that when I learned the others were crazy.

• Habit 4: Think Win-Win - strive for mutually beneficial solutions or agreements in your relationships. I need to work on this apparently I’m an advocate for individually beneficial for the other person. An enabler if you will! But now that I’m down a few parasitic organisms, perhaps I can strive for solutions that are #winning for me and any future partner. 
• Habit 5: Seek First to Understand, Then to be Understood –I don’t listen to people like I should but I am a good listener when I put in the effort  (people tell me a lot even when I don’t ask them too). I’m happy to help and I do believe in compelling people to reciprocate listening and be open-minded. However, my atmosphere of caring, respect, and positive problem solving revolves around threats of shanking people to death.
• Habit 6: Synergize - Combine the strengths of people through positive teamwork aka be on a kick-ass team of superheroes.  I‘m Jem and my holograms are the truth… Synergy is what I live for oh and helping people all while being fashionable.  Justice League 2013!!!!

Self- Renewal

• Habit 7: Sharpen the Saw- balance and renew resources, energy, and health to create a sustainable, long-term lifestyle. My effective lifestyle is in progress and I am proud to say I’m happy about the course it is taking. Sure I hit a few bumps that threw me off balance but I learned something (doesn’t cohabitate well with others)! My health is on track because I eliminated some necessary stressors (some people can literally make you sick in my case)!  My resources are good so back up off my bank account yo! And my energy is regenerating as we speak. 

All in all, I think I am a highly effective person! I have made it this far without dying (or even breaking a bone), having babies, or getting arrested.  I would classify that as pretty damn good.  I have also graduated from college twice, bought my own car, paid my own rent, and worked a great job (with a 401K), all while making my own amazing friends. 

Sure I have made some questionable decisions; seen a camel; dominated in Taboo; started a blog; over-indulged slightly a time or two; laughed at peoples’ pain; cursed at inappropriate times; owned a Care bear; wore fringe (it was the 80s); had a few speeding infractions; and clearly avoided saying no to people I care about but I apologized for most of that. Besides I think that can all be erased by the fact that I’m cute, quirky, and incredibly funny! Oh I meant to add fits of vanity to that list.  

Either way define success and effectiveness how you want…it is different for everybody (I’m sure the book probably says that). For me it’s just being me and doing the things I want with the people I love and by that standard, I am  an Effective F*cking Rockstar!