Sharpen the Saw to me means, having a balance in all areas of your life.” To be effective, we must devote the time to renewing ourselves physically, spiritually, mentally, and socially. Continuous renewal allows us to synergistically increase our ability to practice each habit.” I have been guilty of not being a well-balanced person. Physical I have worked out at least four times a week for the last fifteen year. I have realized that when I don’t get the proper rest for my body I actually cause it more harm than good. Habit 7 is one that I have been trying to work on for the last few years. I am not balanced in many area in my life and that can causes problems. Social/Emotional I feel I have many things that I can improve on. Spiritual/Service has been an area in my life that I would like to devote more time to. Mental: is one I am working on this week, I started reading again for enjoyment and to keep me mentally sharp. I use to read a lot when I was younger but as I got older it has been hard to find the time. I want to teach habit 7 to my family this week. I want us to grow as a family and have a well-balance life. I am hoping I can sharpen the saw by trying to find the right balance for all four of these aspects of my life.
Synergy is working together and knowing “two heads are better than one”. I have always been a team player in everything I do, I love working with someone who has passion in the task at hand. When we communicate with each other in an honest way you can create synergy amongst people and come up with new and innovative ideas. Opening ourselves to other ideas and points of views of others helps us to value other people’s strengths and learn from them. Covey states, “When people begin to interact together genuinely, and they're open to each other's influence, they begin to gain new insight. The capability of inventing new approaches is increased exponentially because of differences.” I have made it my goal this week to try and create synergy with my coworkers. There are several projects we have in our department and synergy amongst us will lead to advancements in the right direction. When every individual works and communicates with the foundation of trust, respect and sympathy, everyone contribution is appreciated. This is something I’m going to share with my coworkers this week. Sometimes we come together for meetings and lack that synergy, I will remind my coworkers about habit 6 and remind everyone about the effectiveness of working together as a group.
Habit 5
SEEK FIRST TO UNDERSTAND, THEN TO BE UNDERSTOOD I really enjoyed reading and learning about habit 5. I am positive that this habit will help me and many other people improve our relationships with colleagues, friends and family. I don’t know why it is so difficult just to hear someone out without any perceptions. It’s almost like we have to give people we talk to our personal insight on everything, rather than just giving them an ear. Covey states “most people listen with the intent to reply, not to understand. You listen to yourself as you prepare in your mind what you are going to say, the questions you are going to ask, etc. You filter everything you hear through your life experiences, your frame of reference.” This is such an insight for me because I am always thinking of a response rather than hearing a person out. I do it with my family, students, parents and just about everyone I talk to. This week I will try and not judge any conversations beforehand, I will listen to what is been said and that’s it. My response will come when the conversation leans towards me. I will share this with my family this week and introduce them to habit 5, I feel this is a great lesson to teach my kids. THE 7 HABITS OF HIGHLY EFFECTIVE PEOPLE
HABIT 4: THINK WIN-WIN Win- Win I have played high level sports all my life and have grown up with Win at all cost as my anthem in life. To me it was very common having parents and coaches on your back trying to get the best out of you in game winning situations. This has been a positive and a negative point in my life. A positive factor is you learn how to work together as a team, for a common goal with a host of others. Players, coaches, managers and family members imparts to you how to build a collective team synergy and successfully find ways to win. A negative part is if you don’t win in high level sports activity’s you feel just as heartbroken for wining second place as you would feel placing last. There is no balance when you live a life of Win at all cost because in life you don’t always win. This attitude of Win at all cost has lead me to be a big jerk when I was younger and all the way into my late twenty’s. I was the guy you hated to see Win, this is an attitude I have changed over the years, but you don’t really know how annoying you are until you change and you start noticing others with those bad habits. Who cares if you’re the best at checkers, running, golf or other futile things in life? Covey explains “many people think in terms of either/or: either you're nice or you're tough. Win-win requires that you be both. It is a balancing act between courage and consideration. To go for win-win, you not only have to be empathic, but you also have to be confident”. I teach wrestling at our high school and this is something I have taught and will continue to teach. There has to be a balance in wining and “losing”. You only lose if you don’t learn and you never win if you don’t learn. Change your perspective about win at all cost to Win-Win can help you be a better leader, people can be successful and everyone is excited because of the balance you have created. HABIT 3: PUT FIRST THINGS FIRST
9/17/2015 The first two habits that I have learned in the last two week are being proactive and starting with the end goal in mind. This week one of my goals will be concentrating on habit 3, putting first things first. I have had no problem implementing the first two habits in my life, because I do them inherently. I feel Habit 3 is going to pose more of a challenge. I have always met deadlines when it comes to work and school, but it has caused some stressful moments for myself and my family. If I did not have a deadline I probably would never get things done. When it comes to completing my homework, I can see the worst in me come out when putting things first. I know my school work is important and I take it very seriously, but for some reason I could never complete an assignment early. What is strange, I’ll read the weekly assignments and watch the screencasts when they come out, but when it comes to writing my body and mind will not cooperate. I don’t know what quadrant I would be in, that Steven Covey explains, because I feel I fall into all of them depending on the matter at hand. I see the need to change and work on habit 3, because when I don’t prioritize my tasks. I end up putting other things in