Habit 1: Be Proactive Part 1

 Habit 1: Be Proactive Part 1

    The first habit of a highly effective people is being proactive. Going into the first section of the proactivity, Covey mentions The Social Mirror. Covey connects this term to the way we portray ourselves and how the way we see ourselves is affected by the way others portray us. He uses "projection" as an example, comparing our need to project weaknesses we spot in characters (ourselves or one another).  Following The Social Mirror, Covey explores different aspects of pro-activeness through the life story of Victor Frankl, who was a psychiatrist and a Jew. Covey shares Frankl's story about being a Jew imprisoned in Nazi camps, he was tortured and lost a majority of his family to the Nazis. However, one day he realized freedom is a man's choice, because although the Nazis seemed to control him, his life and, his environment, he still had a choice about remaining an observer. Later in life, Frankl learned the first habit of being an effective person, being proactive. Being proactive means taking responsibility for our own lives which is was Frankl accomplished.

    This was a very strong start, I automatically had an instant connection with the covered topic. Covey explains how we often take to heart how others perceive us, and that is something I have dealt in with the past. It's difficult to ignore how others view you which solely ties with the what Covey highlights, about the social mirror, it is just projections. For a long time I thought being proactive only meant being in command and taking control, it was not until now that I realized it also meant taking responsibility. Although sounding simple, this habit can be something very difficult to implement in daily life. Responsibility is a very heavy-weighing thought, it takes a lot for people to do what good for others and not only for themselves.

    After this first reading, I made a few changes to my daily routine. At the time being, I am a stay-at-home student. Due to my heavy class load (19 credits), I put a pause on my job during the beginning of the semester, so, I had a significant amount of time to implement new proactive activities in my routine. On Sunday, upon reading the first section of Proactivity, I reorganized my whole day. I woke up early at 7:30 AM, went to church, ate breakfast during breakfast hours, finished my homework by 4:00 PM, and had enough time to go on a walk with my mom. I felt accomplished and I enjoyed how much time I had left at night not having to procrastinate any homework. This went on for only two days until I started to fall back into bad habits, and everything not so effective. Although I am a stay-at-home student, I still need a good amount of my day helping my mom and grandma at home while balancing school work, so the proactiveness of those two days was truly refreshing. I'm not quite sure why I fell back into bad habits so quickly, hopefully, it'll be discussed in the next section of proactivity.