Habit Number Three: Put First Things First
Quadrant II. That is where I have the most trouble. I have no trouble admitting that. I'm not proud of it, either. I think it started in Middle School; I started a habit of waiting until the last minute to accomplish important things. It has been a habit that has lingered all through Middle School, High School, and even some of College. Since I have been at Samford, I have been forced to work ahead and get assignments completed early, but I still fall back into the bad habit sometimes. By waiting until the last minute, I increase Quadrant I tremendously, and Quadrant II becomes almost completely empty. Therefore, I become stressed, tired, irritable, and upset when I have to rush to complete an activity. However, if I had worked at it ahead of time, it would have been fine. Obviously, there are no issues when it comes to activities/assignments that I enjoy. (like creating a showchoir!) Those activities fall directly into Quadrant II and are not an issue.
I know I need to change. It's become much better than it used to be, but it still lingers quite often. Covey's Quadrant II Tool includes 6 Criteria by which I need to start working toward:
Coherance, Balance, Quadrant II Focus,("The key is not to prioritize what's on your schedule, but to schedule your priorities") A "People" Dimension, Flexibility, and Portability.
By adapting to a new way of working and organizing, I can hopefully develop a life of successful Personal Management.
Sunday, January 30, 2011
The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People Entry #2
Habit Number 2: Begin with the End in Mind
This past weekend, I attended one of my favorite events of the year, the Capitol City Classic Showchoir Competition in Montgomery, Alabama. I'm a showchoir fanatic, and this past weekend was one of three competitions that I will go to this semester. You may be wondering how showchoir has anything to do with this book... Well, hopefully I can explain myself in this entry.
Begin with the End in Mind; that is, have a goal to look forward to and work for. That just so happens to be the kind of thinking I have been applying recently. I have created a Showchoir at Samford University, and it has been one long process..... Because the process was so strenuous and long, there were several moments of difficulty, and I wanted to give up and quit the whole thing. However, by thinking ahead to the future, when this organization would be successful, I was able to endure and keep working until it was approved as an official organization at Samford University. Throughout the reading of this habit, I could not help but think of showchoir. (partly because my mind was racing with showchoir ideas due to the competition I had just attended!)
Leadership, Management, and Productivity- these are 3 Major Aspects of our personal and business management. These 3 Aspects are 3 that I am going to have to maintain if I want this new organization to be successful. Although Covey meant for this to be understood as a psychological statement to better our personal lives, I have been able to use it to help me in my situation as the new leader of a new group.
Also, as a leader I will need to center my life on principles and not certain people or things. I have tried to figure out whether I focus on certain people, such as my family, friends, or self, and I have come to a conclusion that it is probably a combination of all. By reading this habit, I have realized that I need to "center" on principles, because only then will I have successful relationships and achievement.
Although I am passionate about showchoir, I am also passionate about my time here on earth and how I am going to spend it. I recognize that I must invest in these principles and be able to recognize people's needs by looking at the balanced whole of a situation. By doing so, I also hope to allow the love of Jesus to spread to others.
This past weekend, I attended one of my favorite events of the year, the Capitol City Classic Showchoir Competition in Montgomery, Alabama. I'm a showchoir fanatic, and this past weekend was one of three competitions that I will go to this semester. You may be wondering how showchoir has anything to do with this book... Well, hopefully I can explain myself in this entry.
Begin with the End in Mind; that is, have a goal to look forward to and work for. That just so happens to be the kind of thinking I have been applying recently. I have created a Showchoir at Samford University, and it has been one long process..... Because the process was so strenuous and long, there were several moments of difficulty, and I wanted to give up and quit the whole thing. However, by thinking ahead to the future, when this organization would be successful, I was able to endure and keep working until it was approved as an official organization at Samford University. Throughout the reading of this habit, I could not help but think of showchoir. (partly because my mind was racing with showchoir ideas due to the competition I had just attended!)
Leadership, Management, and Productivity- these are 3 Major Aspects of our personal and business management. These 3 Aspects are 3 that I am going to have to maintain if I want this new organization to be successful. Although Covey meant for this to be understood as a psychological statement to better our personal lives, I have been able to use it to help me in my situation as the new leader of a new group.
Also, as a leader I will need to center my life on principles and not certain people or things. I have tried to figure out whether I focus on certain people, such as my family, friends, or self, and I have come to a conclusion that it is probably a combination of all. By reading this habit, I have realized that I need to "center" on principles, because only then will I have successful relationships and achievement.
Although I am passionate about showchoir, I am also passionate about my time here on earth and how I am going to spend it. I recognize that I must invest in these principles and be able to recognize people's needs by looking at the balanced whole of a situation. By doing so, I also hope to allow the love of Jesus to spread to others.
Friday, January 28, 2011
7 Habits of Highly Effective People Entry #1
This blog was created as an assignment for my Choral Conducting class where we have recently read The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen R. Covey. We have been assigned to write 3 entries pertaining to the book, so here goes entry #1:
In reading this book, I have come across many different ideas that I could write about just in the first Habit, Be Proactive, but I will try to focus on just one.
A concept that really attracted my attention while reading the first Habit was "reactive." I think I have a tremendous tendency to be a reactive person as opposed to a proactive person. While being proactive means that WE have responsibility of our own lives, reactive is quite the opposite. I've always mindlessly thought that I automatically have responsibility of my own life because, well, I am me. It's that simple. Because I exist, I control myself. NOT TRUE!! I allow so many different things to control me. Weather, friends, teachers, grades, parents, illness, and many more things have influences on me and are capable of controling me! I have come to realize how I am so easily influenced by many outward issues, but I don't have to allow them to!
For instance, today as I write this entry, the weather is WARM, (finally..it's been freezing for days...) the sun is out, and it is Friday! Thus, I have a very very good attitude about life. However, if it were rainy, 35 degrees, and Monday, I would most likely have a very different attitude. This kind of thinking, as I've recently learned, is reactive and NOT what I want to be. I have a power that I've always consiously known was there, but I've hardly ever put it to practice.
I've also discovered that my language often falls into the reactive category... "This is too hard! I'm not capable! I'm not even going to try to accomplish that. He's so annoying!" All of these expressions may be the likely reaction to a certain situation, but ultimately I have the power to decide otherwise. I've let people and situations control me. If only I can get out of this rut and convince myself that I have the power to resist the temptation to listen to others opinions; then I would finally be the proactive individual I want to be.
Being proactive has become a new goal of mine, and hopefully whenever I begin to experience a rainy situation in my life I'll be able to take advantage of the situation to prove to myself that I have the power to choose.
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
Monday, January 24, 2011
Blogggg???
Hey! I hope your day has gone well! I just created a blog for the first time, so please do not expect much. I created this for a class, so more exciting posts are coming soon!!... hopefully... haha
Anyways.. well, this is me :) I'm Lindsay. I love God, my family, my friends, music, and horses. (yes, I'm one of THOSE girls...) and I hope to one day conduct a high school choir! God is my Savior, and He can be your Savior too! He loves you, and so do I!!! Have a great day!!!
Anyways.. well, this is me :) I'm Lindsay. I love God, my family, my friends, music, and horses. (yes, I'm one of THOSE girls...) and I hope to one day conduct a high school choir! God is my Savior, and He can be your Savior too! He loves you, and so do I!!! Have a great day!!!
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