front of my family. One of the biggest spheres of influence I have is my family. When my family is not in the right order of importance it throws me off balance in other aspects of my life. My sphere of influence can be hindered, at work, by the mood I am in. My mood is directly correlated with what standing I have with my family at home. Therefore, the two aspects of time management that I need to work on is to get homework and work done in a timely manner. This will help with prioritizing and putting my family first. There has been two instances at work where my coworkers and students have asked why I was in a bad mood. This made me feel like such bad person. My mood was being noticed by others around me. This all came from my home life, which was being mismanage by schoolwork and work. I will try and convey to my students this week the importance of prioritization. This is one habit I know that students and teacher alike have difficulty with. My students have three weeks to finish each class they take online, this will be a great Segway to introduce this habit to them. I will also be working to better prioritize my work and homework this week. My goal this week will be to get all my homework completed by Sunday. HABIT 2: BEGIN WITH THE END IN MIND
When I began to read about habit 2 I thought about the phrase my Dad always says. “You will never see what you don’t see”. I’m sure it’s a saying many have heard before but I always felt this to be my moto in life. I have never been the smartest in class or the best on the field but one thing is for sure, I will chase after my dreams until they are reality. There have been many goals in my life that I have accomplished and many that I am still trying to accomplish. When I was growing up my uncle told me to forget about school you don’t have what it takes, find a profession that can make you some decent money. I nodded and said your right, but in my mind’s eye I could see myself going to college and being a teacher or something to do with education. You see I come from a family of field workers and most have never finished high school let alone went on to college. I ended up listening to my uncle’s advice and found a good profession, I became a cement worker. I got my state license and thought this is it, I got a good profession now I can afford to send myself to collage. “If you don't make a conscious effort to visualize who you are and what you want in life, then you empower other people and circumstances to shape you and your life by default”. I use habit 2 on a daily basis, I am always visualizing (day dreaming) on the goals I want to accomplishes and where these goals are going to take me and my family. If it wasn’t for creating a reality in my mind I would be stuck in a job I hate with a life I didn’t want. I am a firm believer of begin with the end in mind. One of the behaviors I will change is being more proactive with my goals and visualization. Sometimes we forget we have to move and put in hard work to accomplish our goals. They just don’t happen because we think happy thoughts on a life we want. Be proactive coupled with a strong belief in your dreams. It’s funny how I have always believed habit 2 but never expressed it to my students. That is a lesson I need to start working on. All students day dream and want a life unique to their imagination, but I don’t think they know how to utilize those dreams and turn them into goals that can be attained. I am going to start recommending and teaching little pieces of this book when I have the opportunity. Habit 2 is a must for any high school student to learn. References Covey, S. (2008). The Leader in Me (2nd Edition ed.). New York, New York: Simon & Schuster Paperbacks. THE 7 HABITS OF HIGHLY EFFECTIVE PEOPLE
HABIT 1: BE PROACTIVE Nothing happens by accident whether you believe it or not. We are the main character in our life’s story. If you don’t like what’s happening in your story you need to change the outcome. “Be Proactive” don’t let your situation define you, be the “hero in your life story”. We can decide to live in our current situation or make choices to provide better options. The only one that has the right to our success in life and failures is us. Being proactive is taking responsibility for the choices and outcome of our life. We can’t keep pawning off our circumstance on our upbringing, parents and life’s tragedies. It seems easy to say especially if you have had all the finer things in life, but really how long are we going to let it hold us down. Proactive people realize they can’t control every situation that happens in life, but they can move forward and focus their time and energy on what’s going to keep them successful in life. I can’t change who my parents are or how I was raised, but I can use my experiences as a stepping stone for goals in my life. Being proactive is stepping up to the plate knowing you might hit one out or you may go down swinging. No matter what happens you played the game and most likely will have another swing at things. I have been teaching Agriculture for the last seven years and I have loved it. When you teach a subject that not too many are familiar with no one really gets in your business. I also have great students, if you are taking an Ag class at my school it’s because you really want to be there. At the end of last year I told my principle I was going to enroll in a Master program in educational technology. In the middle of summer he called me and asked if I would like to teach in the online program. I would be working from home and communicating with students mostly through email and phone calls. I said yes not really knowing what I was getting into. By working in an online setting I know I have to change a few behaviors. One behavior that I’m going to implement is being more proactive with my students. In the classroom setting everything unfolds in front of you daily. In an online setting you might not have contact with students for a few days. This means I have to forecast my student’s pitfalls and try to address them before they happen. Addressing foreseeable failures for my students will assistance them in their educational process. I also feel my students need to be proactive in an online setting. I will be teaching this habit to them as well. Being proactive in an online setting is a must, especially for high school students. I will convey to my students the importance of being proactive, if their internet or computer is down they need a way address the problem. This could be going to a local Starbucks to use the Wi-Fi or going to the library to use a computer. I am looking forward in implementing this habit into my life and teaching the importance of it to my students as well. References Covey, S. (2008). The Leader in Me (2nd Edition ed.). New York, New York: Simon & Schuster Paperbacks. |
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