Master-Minds Daily

This kind of synergy occurs when we interact with other people but it rests upon us building a strong “internal base.” We build this “internal base” by learning and using habits 1-3 that apply to our own personal development (being proactive, beginning with the end in mind and putting first things first). Value the difference This is the toughest part of habit #6. Covey wants us to  value  other people’s  opposing  opinions. He mentions early in the book that we all have different frames of reference. To obtain synergy in our endeavours we need to seek out frames of reference that  differ  from ours and embrace them. The problem with this is it means well and truly parking your ego. That means having true control over your emotions. You are going to be in situations where you are really sure you have the correct answer but other people say you don’t. Can you embrace their point of view? Can you keep your emotions under control to...

Listening levels Many people do not listen well. They do not listen to understand. They are listening and preparing their response for when it’s their turn to speak. They are either speaking, or preparing to speak, but  not  listening. Typically we are listening at one of four levels: Ignoring : We’re not listening at all. Pretending : We say “uh-huh, right” but we’re not really tuned in. Selective listening : We hear  part  of what the person says but the rest of the time we’re distracted (maybe looking at our smartphone) or listening to the voice in our head (we all have one). Attentive listening : We’re actively listening, paying attention but not taking our listening to the ultimate level…empathetic listening. Uh-huh, what’s this empathetic listening then? Covey defines empathetic listening as listening with the  intent to understand , to really understand. In order to really understand he says you need to get inside another person’s  fr...

The Time Management Matrix is also known as the Eisenhower Matrix. It was created by Dwight D. Eisenhower, the 34th president of the United States, and was later popularized by Stephen Covey in his book,  The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People . Using The Time Management Matrix, our daily activities can be broken down into 4 Quadrants, sorted by urgency and importance: 4 Quadrants of the Time Management Matrix along with examples (Image ©  Personal Excellence ) Quadrant 1: Quadrant of Necessity You will find your crises or emergencies here. Quadrant 1 screams for our attention because of its urgent and consequential nature. However, many people fall into the trap of getting caught up in Q1. By spending all our time here, we become  consumed with firefighting every day  instead of crisis prevention. Side effects include stress, burnout, constant firefighting, and resolving problems instead of preventing them in the first place. We often s...