Ok, I cribed this from the October 2006 issue of Men’s Journal. Written by Steven Covey (of 7 Habits of Highly Effective People), possibly from his new book, Everyday Greatness. Some of it a bit cheesey, but some bits are quite good.
- Look Hard at Yourself
- Honestly appraise who you are. Living honestly is a matter of integrating conscience, talent, passion, and need. Spend a little more time in personal reflection, and ask, “What gives mt life a sense of purpose and meaning?” Summon the courage to dig deep, and to act on what you find.
- Write a Personal Mission Statement
- Make it your ideal job description, one that speaks to your passions. Writing is a neuro-muscular activity that bridges the conscious and sub-conscious mind. When people start committing what they want to paper, the words become a creative force in their own life.
- Do your Homework
- With sufficient research you can get any job you want. Study the industry. Study companies and their needs. Interview suppliers, customers, and employees about their problems. Then, in the interview, make it clear that you’re the solution, because the answer is in alignment with you own passion and talent.
- Overdeliver
- People come to accept mediocrity at work. Instead, overdeliver. Find a need and meet it, independent of what has been asked of you. The moment you overdeliver, people will begin to give you more opportunity and more responsibility, which in turn keeps you fulfilled and passionate.
- Keep Learning
- We’re living in an economy centered on knowledge workers. It’s estimated that 70 to 80 percent of the value added to goods and services comes from knowledge work. As few as 15 years ago it was only 20 to 30 percent. So keep your education going, even if you’re out of school. If people would just get back to studying and reading in a more systematic and disciplined way, they’d find whole new sources of excitement and value.
- Unplug your TV
- The average father in our country spends 20 hours a week in front of a television and 10 minutes a day one-on-one with his child. It’s just amazing how television has consumed us. I tell people to go off it for 30 or 60 days, then go back to it ready to discriminate.
- Start Small
- Make a promise and keep it. Get up earlier to study or exercise. Eat more fruit during the day. Little by little your sense of honor will become stronger than your moods. At that point, you no longer become a product of your environment, you become a creative force in your own life. That discovery will change your life totally.