#habit 7

[onemanwondering]

Sharpening the Sword - 2008

HABIT 7: SHARPEN THE SAW Sharpen the Saw means preserving and enhancing the greatest asset you have--you. THE 7 HABITS OF HIGHLY EFFECTIVE PEOPLE - Stephen Covey

[madrabbitsbadhabit]

what's the difference between soy and meat

ILL LET YOU TAKE A GUESS RABBIT

[7habits]

[7habits]

don't be a tool of the patriarchy

taking care of and bettering yourself is the last habit because they still expect you to put everyone else ahead of yourself.

[7habits]

sharpen the saw: because you're a tool

[jolly-pop]

7 Habits: the round-up

Having covered the four dimensions of renewal in Part I and Part II, Covey then moves on to look at 'synergy in renewal'.

He stresses the importance of making sure that all four dimensions are equally fed, exercised and updated in order to maintain balance and to avoid one weak area having a negative effect on the other areas.

Having said that, he also states that 'the things you do to sharpen the saw in any one dimension have a positive impact in other dimensions because they are so highly interrelated'.

In summary of the 7 Habits, I am simply going to use an exert from the book, as Covey provides a succinct overview of how all of the habits and dimensions of renewal fit together:

"The more proactive you are (Habit 1), the more effectively you can exercise personal leadership (Habit 2) and management (Habit 3) in your life. The more effectively you manage your life (Habit 3), the more ... renewing activities you can do (Habit 7). The more you seek first to understand (Habit 5), the more effectively you can go for Win/Win solutions (Habits 4 and 6). The more you improve in any of the habits that lead to independence (Habits 1, 2 and 3), the more effective you will be in independent situations (Habits 4, 5 and 6). And renewal (Habit 7) is the process of renewing all the habits.

As you renew your physical dimension, you reinforce your personal vision (Habit 1), the paradigm of your own self-awareness and free will, of proactivity, of knowing that you are free to act instead of being acted upon, to choose your personal intrinsic security account.

As you renew your spiritual dimension, you reinforce your personal leadership (Habit 2). You increase your ability to live out of your imagination and conscience instead of only your memory, to deeply understand your innermost ... values, to create within yourself a centre of correct principles, ... to rescript yourself to live your life in harmony with (your) principles and to draw upon your personal sources of strength...

As you renew your mental dimension, you reinforce your personal management (Habit 3). As you plan, you force your mind to recognise ... priority goals and activities to maximise use of your time and energy, and you organise and execute your activities around your priorities. As you become involved in continuing education, you increase your knowledge base and you increase your options."

Essentially, the whole point of the 7 Habits and is the key to success in every top derby player and team, is the movement along an upward spiral; a quest for continuous improvement, for ourselves and for those around us.

There it is.

I hope this series of posts has been of use (or at least of interest) to you. If you have missed any, or wish to look back over them with ease, I have created a link in the left hand column of my blog page, with a link index showing each of the individual posts.

[jolly-pop]

7 Habits - Habit 7: Sharpen the Saw (Part II)

So... this instalment took a little longer for me to get out to you than I had originally anticipated... major apologies for that, but I've been super busy with training and playing with my team and getting to the number 2 spot in Europe! (Sorry - gushing over).

  We left off 'sharpening the saw', having begun to look at the dimensions of renewal:

We looked at how they feed into looking after yourself from the core and how they perpetuate 'living' the seven habits. Specifically, we covered physical and spiritual renewal, which habits they were most closely linked to and how they affect our well being in every day life.

So now I will move on to the 'mental' and 'social/emotional' dimensions.

  The Mental Dimension:

Covey points out that for most of us, the majority of our mental development and study discipline occurs during formal education, where we have an externally imposed motivation and direction for learning. He also proposes that following this time, many of us cease to exercise our minds, refrain from exploring any new subjects and don't think analytically or write critically (although I would personally add the caveat: unless it is required through our work/careers). In this section, I do believe (and this is actually my first real criticism of Covey), that far too much focus is placed on condemning the amount of time generally spent  watching television, which Covey basically blames for the mind 'atrophy' - as he sees it - in the majority of grown adults. He then suggests that much more time should be spent reading to increase our education.

While I totally agree that expanding the reading that we do can enlighten and enrich our experiences in life (through expanding our understanding), I personally think that television is an extremely useful tool and maybe the focus should be more on directing the television that we choose to watch and being more aware of why we watch it (i.e. the purpose it serves - for relaxation / information / inspiration / escapism). 

