moments of Jose's life

Be Proactive

A few weeks ago, I attended a 3-day training on “7 Habits of Highly Effective People” organized by our company.

Having read Steve Covey's book “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People” at least 5 years ago, I found the concepts and ideas taught in the class were nothing new but a reinforcement of what was already known.

However, this time, the real challenge was the “7 habits contract”. Attendees were recommended to put the habits into practice ideally within the next 7 weeks, one habit each week. In this exercise, according to the guidebook, we were required to find an “accountability partner” to check our progress. I felt excited thinking, “Well, this will be a very meaningful try. Too often, I learnt the knowledge but soon forgot about it because no action had been taken. Now, this may be a chance to change the fate.”

Firstly, I tried to practise Habit #1 - Be Proactive.

This meant exercising my proactivity to direct the course of my life (regardless of the currents), so that I can intentionally create the kind of life I want instead of just drifting along. Rather than merely reacting to events as they happen, I can consciously engineer my own events. That's why Habit #1 is also called “the habit of choice”.

Well, it is easier said than done. I am still struggling with Habit #1 after 3 weeks of practice. Occasionally I could do what was planned, but more often I could not help slipping back into the old habits.

Despite experiencing frustration and failure, I chose to carry on because the practice did make some differences in the past few weeks. If you asked me, completion of my Mission Statement came first on the list. It enabled me to deeply thought about what I truly cared about and the kind of person I wanted to be. This set the foundation from which I built the good habit of planning for the week and reviewing how I spent my time. Gladly, as a result, I spent more time on prayers, reading Bible, polishing language skills and workouts. Yet, there is still a long way to go for internalizing the habit.

Hopefully, I can get over Habit #1 and move to Habit #2 within a week or two. It is going to be tough!

P.S. My friend just told me she had to cease to be my accountability partner due to too busy at work. How hard is persistance!

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Proactivity has many names :
“It is using your Personal Power.”- Tony Robbins
“Those who don't set goals for themselves are forever doomed to work to achieve the goals of others.” - Brian Tracy
“Winners make it happen vs. losers let it happen.” - Denis Waitley
The exact terms aren't important. What matters is making the decision to start consciously directing your own life instead of being pushed along by external currents.

張貼者：Jo Fung @ 晚上10:53