Habit 2

Habit 2 describes  the personal lesdership

What it Means

To begin with the end in mind is to begin with the image of the end of your life as the frame of reference by which everything else is measured.

We may be busy, we may be efficient, but we will only be effective if we begin with the end in mind.

All Things are Created Twice

Habit 2 is based on imagination--the ability to envision in your mind what you cannot at present see with your eyes. It is based on the principle that all things are created twice. There is a mental (first) creation, and a physical (second) creation. The physical creation follows the mental, just as a building follows a blueprint. If you don't make a conscious effort to visualize who you are and what you want in life, then you empower other people and circumstances to shape you and your life by default. It's about connecting again with your own uniqueness and then defining the personal, moral, and ethical guidelines within which you can most happily express and fulfill it. Begin with the End in Mind means to begin each day, task, or project with a clear vision of your desired direction and destination, and then continue by flexing your proactive muscles to make things happen. 

One of the best ways to incorporate Habit 2 into your life if to develop a Personal Mission Statement. It focuses on what you want to be and do. It is your plan for success. It reaffirms who you are, puts your goals in focus, and moves your ideas into the real world. Your mission statement makes you the leader of your own life. You create your own destiny and secure the future you envision.

Leadership and Management

• Habit 2 is based on principles of personal leadership, which means that leadership is the first creation. Management is the second creation.
  
• Management is doing things right, leadership is doing the right things.
  
• Often people get into managing with efficiency, setting and achieving goals before they have even clarified values.
  

Rescripting: Becoming Your Own First Creator

Proactivity is based on the endowment of self-awareness. Two additional endowments enable us to expand our proactivity and to exercise personal leadership in our lives:

• imagination allows to visualize our potential
  
• conscience allows us to develop our talents within the context of principles and personal guidelines.
  

A Personal Mission Statement

• The most effective way to begin with the end in mind is to develop a personal mission statement.
  
• The key to the ability to change is a changeless sense of who you are, what you are about, and what you value.
  
• Once you have a sense of mission, you have the essence of your own proactivity; the vision and values which direct your life, the basic direction from which you set your goals.

 At the Center

• Whatever is at the center of our life will be the source of our security, guidance, wisdom, and power.
  
• What is at the center of your life?
  

Alternative Centers

• Spouse centeredness
  
• Family centeredness
  
• Money centeredness
  
• Work centeredness
  
• Possession centeredness
  
• Pleasure centeredness
  
• Friend/enemy centeredness
  
• Church centeredness
  
• Self centeredness
  

A Principle Center

Our lives need to be centered on correct principles -- deep, fundamental truths, classic truths, generic common denominators.

As a principle centered person, you try stand apart from the emotions of situations and from other factors to evaluate options.

Assignment