PERSONAL VICTORY

If you are interested in personal development I highly recommend you purchase Steven Covey's book, Seven Habits of Highly Effective People. I read it for the first time in early 90s and I find myself going back to it as I learn more about myself and the others I interact with.

Here is a condensed summary of a chapter from the book:

Begin with End in Mind

When we begin with the end in mind, we have a personal direction to guide our daily activities, without which we will accomplish little toward our own goals. Beginning with the end in mind is part of the process of personal leadership, taking control of our own lives.

All things are created twice. We create them first in our minds, and then we work to bring them into physical existence. By taking control of our own first creation, we can write or re-write our own scripts, thus taking some control and responsibility for the outcome. We write or re-write our scripts using our imagination and conscience.

A starting point in beginning with the end in mind is to develop a personal mission statement, philosophy or credo. It will help you focus on what you want to be (character), do (contributions and achievements) and on the values and principles upon which your being and doing are based. The personal mission statement gives us a changeless core from which we can deal with external change.

We must reexamine the center of our life. Our center is the source of our security, guidance, wisdom and power. By centering our lives on correct principles, we create a stable, solid foundation for the development of our life support factors and embrace and encompass the truly important areas of our lives. Successful relationships, achievement and financial security will radiate from the principle center.

The principles of truth, compassion, integrity, honesty, and sevice are few examples that can be used in a personal mission statement.

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Last modified: March 9, 2004

Disclaimer: This website is the sole responsibility of Mike McMahon. It does not represent any official opinions, statement of facts or positions of the Alameda Unified School District. Its sole purpose is to disseminate information to interested individuals in the Alameda community.