How many times have you made New Year’s Resolutions, only to see them trail off by mid-February?  Do not feel bad about this!  You’re totally normal, and it’s just because you were not prepared to make changes to your life.  But that’s about to change.

With the new year right around the corner, I thought it would be fun to prepare our minds for the traditional goal setting so that we can have the most success with our new year’s resolutions.

I will be sharing the tried and true habits from “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People/Teens”.  I have personally only read the teen version, in which Sean Covey declares that the adult version is “boring and for old people”.  Haha!  They do use the same 7 habits, so if you want to read the book yourself, you may as well go for the non-boring one!

But if you stay with me these next several weeks, you won’t even need to read the book because I’m going to spoon feed you the nuts and bolts of it all.

But first, let me ask you… what does it mean to be a “highly effective” person? 

My mind used to go to thinking of a business person when I heard that term.  And I thought the book was for people who had major goals they wanted to achieve.

Indeed such people can benefit from it, as well as everyone else with a pulse.

These habits and viewpoints have to do with how you view yourself, your life, relationships, and more.  So they are very much applicable to you, no matter what phase of life you’re in, and what you have planned for the future.

Let me get you excited by sharing with you the little breakdown of the book that Sean gives.  (Yeah, I’m on a first name basis with him, haha)

Imagine a picture of a tree.  The 1st three habits deal with self-mastery.  He calls them the “Private Victory”, and they are the ROOTS that everything else you do is built on.  No one else can see them but you.

The 2nd phase, being the trunk and branches, is called the “Public Victory”, with habits 4-6.  These have to do with relationships and teamwork.  He says “you’ve got to get your personal act together before you can be a good team player”. 

I’m sure this will help you, as you are currently part of several teams!  (Marriage, family, church, community, work… just to name a few possible teams.)

Then the last habit is in the “Renewal” phase.  It’s represented by the leaves, and he says “it feeds all the other six habits”.

The 7 habits can help you:

• Get control of your life
• Improve your relationships
• Make smarter decisions
• Get along with others
• Overcome addiction
• Define your values and what matters most to you
• Get more done in less time
• Increase your self-confidence
• Be happy
• Find balance between all the many parts of your life

If that’s not something worth putting effort into, I don’t know what is!

Before digging into the 7 habits, one important thing to understand are your perceptions.  I like the way Sean explains it:

“Paradigms are like glasses.  When you have incomplete paradigms…it’s like wearing glasses with the wrong prescription.  That lens affects how you see everything else.  As a result, what you see is what you get.  If you believe you’re dumb, that very belief will make you dumb.”

The way you view something is just that –the way you’re viewing it.  It doesn’t mean that it’s the right or wrong way, just your current view.

Sean says “We have paradigms about ourselves, about other people, and about life in general.”

I invite you to open your mind up to the idea of a paradigm shift, if you have any negative thoughts about yourself, others, or life in general. 

Your paradigm of life is your life-center.  What is your life centered on?

Here is a list of some common life-centers, all of which are incomplete and will “mess you up” as Sean puts it, if you center your life on them.

• Family (I know -sounds like it would be a healthy center, but it is indeed incomplete)
• Friends
• Material possessions
• Work
• Parents
• Heros or Celebrities
• Yourself
• Hobbies or Sports

The reason why this list of centers will not serve you is because they can fail you. 

Imagine what you would do if your whole life was centered around playing the piano, and then you got in an accident that did permanent damage to your fingers and hands, preventing you from ever playing again… your world would fall apart because everything had revolved around playing the piano.

There is one center that you CAN always count on!  That is being principle-centered.

He says, “Putting principles first is the key to doing better in all the other centers.”

So fill your life with all the wonderful things like family, work, and hobbies, and have everything revolve around principles!

• Honesty
• Service
• Love
• Hard Work
• Respect
• Gratitude
• Moderation
• Fairness
• Integrity
• Loyalty
• Responsibility

Those are the few that Sean lists, and notes that “just as a compass always points to true north, your heart will recognize true principles.”

Detouring from the book a bit, I will confidently clarify that having a principle-centered life is basically the same as having a Christ-centered life, which may sound a little more familiar to you.  And that’s how I like to think of it, because He exudes all the principles and more!  I want to include His name into my life, and center everything I think, say, and do around Him.

We’re going to end each post in this “7 Habits Series” with some baby steps from the end of each chapter.  Sean calls them “Small, easy steps that you can do immediately to help you apply what you just read.  Though small, these steps can become powerful tools in helping you achieve your larger goals.”

Here they are:

1. The next time you look in the mirror, say something positive about yourself.
2. Show appreciation for someone’s point of view today.
3. Think of a limiting paradigm you might have of yourself, such as “I’m not outgoing.” Now, do something today that totally contradicts that paradigm.
4. Think of a loved one or close friend who has been acting out of character lately. Consider what might be causing them to act that way.
5. Apply the Golden Rule.
6. Find a quiet place where you can be alone and think about what matters most to you.
7. Try to apply the principle of hard work this week.
8. The next time you’re in a tough or stressful situation, ask yourself “what principle do I want to apply?” (i.e. honesty, love, loyalty, hard work, patience, etc).  And then do it.

Have a good time trying some of those out! 

I’m so excited for the upcoming weeks.  We’re going to get in great mental shape together!

***Loves***

Kayleen

SDG

You might also like some fun ideas for self-care, check out 27 Simple Ways to Rejuvenate Yourself.

And if you would like to start a self-love journey, click here.