Reflections on Stephen Covey

Stephen Covey, an incredible influence on many of us, passed away earlier this week. His teachings help many of us manage our busy lives. He taught us to prioritize, focus, engage and balance. He encouraged us to think about our upcoming day, what needs to be done, what can wait or is unnecessary and also how to fit in personal gratification. This could be reading a good book or spending an hour at the park with your children, whatever is important to you. Many feel, myself included, that it is this balance that is crucial to how effective we are as individuals.

This week I would like to include a blog post written by Stephen Covey in 2009
from http://www.stephencovey.com

Find Success by Doing the Things You Dislike
“As I think of the struggles many people go through, I am reminded of a powerful quote by Albert E. N. Gray:
The successful person has the habit of doing things failures don’t like to do. They don’t like doing them either necessarily. But their disliking is subordinated to the strength of their purpose.
If you are someone who has to make important changes in your life, you may want to ponder on this idea. What are the things you know you have to do but are avoiding? If you were to discipline yourself and create a plan for doing those things, would you find positive, even breakthrough rewards?
In my case, I know when I’m trying to avoid doing something, I eventually see that I’ve paid an even higher price by avoidance. For example, when I’ve neglect my health by not eating right, exercising, or getting enough sleep because I find it hard to stick to a disciplined regiment, I have found myself feeling sluggish and not doing my best work. When I finally subordinate my dislikes to the strength of my purpose, things turn around.
Identify something you are avoiding and make a promise that you will do it. Make a promise and keep it. Subordinate the things you dislike doing to your greater purpose. The more you do this, the more strength you will build—and the more success you will find.”

Laura Winters