LEARNING JOURNAL: Habits 2 and 3

Assigned Reading: Habit 3 (pages 155-189) and First Things First, chapter 15 (on Canvas).

 

Personal reflection

 

Quadrant III—The Quadrant of Distraction

Spending time in QIII is reacting to things that seem urgent, but in reality, they are not important to you. Many times the urgency of these matters is based on something that distracts you in the moment OR something that represents the priorities and expectations of others.

 

What are the chronic Quadrant III activities in your life?

 

 

How can you reduce or eliminate these QIII activities and become more effective?

 

 

 

 

Understanding Key Concepts

Answer the following questions.  Your answers should be written as an essay or paragraph and demonstrate your understanding of each concept.

Habit 2 is the habit of personal leadership, and Habit 3 is the habit of personal management.  Review what Dr. Covey says as he introduces Habit 3—read pages 155-156 before responding to these questions.

 

1. What is the difference between leadership and management?

 

 

2. How does Habit 2 help you to live Habit 3?

 

 

3. In your own life, do you spend more time on leadership or management? What is the result?

 

 

4. Covey talks about the compass paradigm and the clock paradigm. What is the difference between these two paradigms and why is it important to understand the difference?

 

 

Before you answer this next question, review the Six Step Process for Weekly Planning on Canvas.

 

5. Habit 3 is the habit of action and integrity.One of the steps of weekly planning is INTEGRITY IN THE MOMENT OF CHOICE.Explain what you think this means and why it is a part of weekly planning.

 

 

 

 

Application Activity—Values and Priorities

 

Step 1: Identify Key Values

Dr. Covey explains in Habit 3 that “the essence of effective time and life management is to organize and execute around balanced priorities.”  The purpose of this activity is to identify and clarify some key values in your life.  Answer the following questions.

 

Questions	Answers
Describe yourself in one word.  I am ___________.
List two of the most important people in your life and one word to describe each of them.
Name one of your personal traits that you would want your children to emulate.
You have started your own country.  On your dollar bill it says:  “In ____we trust.”  What word would you put in the blank?
What are two qualities you look for (or looked for) in a life partner?
Finish this quote by Gandhi and make it your own:  “Whenever you are confronted with an opponent, conquer him with ______.”  What word would you put in the blank?
If there were just two rules everyone should follow, what would they be?
Think of a famous person you admire.  Describe what you admire about that person in one word.
Visualize a tall skyscraper like the Empire State Building.  Across the street is another identical skyscraper.  Joining these two buildings across the top is an 8” steel beam.  For what or whom would you cross?

 

 

Step 2: Clarify Values

Now, look back over your answers above.  You have identified some of your values.  List three of them below.

 

For each of the three values, write a clarifying statement about each one.  A clarifying statement is a way of demonstrating that the value is real in your life; it is like creating a verbal picture of what the value looks like.  Ask yourself, “How am I living the value?” 

 

Value	Clarifying Statement
Example: Honesty	“I never cheat on my income taxes”

 

 

Step 3: Live your Priorities

1. Do you do things every week that demonstrate how these values are priorities in your life? Do you consistently “put first things first”?

 

2. Respond to this question that Dr. Covey asks in the text: “If you were to fault yourself in one of three areas, which would it be: (1) the in ability to prioritize; (2) the inability or desire to organize around those priorities; or (3) the lack of discipline to execute around them, to stay with your priorities and organization?

 

3. What changes can you make to be more effective at living Habit 3—Put first things first?