Habit 1: Be proactive

Principles of Personal Vision

 We have something that animals don’t have and it is called ‘Self-Awareness”. It is the
ability to think about your very through process. This is the reason why man has
dominion over all things in the world and why he can make significant advances from
generation to generation. This is why we can evaluate and learn from other’s experience
as well as our own. This is also why we can make and break our habits.
 Self-Awareness enables us to stand apart and examine even the way we “see”
ourselves-our self-paradigm, the most fundamental paradigm of effectiveness. It affects
not only our attitudes and behaviors, but also how we see other people.

The Social Mirror

 If the only vision we have of ourselves comes from the social mirror-from the current
social paradigm and from the opinions, perceptions, and paradigms of the people around
us-our view of ourselves is like the reflection in the crazy mirror room at the carnival.
 These visions are disjointed and out of proportion. They are often more projections than
reflections, projecting the concerns and character, weaknesses of people giving the
input rather than accurately reflecting of what we are.
 There are actually three social maps-three theories of determinism widely accepted,
independently or in combination, to explain the nature of man;
o Genetic Determinism – inheriting the DNA of your grandparents or people you
are born with such as having short tempers or etc.. It is in your own DNA and it
just goes through generations and you inherited it.
o Psychic Determinism – This is based on your childhood experience that
essentially laid out your personal tendencies and your character structure. You
are afraid to be in front of a group, its because your parents did not expose you
that could help you gain confidence.
o Environmental Determinism – it is someone or something in your own
environment that is responsible for your own situation.
 Each of these maps is based on the stimulus/ response theory. The basic idea is that we
are conditioned to respond in a particular way to a particular stimulus.

Between Stimulus and Response

 Between stimulus and response, man has the freedom to choose. In addition to self-
awareness, we have;
o Imagination – the ability to create in our minds beyond our present reality.
o Conscience – a deep inner awareness of right and wrong, of the principles that
govern our behavior
o Independent will – the ability to act based on our self-awareness, free of all the
other influences.
“Proactivity” Defined

 In discovering the basic principle of the nature of man, Frankl Victor described an
accurate self-map from which he began to develop the first and most basic habit of a
highly effective person in any environment, the habit of proactivity.
 Proactivity – it means more than merely taking initiative. It means as human beings, we
are responsible for our own lives. Our behavior is a function of our decision, not our
conditions. We have the initiative and the responsibility to make things happen.
 Reactive – Reactive people are often affected by their physical environment such as
weather, proactive people can carry their own responsibility rain or shine it makes no
difference. Reactive people are also affected by the social environment. They tend to
build their emotional lives around the behavior of others, empowering the weaknesses of
other people to control them.

Listening to our Language

 Because our attitudes and behaviors flow out of our paradigms, if we use our own self-
awareness to examine them, we can often see in them the nature of our underlying
maps. For example, our language is a very indicator of the degree to which we see
ourselves as a proactive people.

Circle of Concern/Circle of Influence

 Another excellent way to become more self-aware regarding out own degree of
proactivity is to look where we focus our time and energy. We could separate those from
things in which no particular mental or emotional involvement by creating a “Circle of
Concern.”
 As we look at those things within our Circle of Concern, it becomes apparent that there
are some things over which we have no real control and others that we can do
something about. We could Identify those concerns in the latter group circumscribing
them within a smaller Circle of Influence. By determining which of these two circles is the
focus of most of our time and energy, we can discover much about the degree of our
proactivity.

 Proactive people focus their efforts in the Circle of Influence. They work on the things
they can do something about. The nature of their energy is positive, enlarging and
magnifying causing their Circle of Influence to increase. Reactive people, on the other
hand, focus their efforts in the Circle of Concern. They focus on the weaknesses of other
people, the problems in the environment, and circumstances over which they have no
control. Their focus results in blaming and accusing attitudes, reactive languages and
increased feelings of victimization. The negative energy generated by that focus,
combined with neglect in areas they could do something about, causes their Circle of
Influence to shrink.
 As long as we are working in our Circle of Concern, we empower things within it to
control us. We aren’t taking the proactive initiative necessary to effect positive change.
Direct, Indirect and No Control

 The problems we face fall in one of three areas: direct control(problems involving our
own behavior), indirect control(problems we can do nothing about, such as our past
situational realities). The proactive approach puts the first step in the solution of all three
kinds of problems with our present Circle of Influence.
o Direct control – problems are solved by working on our habits.
o Indirect control – problems are solved by changing our methods of influence.
o No control – problems involve taking the responsibility to change the line on the
bottom of our face – to smile, to genuinely and peacefully accept these problems
and learn to live with them, even though we don’t like them.

