Habit 3 – Put First Things First
“It is the habit that draws upon the independent will to literally act upon those things which we, in Habit 2, determined are first things. The hard moments of Habit 3 come at us constantly. Will we carry forth our resolve? Will we execute? The deeper the resolve, the easier the execution – and vice versa.

For instance, perhaps the most powerful form of minority vocal control ever contemplated takes place when a few million taste buds are screaming “Yes, yes!” to something you shouldn’t eat, when at the same time, billions of unvocal cells in the rest of the body are crying out “no, no!

This is hard moment. When I fail this hard moment, I live with the consequences of not sleeping as deeply, of putting on unnecessary girth, of not having the same energy the next afternoon. I then also have the feeling that I have betrayed my integrity and stewardship to model what I teach and to champion other people’s growth around the same principles. True minority control!”- Stephen R. Covey

“There is also great value in recognizing the horrendous price we pay, both personally and socially, when we are weak in the hard moments. It’s like trading dust for diamonds. Shakespeare beautifully capture the effects of “giving in” to the pleasure of the moment rather than subordinating it to the real joy of contribution and growth:

What win I, if I gain the think I seek?
A dream, a breath, a froth of fleeting joy.
Who buys a minute’ mirth to wail a week?
Or seeks eternity to get a toy?
For one sweet grape, who will the vine destroy?
The Rape of Lucrece,
Lines 211-215”

Stephen R. Covey

Habit 2 – Begin With The End In Mind

“For many, the test or hard moment for Habit 2 comes when you are tired and lazy – just going with the flow.  Some new project or meeting or day begins and you simply do not do the mental, emotional, and spiritual work inside yourself to get a senses of how you would like it to end up.  This doesn’t mean you decide all the exact details of how you want the meeting or day to end up.  But rather, you do decide what you want the spirit of that day or meeting and the quality of the relationship to end up like.  You feel deeply committed to worthy end results and yet no action has been taken.” – Stephen R. Covey

Habit 1 – Be Proactive
“In the most fundamental sense, Habit 1 is the awareness of this space between stimulus and response – between what has happened to us and our response to it. Next to life itself, this self-awareness and our freedom to choose, to direct or lives, is our most precious gift and power.

The hard moment or test of Habit 1 is to be aware of and to choose to live your own life. It is seeing yourself as the programmer, not as a program being acted out. Regardless of the social and psychic scars you may carry inside, regardless of how others treat you, regardless of the disappointments and strains and setbacks which may blindside your finest intentions, you see the space between all that and your freedom and power to respond to it.” – Stephen R. Covey

“Between stimulus and response is a space. In this space lies our freedom to choose our response. In these choices lie our growth and our happiness.” – Unknown

“We must look at the lens through which we see the world, as well as at the world we see, and understand that the lens itself shapes how we interpret the world.”

• Stephen A. Covey

“The Character Ethic, which I believe to be the foundation of success, teaches that there are basic principles of effective living, and that people can only experience true success and enduring happiness as they learn and integrate these principles into their basic character.”
– Stephen A. Covey