In case you've been having difficulty thinking up habits you'd like to develop through the application of ritual, here are 8 more potential habits to consider.
Those who have read Stephen R. Covey's books will recognize these. The first seven are from "7 Habits of Highly Effective People". The 8th is more of a new dimension that wraps up the 7 and shows them in a new light. The 8th habit is about finding your voice and helping others do the same.
The first three, says Covey, can be summed up as "Make and keep promises":
1. Be a responsible, proactive agent of change – at a place of Cause rather than Effect.
2. Begin with the end purpose or vision clearly in mind.
3. Put first things first; organize and execute around your most important priorities.
The second three can be summed up as "Involve people in the problem and work out the solution together":
4. Think win/win and think in terms of abundance and opportunity.
5. Seek first to understand (listening with consideration), then to be understood (speaking with courage).
6. Synergize – creatively cooperate to optimize strengths and make individual weaknesses irrelevant.
The 7th habit has to do with maintaining capacity in the four arenas of your being:
7. Sharpen the saw – renew the physical, social/emotional, mental, and spiritual.
And in "The 8th Habit", you can read all about applying these 7 habits in a new and deeper way:
8. Find your voice and inspire others to find theirs.
Need specifics? Here are some suggestions:
- Replace “I have to” with “I choose to” and "I can't" with "I choose not to" or "I can".
- Get clear each morning on the Big Vision – your mission, values, and goals.
- Spend 1 hour each week planning out the week.
- Identify the “big rock” (your most important priority) each night. Another way to say this is: "Start the day the evening before."
- Stay focused on my own work or business whenever I’m tempted to think about the competition.
- Imagine the speaker is holding a “talking stick” until she is sure I have fully listened and “heard” her.
- Do the dishes each night after dinner.
- De-pile or file stuff once a day.
- Call one friend a day.
- Write one hand-written thank you note each morning. If you're a speed reader, take in one book each day.
- Pray daily.
Okay, my kids just came in, telling me about the Big Race and asking if I would like to film it. Gotta go. :)
Have fun selecting your first habit to incorporate into your daily routine.
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