Expanding the Circle of Influence

 It is inspiring to realize that in choosing our response to circumstances, we powerfully

affect our circumstances. When we change one part if the chemical formula, we change
the nature of the results.
 There are some people who interpret “proactive” to mean pushy, aggressive, insensitive,
but that isn’t the case at all. Proactive people aren’t pushy, they’re smart, they’re value
driven, they read reality, and they know what’s needed.

The “Have’s” and the “Be’s”

 One way to determine which circle our concerns is in to distinguish between the have’s
and the be’s. The Circle of Concern is fill with the have’s:

 The Circle of Influence is filled with be’s – I can be more patient, be wise, be loving. It is
the character of focus.
 Anytime we think about 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.
 HABIT 2: BEGIN WITH THE END IN MIND

Principles of Personal Leadership: What it means to “Begin with the End in Mind”

 Habit 2 applies to many different circumstances and levels of life, the most fundamental
application of “begin with the end in mind” is to begin today with the image, picture or
paradigm of the end of your life as your frame and reference or the criterion by which
everything else is examined. Each part of your life today – today’s behavior, tomorrow’s
behavior, next week’s behavior, next month behavior’s – can be examined in the context
of the whole, of what really matters most to you.
 To begin with the end in mind means to start with a clear understanding of your
destination, it means to know where you going so that you better understand where you
are now and so that the steps you take are always in the right direction. It is possible to
be busy – very busy – without being very effective.

All things are created twice

 “Begin with the end in mind” is based on the principle that things are created twice.
There’s a mental or first creation, and physical or second creation to all things.
o For example, a business. If you want to have a successful enterprise, you have
to clearly define what you are trying to accomplish, You carefully think through
the product or service you want to provide in terms of your market target. Then
you organize all the elements – financial, research, and development, operation
marketing, personnel, and so on to meet the objective. The extent to which you
begin with the end in mind often determines whether or not you are able to create
a successful enterprise. Most business failures begin in the first creation, with
problems such as undercapitalization, misunderstanding of the market, or lack of
a business plan.

By Design or Default

 It’s a principle that all things are created twice, but not all first creations are by conscious
designs. In our personal lives, if we do not develop our own self-awareness and become
responsible for first creations, we empower ither people and circumstances outside or
Circle of Influence to shape much of our lives by default. Default means we just
reactively live by the scrips handed to us by family associates other people agendas and
so on… These scripts come from people, not principles. And they rise out of our deep
vulnerabilities, our deep dependency on others and our needs for acceptance and love,
for belonging, for a sense of importance and worth, for a feeling that we matter. Put
another way, Habit 1 says, “You are the creator.” Habit 2 is the first creation.

Leadership and management – The two creations

 Habit 2 is based on principles of personal leadership, which means that leadership is

the first creation. Leadership is not management. Management is the second creation,
which will be discuss in the chapter on habit 3. But leadership has to come first.
  Management is the bottom-line focus: “How can I best accomplish certain things?”
while Leadership deals with the line: “What are the things I want to accomplish?” In
other words of both Peter Drucker and Warren Bennis “Management is doing things
right; leadership is doing the right things.” Management is efficiency in climbing the
ladder of success: leadership determines whether the ladder is leaning against the right
wall.

Rescripting: Becoming your own first creator

 As we previously learned, proactivity is based on the human endowment of self-

awareness. The two additional human endowments that enables us to expand our
proactiveness to exercise personal leadership in our lives are imagination and
conscience.
 Through imagination, we can visualize the uncreated worlds of potential that lie within
us. Through conscience, we can come in contact with universal laws or principles with
our own singular talents and avenues of contribution, and with the personal guidelines
within which we can most effectively develop them. Combined with self-awareness,
these two endowments empower us to write our own script.

