First Things First

by Stephen R. Covey

We need to constantly be asking ourselves, “What is needed out there, and what is my unique strength, my gift?”

What is “best” for you? What keeps you from giving those “best” things the time and energy you want to give them? Are too many “good” things getting in the way? For many people, they are. And the result is the unsettling feeling that they’re not putting first things first in their lives.

The clock represents our commitments, appointments, schedules, goals, activities—what we do with, and how we manage our time. The compass represents our vision, values, principles, mission, conscience, direction—what we feel is important and how we lead our lives.

We feel so guilty over what we’re not doing, we can’t enjoy what we do.

The essence of kairos time is how much value you get out of it rather than how much chronos time you put into it.

Urgency addiction is a self-destructive behavior that temporarily fills the void created by unmet needs.

But reading addictive light novels, habitually watching “mindless” television shows, or gossiping around the water fountain at the office would qualify as Quadrant IV time wasters.

As we encounter situations for which a practice has not been prescribed, we often feel lost and incompetent.

But in the long run, the Law of the Farm governs in all arenas of life. How many of us wish now we hadn’t crammed in school? We got the degree, but we didn’t get the education. We eventually find out there’s a difference between succeeding in the social system of school and succeeding in the development of the mind—the ability to think analytically, creatively, at deep levels of abstraction, the ability to communicate orally and in writing, to cross borders, to rise above outmoded practices and solve problems in newer, better ways.

But the wisdom literature of thousands of years of history repeatedly validates the reality that the greatest fulfillment in improving ourselves comes in our empowerment to more effectively reach out and help others.

“Between stimulus and response, there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom. ”

The endowments that reside in this space—self-awareness, conscience, creative imagination, and independent will—create our ultimate human freedom: the power to choose, to respond, to change. They create the compass that empowers us to align our lives with true north.

Imagination without independent will can create an idealistic dreamer; imagination without conscience can create a Hitler.

The best way to predict your future is to create it. You can use the same power of creative imagination that enables you to see a goal before you accomplish it or plan a meeting to create much of the quality of your own reality before you live it.