In fact, when it comes to roller derby, actually watching copious amounts of bout footage has an undeniable effect on players’ understanding of the game, formation of team strategy and, believe it or not, on track performance.

What I do agree with Covey on, is that using wisdom in this activity (i.e. being conscious of what we choose to watch) is linked to the self management of Habit 3 - putting first things first.

Moving on then, to the focus of reading and writing. Covey basically says (and, yes, at this point I am once again back on side with him), that expanding your reading not only increases your knowledge, but increases the possibilities available to your mind. This means that when linking in with your chosen pursuits (e.g. roller derby), you are open to, and more likely to have ideas that can provide improvement. For instance, I have done a lot of reading around physical biology in relation to sports, training methods used in other sports and on how to control and direct my own attitudes. This in turn has helped me to devise relevant work outs for the league, contribute ideas to how warm ups, stretching, etc, are best structured and how to go about becoming an effective member of my team / league.

Likewise, with writing. By keeping a blog relating to roller derby and the research I have done outside of but in relation to it, I have made myself think critically and have attempted to increase my skills in conveying myself well in order to be of assistance to others.

Essentially, mental renewal is about exercising your mind so that you can best use it to your advantage and to ensure that your mind continues to expand and be open to potentially endless possibilities!

Covey suggests that you spend an hour every single day, doing something that aids your mental renewal. This can work for many people, but for me, with such a hectic and changeable schedule, I find that I personally like to take a full day every now and again where everything I do is derby.

I will start by watching high level footage and try to visualise myself doing the same moves as Juke Boxx or Stephanie Mainey. I’ll eat a good lunch, thinking about energy release from the food I choose and then I will go to training and try to live those visualisations on the track. I switch everything but derby off. I immerse myself in it to continually bring me back to the place that reminds me how much I want it and love it, and want others to love it as much as I do. I will then come home and blog about my experiences or do a bit of fitness / derby related research and share that instead.

You just have to find a way of scheduling it in that works for you.

  The Social / Emotional Dimension:

You’ll be glad to know, that unlike the other dimensions of renewal, this one does not require time to be set aside for ‘growth’ or ‘practice’, but it does need to be exercised. However, because this dimension is directly related to our relationships, this can be done on a day to day basis in our interactions with others.

Covey states that where the other 3 dimensions are closely linked to habits 1, 2 and 3, this dimension is linked to habits 4, 5 and 6.

It is about using those habits to create a personal emotional security which means you feel comfortable enough to question and willing to understand others.

In roller derby I see this most often when certain people don’t quite get the point of a drill, or have seen something during scrimmage that they think might be useful to bring to the attention of their team mates. Some people feel happy enough to voice their concerns, confusion or ideas, but there are many that won’t as they may feel that their question is stupid or what they spotted on track has already been considered by the coaches.

Leading on from this then, the social / emotional dimension is also about contributing to creating an environment and culture where people can become involved in this kind of interaction.

In relation to this, Covey talks about ‘scripting’ those around us. Or put another way, reflecting our impressions and thoughts onto them in a way that empowers them. For instance, if someone seems to feel that they have little value to contribute, treat them as though they have responsibility, affirm the strong points that you observe about them. Compliment people (but only if sincere) and celebrate their achievements to reaffirm their abilities.

I like to think I incorporate this into my league. Everyone knows that I am one of the worst people for not remembering names. But I am excellent with faces and during scrimmage or drills, if I notice something that impresses me, or that someone has made a particular improvement, I try to make a point of telling them that. Similarly, if we are having a group discussion but someone isn’t confident enough to assert their point (like if a coach hasn’t seen that they’ve tried to say something) then I might approach them later on and ask what they were going to say.

I am aware that an individual may not even care what I think personally, but I hope that the mere fact that they have received some affirmation goes towards strengthening their progress and confidence.

Think about a time when someone voiced a positive observation about you, or showed that they valued your opinion; how did that make you feel? How did it make you want to act?

When it has happened to me in the past it has boosted my confidence, and at times has been the push I needed when I have been convinced that my skills have become stagnated. And that is what I try to achieve when I do the above.

  So, they are the 4 dimensions of renewal. I'll leave you to think about those for a few days and get back to you with my final thoughts on Habit 7 shortly. 

Here's to successful renewal!

[mrpuritan]

The habit of being easily persuaded by mass media

The habit of doing it right instead of doing it over