Put First Things First

This week we read a summary of the “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People” by Stephen R. Covey. In it we learned that the seven habits are: Be proactive, begin with the end in mind, put first things first, think win/win, seek first to understand…then to be understood, synergize and sharpen the saw. All of these steps resonated with me but the one that stood out the most was putting first things first. In this section we were presented with four basic types of activities: Important and urgent, important and non-urgent, urgent but not important, and not urgent or important. I loved this breakout because instantly I started to categorize all of the things that I do in a day into each one of these boxes. In the reading it says, “The heart of effective personal time management is to spend the maximum time possible doing important jobs in a non-urgent atmosphere that increase your efficiency.” I have found that as I have spent time in this quadrant working on assignments for school that are not due immediately or working on a lesson for church that is two weeks away, that my end product is something of much better quality than if I throw something together quickly right before it is due. I love spending time in the unimportant/non-urgent box, but I have to cut my time there drastically in order to be successful in the other areas of my life. Going forward I will use these categories to ensure I am staying on the right track and managing my time appropriately.

Practice

This week we had a lot of great reading and videos but probably what resonated with me the most this week were the chapters I read in the book, “Mastery” by George Leonard. The reading in the book this week covered the “five master keys” which are: Instruction, practice, surrender, intentionality, and the edge. Reading about practice as it pertains to mastership stuck with me the most.

In the chapter about practice, Leonard explains that one who is on a master’s journey conceives this word as a noun rather than a verb, “not as something you do, but as something you have, something you are…practice is the path upon which you travel, just that.” I have never thought about practice in this way. Practice has always been a verb for me, and something that I have done to learn something and then move on. Leonard shares a secret that, “the people we know as masters don’t devote themselves to their particular skill just to get better at it. The truth is they love to practice-and because of this they do get better.” How do I get to that place where I “love to practice?” As I ponder this I think it is just really about choosing a passion in my portfolio and start practicing, just for the sake of it. I think a love for practice can be developed as I do just that, practice.

How Do I Find My Passion?

This week the video by Randy Komisar titled, “How Do You Find Your Passion and How Do You Pursue It?” stuck with me the most. He proposed the idea to think about a “portfolio of passions” rather than trying to focus on one passion to pursue. I had never thought about it this way. Why can’t we have more than one passion? As a way to pursue that passion, he encouraged his listeners not to focus on the horizon, or the final mark we will make but rather what direction are we going now? He said to focus on what are values are, and what we care about. He said that in order to pursue our passions we should marry them with the opportunities in front of us right now. This approach makes so much sense to me. He had talked about how trying to find one passion and focusing on the horizon and how paralyzing that is. The approach he presents gives a more realistic way of finding what our passions are and pursing them. This made me think of my portfolio of passions, some of which include: the gospel, my family, accounting and finance. These are just the few that came to mind. If I think about the opportunities I have in front of me, I know many people not of this faith that I can share the gospel with. I have a husband and a son at home. I have a part time job in accounting. I have opportunities right in front of me to pursue my passions! I can magnify my callings at church and work harder to share the gospel with others. I can find better ways to serve my husband and son and make sure that I am doing everything I can to make sure they know I love them. I can work to develop my accounting and finance skills so that I can take my job outside the home to the next level. Watching Komisar’s podcast really helped me start to figure out what my passions are and how best to pursue them.

The podcast entitled, “A Hero’s Journey” was also quite impactful. Some key take-aways from it were:

-       We all have special missions here on this earth if we have the faith and the courage to find our Entrepreneurial callings.

-       The hero’s journey is all about you, but not about you at all.

-       Live every moment like it matters.

-       What matters most isn’t the prize at the end but how the hero has changed in the process

-       Learn to live a life of meaning

-       Find great role models and ask them great questions.

-       Being world class at something matters

What struck me the most were the answers that the group of people over sixty would give when they were asked what mattered most to them about their accomplishments in life. Almost all of them had 3 questions:

-       Have I contributed something meaningful

-       Was I a good person

-       Who did I love and who loved me.

Nothing about money or fame was mentioned. Remembering these 3 questions really help with staying on track, living a life of meaning and becoming the hero. 

Personal Constitution

Probably the most impactful thing I did this week was think through and write up my first personal constitution. This was a good assignment to have after creating our stars and stepping-stones chart. I was able to think on a more granular level about the short-term and long-term goals to help me become who I want to be. This too was an assignment that did not come easy. I spent a lot of time pondering my goals and then the daily tasks that would need to be accomplished in order to reach my goals. It was tough to narrow down the things that would need to be done daily. I finally settled on tasks that I knew that I could accomplish. I think it’s important to stretch ourselves, but we also need to be realistic about our expectations.

Something else that stood out to me from this week’s reading was the article by Clayton M. Christensen. We can get so caught up in our business endeavors that we forget what is really most important in this life, the people. Christensen said that he asked his classes at the end of every semester to answer three questions:

-       How can I be sure that I’ll be happy in my career?

-       How can I be sure that my relationships with my spouse and my family become an enduring source of happiness?

-       How can I be sure I’ll stay out of jail?

I really loved these questions because asking and answering them helps us form our purpose and strategy in this life. Success in all aspects of our lives should intermingle, rather than thinking of success in career and success in family as two different things. I enjoyed what Christensen said as he ended his article, “Don’t worry about the level of individual prominence you have achieved; worry about the individuals you have helped become better people.” Those are words to live by. Ultimately this life is about returning to our Heavenly Father and helping our brothers and sisters do the same, it is about the people.