Are you a "Highly Effective" person?

I would first like to state that I think Stephen Covey is a genius and his book stays on my coffee table. Now with that said….

I truly believe in being proactive and taking responsibility of your life. I don’t let the wheatear affect my mood for the day. Just because it’s gloomy outside doesn’t mean I need to be gloomy inside. Like Steven’s book sates, your life is designed for you, you can choose happiness, you choose sadness, decisiveness and ambivalence… I choose to not like 5 inches of snow on the ground affect my mood. When one door closes I look for the open window. It’s a bit of a morbid thing to think about but sometimes I think of my funeral and what people will say about me. I strive everyday to make my parents proud and to make a good name for myself because when I do die I want people that know me to be proud to say they know me. I want an entire list of accomplishments in life.

Steven talks about weather your goals are by default (passed down by friends or family) or if they are personal. I will never let what someone else wants for me to get in the way of what I truly want out of life. I will listen to what my friends and family have to say about what they want for me but I will never let that be my deciding factor.

I feel patient about habit 4. It’s the win/win, public victory. This habit talks of human interaction. There are six examples: (1) Win/Win (2) Win/Lose (3) Lose/Win (4) Lose/Lose (5) Win or Win/Win or no deal. All of these are pretty self explanatory. For example Win/Win is a mutual benefit, all parties feel good about the agreement or solutions. Win/Lose is an authoritarian approach: “I get my way, you don’t get yours.” I really try to enter into every situation with wanting it to be a Win/Win or no deal situation. It is described as, if we can’t find a solution that benefits us both then we have no deal. I want to win, and I want you to win.