As I'm reading through The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, this second habit really struck a chord with me and led me to want to get these few thoughts written down. Here I am.
Without giving away too much (I'm really enjoying this book so far), this habit brings up a thought nearly all of us have heard—beginning with the end in mind. I've put this into practice in my own life over the past couple of years. I've started a project or a task with the end in mind. I've worked backward from where I thought the project would be complete to where I thought it needed to start. It's a simple idea that, once exposed, can be greatly beneficial to your work. But this book went further.
Some of the best ideas, some of those aha moments, are often reminders. They're often reminders of what I've heard in the past, have shuffled away in my memory, and eventually moved on from. The second habit starts with the end in mind. Not the end of a task, or of a project, but the end of a life. The chapter opens with you walking into a funeral, maybe a church, with an open casket far in front of you. As you're walking past others you begin to approach the open casket. When you see inside you realize that you see yourself. This funeral is your own, the reader, and the people are here for you.
Stephen suggests that the reader take some time to write down what we'd like to be said about us at our funeral. By doing this, we remember what really matters to us.
Two things I wrote:
I’d like them to say I made a difference in their lives — because I actually did.
I’d like to be remembered in their actions daily. That is, the people in my life live better, are happier, etc. I don’t want to be remembered in a graveside visit every few years. I want to be remembered not at the forefront of someone’s mind necessarily, but in their enjoyment of this short life.
Rounding out these thoughts
Stephen follows this beginning of the chapter holding on to that "big picture" that you just laid out for yourself. He points out how different someone's life is when they're aware of what is deeply important to them.
This has nothing to do with the cryptocurrency space, which many of you reading may be from, and that's good. I think starting with the ultimate end in mind makes us more deeply effective, which benefits any space we're in. I've recently written about working out—and sticking with it. I've worked out consistently for 6 days a week over the past 10 weeks. The end in mind I started with was a desire to be able to easily pick up my wife for years to come. My skinny boy muscles won't make that easy if I'm not exercising physically. Exercise has helped me continue to learn more about the first habit mentioned in this book, being proactive.
This book is heating up at this point for me and I'm really beginning to enjoy it. These habits have been very applicable. Again, it's The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey.