On 46-62

Effective habits are internalized principles and patterns of behavior. They are the intersection of knowledge, skills, and desire.

My favorite sentence in this chapter was "Happiness can be defined, in part at least, as the fruit of the desire and ability to sacrifice what we want now for what we want eventually" (48). This is so true. Let's say you find out you need to lose 20 lbs. to pass height/weight for the upcoming APFT. You really want to pass the APFT. Then, in the dining hall that night, you really want to eat a brownie with mint chocolate chip ice cream on top. What do you do? It's obvious that in order to be happy, you'll have to sacrifice what you want now (the mint-chocolately goodness) for what you want later (passing a PT test).

Covey talks a lot about the progression from dependency to independency to interdependency. This is good stuff. Our culture values independency so much...I think many people do not even realize that being interdependent is better. Covey says, "Ironically, you'll find that as you care less about what others think of you, you will care more about what others think of themselves and their worlds, including their relationship with you" (61). Awww, cute, we need to care about each other.

He also goes into detail with the P/PC Balance. In order to be effective humans, we need to balance actual production with production capability. You cannot just worry about results all the time--methods and preparation are important. (ps--In the long run, obviously, putting time in PC increases P anyway.)

On 1-45

Hi peeps,
Here are my comments on the first 45 pages of The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People.

Covey makes a distinction between the Personality Ethic and the Character Ethic. In general, he says good character will lead to success and a "a good life," whereas a personality is often full of facades and falsities. For example, "your attitude determines your altitude." While I think this statement has true value, I also think it's important to point out the hundreds of people who have great, positive attitudes, but are still unsuccessful. Is it better to say, "Yes, I can do it!" and then fail, or say, "No, I probably can't do that," and then fail. A disconnect between what is actually happening and what you think is happening or want to happen will develop. I hate dishonesty, impracticality, and incongruency. Your attitude should match what you can do.

Covey states my point best on page 21: "If I try to use human influence strategies and tactics of how to get other people to do what I want, to work better, to be more motivated, to like me and each other--while my character is fundamentally flawed, marked by duplicity and insincerity--then in the long run, I cannot be successful."

(I would rather hear true criticism than false praise. False praise is one of my largest pet peeves. Do you agree?)

Then, Covey talks about paradigms. "Paradigm" is just a fancy word for "mental map" or "schema"--how you think about the world. We have assumptions in our heads, and our behavior comes from those. CPT Ambrose suggested that I read The Four Agreements last semester, so I did. This book talks all about changing agreements you have made with the world (aka assumptions), so that our actions can parallel the better ideas in our heads. You have to make changes from the roots, if you don't like an aspect of your life. Hacking away at the "leaves" does nothing.

Covey says, "Admission of ignorance is often the first step in our education" (37). This very Socratic statement makes me think of ROTC, MS1s in particular. I leave you with this: I believe that there are stupid questions. Sometimes, you should know something that is elementary or that we've been told millions of times, but you don't. However, would you rather look stupid by asking the question, or be stupid by continuing not to know?

There once was a cadet named Janke

Who was proud to be a Yankee

She went to MS1

And had a lot of fun

And now she is never cranky!