“To begin with the end in mind means to start with a clear understanding of your destination. It means to know where you’re going so that you better understand where you are now and so that the steps you take are always in the right direction.” — Stephen R. Covey
Habit 2 is based on the principle that all things are created twice. There is a mental or first creation, and a physical or second creation to all things. If you do not make a conscious effort to visualize who you are and what you want in life, then you empower other people and circumstances to shape you and your life by default.
Covey opens this chapter with one of the most powerful exercises in the book. He asks you to imagine attending a funeral – your own. Four speakers will address the gathering: one from your family, one friend, one colleague, and one from your community or church. He asks: What would you want each of these speakers to say about you and your life? What character would you want them to have seen in you? What contributions, what achievements would you want them to remember?
This exercise reveals your deepest values and what truly matters to you. The gap between what you would want said at your funeral and how you are actually living today is the space where Habit 2 does its work.
Everything is created twice: first in the mind, then in reality. A house is designed before it is built. A speech is prepared before it is delivered. A business plan precedes the business. If the first creation – the mental blueprint – is flawed, no amount of effort in the second creation can compensate. You might be climbing the ladder of success, only to discover it is leaning against the wrong wall.
Covey makes a vital distinction between leadership and management. Management is doing things right. Leadership is doing the right things. Management is efficiency in climbing the ladder of success. Leadership determines whether the ladder is leaning against the right wall.
Many people work very efficiently at tasks that do not matter. They manage their way through life without ever leading it. Habit 2 is about personal leadership – deciding what your “right wall” is before you start climbing.
Think of building a home. Before you pick up a hammer, you draw up blueprints. You plan every detail in your mind and on paper before the physical construction begins. If you make a mistake in the blueprint, you can erase and redesign at very low cost. Once the walls go up, every change is expensive.
The same is true of your life. Redesigning your future on paper – through a Personal Mission Statement – costs nothing but thought and reflection. Redesigning your life after years of building on a flawed blueprint is painful and costly.
The most effective way to begin with the end in mind is to develop a Personal Mission Statement. It focuses on what you want to be (character) and to do (contributions and achievements), and on the values or principles upon which being and doing are based.
A Personal Mission Statement is not written in an afternoon. It takes deep introspection, careful analysis, thoughtful expression, and often many rewrites. It may take weeks or even months. But it is worth the effort because it becomes your personal constitution – a fixed point by which you can navigate the storms of life.
To begin writing your own mission statement, reflect on these questions:
Write a first draft. Do not aim for perfection. Return to it regularly over the coming weeks and months, refining it as your understanding deepens.
Covey recommends organizing your mission statement around the key roles you play in life. Most people have several roles: individual, spouse or partner, parent, professional, friend, community member. By identifying your roles and defining 2-3 goals for each, you create a balanced, holistic framework for living with purpose.
Whatever is at the center of your life will be the source of your security, guidance, wisdom, and power. Some people are spouse-centered, family-centered, money-centered, work-centered, pleasure-centered, friend-centered, enemy-centered, or church-centered. Each of these centers has limitations and creates vulnerability.
Covey argues for a principle-centered life. When you center your life on correct principles, you create a solid foundation that does not shift with circumstances. Principles do not react to anything. They do not get mad and treat you differently. They are deep, fundamental truths with universal application. They are the territory itself, not the map.
Covey strongly advocates the use of visualization and affirmation as tools for personal leadership. A good affirmation has five ingredients:
“Almost all of the world-class athletes and other peak performers are visualizers. They see it; they feel it; they experience it before they actually do it.” — Stephen R. Covey
Consider the different centers that may be driving your life today – work, money, spouse, family, possessions, pleasure. How would a principle-centered life look different? What is one role in your life where you feel misaligned between your actions and your deepest values?