Stephen R. Covey: The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People
Pygmalion Effect - higher expectations will lead to higher performance
"What you are shouts so loudly in my ears that I cannot hear what you say" - Emerson
Personality Ethic vs. Character Ethic. Both are crucial and useful, but Personality ethic consists of practical strategies that can only be potent on a strong foundation of Character Ethic.
If you are trying to find your way around New York using a map of Chicago, there is no use in having a positive attitude, or doubling your productivity because it will only get you to the wrong place faster. This is why Character Ethic must come first and must be soundly laid down.
ALWAYS REMEMBER that your perceptions, assumptions, and opinions are built solely out of your past experiences. Nobody else on the planet has had all the same experiences as you, so how could you expect everyone to immediately see your point of view, and how can you be so quick to call them wrong without seeing their point of view?
P/PC Balance - P=production (of desired results) and PC=production capability (ability or asset). The P/PC Balance suggests that true effectiveness is a function if two things: what is produced, and the producing asset or capacity to produce. If you adopt a pattern if life that focuses solely on money and neglects the asset, you will soon be without the asset, and hence without future money.
Three kinds of assets: physical, financial, and human.
Physical assets are like cars or computers. You must remember the PC and maintain and repair them regularly to continue optimal use, whereas if you forget to repair your car, soon you will have to buy a whole new car at a much larger cost.
Financial assets are our own ability to earn. You must continually invest in your own PC else you will severely limit your options.
Human assets are most delicate in the P/PC balance because people are in control of the physical and financial assets.
Habit 1: Be Proactive
Go out and make life happen, don't be reactive or passive to your surroundings.
Habit 2: Begin With the End in Mind
Being conscious of the direction you are trying to go makes it more likely that you will get there.
"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 climbing against the right wall.
Both are necessary but be sure to clearly outline your goals and begin with the end in mind to make sure that you don't scale the wrong wall quickly.
Be responsible for your creations. In life, all things are created twice. There is a mental or first creation, and a physical or second creation to all things. However, the first creation is not always if conscious design.
Become responsible for your first creations to empower other people and our own circumstances and to shape our lives in a bold way.
Effectiveness--often even survival--does not depend solely on how much effort we expend, but on whether or not the effort we expend is in the right jungle.
Life should be principle-centered, so we that our security comes from knowing that your principles will not change or ebb with the economy, like if you were money centered or possession centered.