Habit 2: Begin With The End In Mind Part 1

   

                                                                (Not my image)


    The phrase "begin with the end in mind" has always reminded me of people who choose to know the ending first before beginning a story. A few years back I had a friend tell me she had already known the ending of a book we were reading together because she had read the last page first before we even began the book. She said it helped her get interested in the story, and I had thought, ridiculous, she had practically spoiled it for herself. I told her how odd she had been for doing so, but as I went on my next read,  I had secretly done the same thing. It was shockingly effective, I had the end in mind the whole time and couldn't stop reading from the anticipation of knowing how they ended up with the ending of the story. 

    Covey analyzes "begin with the end in mind" a little more differently, with talking about the ending of life. I envisioned myself at my funeral, as Covey commands. I imagine who's there, who's doing a speech, and what exactly they are talking about. I had an extremely difficult time trying to imagine what they could talk about to honor my life, and I think that is precisely the message Covey is trying to spread. In the reading, Covey highlights the importance of having the end in mind as guidance to keep us in the right direction. Reflecting back on my own life I notice I never had a clear end in mind. From middle school to high school my main goal was to graduate at the top of my class, and I did. I graduated as a valedictorian with a high rank in my graduating class, but after graduation, I noticed I hit a major wall. Realistically all of my handwork from high school doesn't matter so much in the grand scheme of life. 

    Recently, I have trying to practice habit 1 of being a proactive person. Last week, I set my goal to practice owning up to my own faults, and it's been pretty awesome. My motivation increased and I was finishing assignments earlier than planned. Nevertheless, procrastination did catch up with me, and like before I had a difficult time realizing it was my own fault. I had pushed back my assignment to the last minute and got extremely frustrated towards the end. Now having learned about habit 2 I want to maintain an organized time management by setting time goals each week. I have a planner that I use every day for school, but it typically only holds final due dates. Taking inspiration from  "The carpenter’s rule is “measure twice, cut once,” (p. 147), I want to make due dates every day for myself, with finishing assignments before due dates in mind.

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