Mission Completion

I apologize for not posting lately. Been occupied with work and other matters. But that is not an excuse. This blog is also a 'Big rock' to me, hence I need to discipline myself to update it regularly.

Yeehaw!! Finally I have completed my sharing session with my colleagues on all 7 Habits. Last Wednesday was our last session and we had a small party to celebrate. They treat me lunch (Thanks so much guys!) and I am so glad I managed to finish it and hopefully some (if not all) would be inspired to live the habits.

Would I do it again? Yes, I would. Would I do it differently? Not too sure, but there were some sessions where I think I could improve.

To all, wish you all the best in trying to live the habits. Remember, old habits will pull you down like gravity. The focus is on the journey, not the destination.

Habit 3: Put 1st Things 1st

YES! I am back! I just finished this week's sharing session with my team, Habit 3: Put first things first. And I personally feel I did great; I delivered the points Dr.Covey conveyed in his audio CD, books & training - all in an hour!

What makes the difference this time, I think it's the fuel - the audience. I failed them, during the last session (Habit 2) when my mind was distracted by personal matters. I had to cancel last week's session since I wasn't ready and was afraid of another dissapoitnment. But I managed to get up and start walking again. I was surprised when only 2 people didn't make it this time; the room was still full of eager learners, who apparently still have faith in my ability. I am deeply honoured by their faith in me, and still giving me the oppurtunity to share with them what I've learned from Dr.Covey.

Today, we shared the following:

Day 3:
• See-Do-Get
• Big Rocks
• Compass vs. Clock
• Time Management Matrix
• “How to keep little things, little?”
• How To Plan the Week
• Challenge of the week

It's hard to keep going, when old habits & excuses pull you like gravity. It's easier for me to give up and call it quit, but I am not a quitter. And apparently neither do my friends. Right after the session, I watched a very inspiring video call 212 degree (http://www.212movie.com). I am even more confident now that I cannot stop since I have 12 people counting on me to share the wisdom of Dr.Covey's teaching.

I am so glad to discover that the fuel that keep me going, are not praises, acknowledgement or monetary gain. But seeing the faith & trust, my fellow friends had in me ignite the fire within, and I don't want it to fade away.

It is one of the most beautiful compensations in life...we can never help another, without helping ourselves.

Group 1, Day 3, Habit 2

I must say I am not elated after finishing my Habit 2: Begin with End in Mind with my group this week. I was not myself, my mind was distracted. The flow wasn't smooth, I wasn't prepared.

I guess the main reason is because I am lost, myself. How can a blind leading the blind? But there's no excuse for a shaddy performance. I knew I could do better, but I let stimulus gets the best of me.

I must quickly buck up, since I have lots of friends depends on me. More so, I don't want them to underestimate the learning value of what Dr.Covey had so perfectly achieved, by my below average teaching. Will use this weekend to find what's wrong and fix it!

Team,

I am sorry, will do better next time.

Group 1, Day 2, Habit 1

The return rate of the participation of my sharing session is not that bad, only 1 drop-out from the Day1 session. I am thankful for these 7 colleagues of mine who sacrificed their lunch-hour to hear my humble public speaking skill.

We started the session with a sharing of experience. One friend shared a difficult time he's having with an inconsiderate colleague he called 'monster'. I tried practice emphatic listening, but I think I failed miserably! We exchanged stories about how should one handle people who don't seem to be interested to seek win-win. It's either their way, or the highway kinda guy. Since no solution from the discussion, I suggested to go thru the lesson from Habit 1 to see if we can figure out a way to address such situation proactively.

Below are what we've covered today:

Habit 1: Be Proactive

• Common human challenge we can address with Habit 1
• See-Do-Get
• Forest Gump vs. Lt. Dan Taylor
• Victor E. Frankl
• “How to be proactive?”
- Choose proactive response
- Use proactive language
- Expand your Circle of Influence
- Becoming the transition person
• Review See-Do-Get
• Challenge of the week (from the 7 Habit book)

During my preparation for the sharing session, there's only one image that kept up creeping up in my head when I read about being proactive, the habit of choice - Forest Gump. He may have an IQ of 75, but he sure is a lot wiser about life compared to Lt. Dan Taylor. He seems to be able to separate himself (more subconsciously than consciously, I guess) from his genetic make-up, his surroundings, his circumstances. Lt.Dan was bitter and sour and blame it on God for not killing him in Vietnam, yet too coward to end his own life. In a weird way, Lt.Dan learns to pick up and find himself back with the help of a 'stupid' guy like Forest. I guess, stupid is stupid does. I couldn't help to relate the two main characters in the movie to illustrate the opposite of proactiveness & reactiveness. I sure hope my fellow friends could grasp my intention.

I now realized how much I idolize Forest's mum. I wish I can manage raise such challenging child into a well-grown, fine adult like Forest. She truly is a lot of woman.

Group 1, Day 1

Today is the day that I start my sharing session with my closest colleagues. Was very apprehensive at first, not knowing what to expect.

The turn out was beyond my expectation; 5 people (out of 10 who accepted the invitation). I think I did okay, could improve on both the delivery & content. But I did learn more and convinced myself even more about the effectiveness of the teaching of 7 Habits. Below are the items that I shared during the 1.5 hour meeting:

Day 1:
“What is a habit, anyway?”
“Why do I need to change my habit?”
- Common human challenges
- Our comfort zone
- Cultural Tendencies vs. Principles
- How it all started
- Outward success vs. Inward success
- Primary vs. Secondary greatness
- P/PC Balance
“So, what is 7 Habits all about?”
- Maturity Continuum
- The power of paradigm

The team decided to meet up on weekly basis to go thru each habit one by one. We will start each sharing with a 20 min sharing session of struggle & success stories of trying the principles. Then I will spend the next 30 minutes sharing the following habit. We'll close the session with a new challange for the new habit we're learning.

To be completely honest, I am not too sure how this sharing session will sustain. In the end, if I can only catch one person and help him/her to internalize any of the 7 Habits, then I've achieved my goal. Since while preparing all these, I have truly gain a lot more insight and motivation to really live by the principles and realize my Mission Statement. In the end, I merely help myself more when I help others.

To the participants, THANK YOU from the bottom of my heart.

How It All Started

It's very hard to stay focus on changing old habits. I'm trying hard to find ways to keep on track. I really feel like this tree, trying to strive out of the big rock (old habits). Mother Theresa once said "To keep the lamp burning, we have to keep putting oil in it." I guess I need to find oil.

I decided to start sharing these stuffs with someone who have interest to change as well. Tried it with my husband, but as usual I failed to catch his interest or attention. Trying to shift my paradigm (by stop blaming him), I guess I should blame it on my approach. But I don't know what approach would be effective. To be safe I better stick to my approach, but with different people. Maybe I'll start with my colleagues. I have sent out an invitation to my closest 10 colleagues for a lunch get-together next week to share what I've learned at 7 Habits. So far all of them accepted, let's see next week how many would actually turn up, and how many would actually value the things I'm about to share.

If that doesn't work either, I guess I better change oil again...