Page 69 - stephen covey The seven habits of highly effective people

THE SEVEN HABITS OF HIGHLY EFFECTIVE PEOPLE Brought to you by FlyHeart

Husband -- my partner is the most important person in my life. Together we contribute the fruits
of harmony, industry, charity, and thrift.
Father -- I help my children experience progressively greater joy in their lives.
Son/Brother -- I am frequently "there" for support and love.
Christian -- God can count on me to keep my covenants and to serve his other children.
Neighbor -- The love of Christ is visible through my actions toward others.
Change Agent -- I am a catalyst for developing high performance in large organizations.
Scholar -- I learn important new things every day.
Writing your mission in terms of the important roles in your life gives you balance and harmony.
It keeps each role clearly before you. You can review your roles frequently to make sure that you don't
get totally absorbed by one role to the exclusion of others that are equally or even more important in
your life.
After you identify your various roles, then you can think about the Long Term Goals are plans you
make that support the principles described in your Mission Statement. These goals should represent
areas you want to focus on in the near future. Typically, Long Term Goals take longer than a week to
complete, but are most specific than the lifetime goals of your Mission Statement.long-term goals you
want to accomplish in each of those roles. We're into the right brain again, using imagination,
creativity, conscience, and inspiration. If these goals are the extension of a mission statement based on
correct principles, they will be vitally different from the goals people normally set. They will be in
harmony with correct principles, with natural laws, which gives you greater power to achieve them.
They are not someone else's goals you have absorbed. They are your goals. They reflect your deepest
values, your unique talent, your sense of mission. And they grow out of your chosen roles in life.
An effective goal focuses primarily on results rather than activity. It identifies where you want to
be, and, in the process, helps you determine where you are. It gives you important information on
how to get there, and it tells you when you have arrived. It unifies your efforts and energy. It gives
meaning and purpose to all you do. And it can finally translate itself into daily activities so that you
are proactive, you are in charge of your life, you are making happen each day the things that will enable
you to fulfill your personal mission statement.
Roles and goals give structure and organized direction to your personal mission. If you don't yet
have a personal mission statement, it's a good place to begin. Just identifying the various areas of your
life and the two or three important results you feel you should accomplish in each area to move ahead
gives you an overall perspective of your life and a sense of direction.
As we move into Habit 3, we'll go into greater depth in the area of short-term goals. The important
application at this point is to identify roles and long-term goals as they relate to your personal mission
statement. These roles and long-term goals will provide the foundation for effective goal setting and
achieving when we get to the Habit 3 day-to-day management of life and time.

Family Mission Statements

Because Habit 2 is based on principle, it has broad application. In addition to individuals, families,
service groups, and organizations of all kinds become significantly more effective as they Begin with the
End in Mind.
Many families are managed on the basis of crises, moods, quick fixes, and instant gratification -- not
on sound principles. Symptoms surface whenever stress and pressure mount: people become cynical,
critical, or silent or they start yelling and overreacting. Children who observe these kinds of behavior
grow up thinking the only way to solve problems is flight or fight.
The core of any family is what is changeless, what is always going to be there -- shared vision and
values. By writing a family mission statement, you give expression to its true foundation.