A personal statement

 The most effective way I know to begin with the end in mind is to develop a personal mission
statement or philosophy or creed. It focuses on what you want to be (character) and to do
(contributions and achievements) and on the values or principles upon which being and doing
are based. A personal mission statement based on correct principles becomes the same kind of
standard for an individual and it becomes the personal constitution.

At the center

 In order to write a personal mission statement, we must begin at the very center of our
Circle of Influence, the center comprised of our most basic paradigms, the lens through
which we see the world.
 It is here to that we deal with our vision and our values. It is here that we use our
endowment of self-awareness to examine our maps and, if we value correct principles to
make certain that our maps accurately describe the territory, that our paradigms are
based on principles and reality.
 Whatever is at the center of our life will be the source of our security, guidance, wisdom
and power.
o Security represents your sense of worth, your identity, your emotional anchorage,
your self-esteem, your basic personal strength or lack of it.
o Guidance means your source of direction in life
o Wisdom is your perspective on life, your sense of balance, your understanding of
how the various parts and principles apply to relate to each other.
 o Power is the faculty or capacity to act, the strength and potency to accomplish
something. It is the vital energy to make choices and decisions.

 These four factors – security, guidance, wisdom, and power – are independent. Security
and clear guidance bring true wisdom, and wisdom becomes the spark or catalyst to
release and direct power. When these four factors are present together, harmonized and
enlivened by each other, they create the great force if a noble personality, a balanced
character, a beautifully integrated individual.

Alternative Centers

 Each of us has a center, though we usually don’t recognize it as such. Neither do we

recognize the all-encompassing effects of that center on every aspect of our lives.
o Spouse Centeredness. Marriage can be the most intimate, the most satisfying,
the most enduring, growth-producing if human relationships. It might seem
natural and proper to be centered on one’s husband or wife.
o Family Centeredness. Another common center is the family. This, too, may seem
to be natural and proper. As an area of focus and deep investment, it provides
great opportunities for deep relationships for loving, for sharing, for much fun that
makes life worthwhile.
o Money Centeredness. Another logical and extremely common center to people’s
lives is making money. Economic security is basic to one’s opportunity to do
much in any other dimension. In a hierarchy or continuum of needs, physical
survival and financial security comes first.
 o Possession Centeredness – Work-centered people may become “workaholics,”
driving themselves to produce at the sacrifice of health, relationships, and other
important areas of their lives.
o Pleasure Centeredness – Another common center, closely allied with
possessions, is that of fun and pleasure.
o Friend/Enemy Centeredness – Young people are particularly, though certainly
not exclusively, susceptible to becoming friend-centered. Acceptance and
belonging to a peer group can become almost supremely important. The
distorted and ever-changing social mirror becomes the source for the four life-
support factors, creating a high degree of dependence on the fluctuating moods,
feelings, attitudes and behaviors of others.
o Church Centeredness – I believe that almost anyone who is seriously involved in
any church will recognize that churchgoing is not synonymous with personal
spirituality. There are some people who get so busy in church worship and
projects that they become insensitive to the pressing human needs that
surrounds them, contradicting the very precepts they profess to believe deeply.
There are others who attend church less frequently or not at all but whose
attitudes and behavior reflect a more genuine centering the principles of the
basic Judeo-Christian ethic.
o Self-centeredness. The most obvious form is selfishness, which violates the
values of most people.

Identifying your Center

A Principle Center

 By centering our lives on correct principles, we create a solid foundation for development
of the four life-support factors. Principles are deep, fundamental truths, classic truths,
generic common denominators.
 Principles always have natural consequence attached to them. There are positive
consequences when we live in harmony with the principles. There is negative
consequence when we ignore them. But because these principles apply to everyone,
 whether or not they are aware, this limitation is universal. And the more we know of
correct principles, the greater is our personal freedom to act wisely. By centering our
lives on timeless, unchanging principles, we create a fundamental paradigm of effective
living. It is the center that puts all other centers in perspective.

 Remember that your paradigm is the source from which your attitudes and behaviors
flow. A paradigm is like a pair of glasses; it affects the way you see everything in your
life. If you look at things through the paradigm of correct principles, what you see in life is
dramatically different from what you see through any other centered paradigm.