This is the summary of Habit 2, Begin with the End in Mind, from Stephen Covey’s renowned bestseller, 7 Habits of Highly Effective People

The book, ‘Habit 2” begins with the end in mind, we see Stephen Covey starting the chapter by inviting us to visualize attending our own funeral and understand what we want our family, friends, and colleagues to say about us. This process encourages you to envision the legacy or impact you want to leave behind, helping you mentally picture your desired future. However, after visualizing this, you might feel the need for a clear understanding of why this exercise is important and what will happen if we don’t. The purpose of this exercise is to help you focus on the end result you want to achieve in life, ensuring your actions and decisions are aligned with your ultimate goals. According to Covey, this mental creation is followed by the ‘second creation,’ which is the physical creation where you take concrete steps to bring your envisioned goals into reality.

Summary of Habit 2 of 7 Habits: Personal Mission Statement

In Habit 2, Covey describes the importance of keeping end results in mind before starting a day, task, or project. According to him, all things are created twice – the mental creation, or first creation, and the physical condition. The mental creation acts as a blueprint, much like an architect’s plan for a building, providing a clear model or plan for what you want to achieve before taking physical action. If you don’t work on visualizing who you are and what you want in your life, the physical or second creation will be left at the disposal of others to provide you with directions. You will depend on others regarding what to do next and how to do it.

He also discusses how creating a mission statement makes you the leader of your own life, helping you to concentrate on what you want to do and ensuring you are the sole decision-maker of your life.

Understanding what the Habit-2 is About: Begin with the End

Wayne W. Dyer is often quoted for this:

Begin with the end in mind. Start with the end outcome and work backward to make your dream possible

Stephen Covey himself has explained this need as a process to validate if the steps taken by us are in the right direction and as per our ultimate objective.

There is no point in driving a fast car if you are heading in the wrong direction, much like climbing a ladder only to find it is leaning against the wrong wall.

Finding Your Life Purpose in Your Own Life

However, this habit, plan with the end in mind, also creates a need to draft a vision and mission for oneself, establishing a personal vision habit. To draft a vision for oneself/family/team, it is essential to develop a personal constitution that outlines your values, goals, and principles as we all work hard for objectives like promotions, higher income, and more recognition but never understand if these things really matter. To draft a vision for oneself/family/team check out these interesting takes on how to start within a flash.

How to Know Your Life Purpose in 5 Minutes

It is one of the most-watched TEDx videos. A 10-minute video by Adam Leipzig, CEO of Entertainment Media Partners, an American film and theatre producer, film executive, and author. He has explained his idea in the following 5 questions.

  • Who are you?

  • What do you do? – What are you best at?

  • Who do you do it for? – Ex. family, parents, friends, wife, husband, etc.

  • What do those people want or need? – Why do people come to you for that thing you do?

  • What do those people get out of it?

Here’s the key takeaway from this TED Talk- ‘identify what the greater purpose is of what you love to do’. When you can do that, not only will it make your work/hobby sound more interesting to other people, but you may just start to walk into work with more energy and purpose.

How to Discover Your Life Purpose in About 20 Minutes

This is one of the most-read articles by people who are looking to know what they should achieve in their life and how to figure it out. It is written by Steve Pavlina, an American self-help author, motivational speaker, and entrepreneur.

Creating a Personal Mission Statement

Creating a personal mission statement is a crucial step in developing your personal vision and achieving your goals. A personal mission statement is a written document that outlines your values, principles, and goals, and serves as a guide for your decisions and behaviors. It is a conscious effort to define your personal, moral, and ethical guidelines for living, and helps you stay focused and motivated on your path to success.

To create a personal mission statement, start by reflecting on your values, principles, and goals. Ask yourself questions like: What is most important to me in life? What do I stand for? What do I want to achieve? What kind of person do I want to be? Write down your answers to these questions and use them to craft a statement that is meaningful and relevant to your life.

A personal mission statement should be specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound (SMART). It should also be concise and easy to remember, so that you can refer to it often and stay on track. For example, a personal mission statement might read: “My mission is to live a life of purpose and integrity, to pursue my passions with dedication and perseverance, and to make a positive impact on the world around me.”

The Power of a Clear Vision

Having a clear vision is essential for achieving success and living a fulfilling life. A clear vision gives you direction and purpose, and helps you stay focused and motivated on your path to success. It also helps you make decisions and take actions that align with your goals and values, and enables you to overcome obstacles and challenges that stand in your way.

A clear vision is like a roadmap that guides you to your destination. It helps you navigate through life’s challenges and stay on track, even when the road ahead is uncertain. With a clear vision, you can overcome obstacles and achieve your goals, even when others may doubt or discourage you.

How to Apply Habit 2

Applying Habit 2—Begin with the End in Mind—means making a conscious effort to design your life, career, and daily actions around your ultimate goals and core values. Here’s how you can put this powerful habit into practice:

  1. Define Your Desired Destination: Start by visualizing your ideal future. Ask yourself what success looks like in your own life, both personally and professionally. Picture the end result you want to achieve, whether it’s in your career, relationships, or personal growth.

  2. Create Your Personal Mission Statement: Take time to reflect on your core values, principles, and long term vision. Write a personal mission statement in the present tense, as if you are already living it. This statement will serve as your personal constitution—a guiding blueprint for your decisions and actions.

  3. Set Long Term Goals: Break down your vision into specific, actionable long term goals. These should align with your mission statement and provide a clear understanding of what you want to accomplish. Use your right brain to imagine possibilities, then use your left brain to plan and organize your steps.

  4. Align Daily Decisions with Your Vision: Each day, review your mission statement and goals. Make daily decisions that move you closer to your desired destination. This proactive approach ensures you’re always working in the right direction, rather than reacting to circumstances or letting others dictate your path.

  5. Review and Revise Regularly: Life is dynamic, and your vision may evolve. Schedule regular check-ins to review your mission statement and goals. Adjust them as needed to reflect new insights, changing circumstances, or deeper understanding of your own values.

  6. Use Tools and Resources: Leverage tools like mission statement builders, mind mapping apps, or planners to keep your vision front and center. These resources can help you stay organized, track progress, and maintain focus on your long term vision.

By following these steps, you’ll develop the personal vision habit that highly effective people use to lead their own life with intention and clarity. Remember, Habit 2 is about being the leader of your own destiny—don’t leave your future to chance; create it with purpose and direction.

Overcoming Obstacles to Achieving Your Vision

Achieving your vision is not always easy, and there will be obstacles and challenges along the way. However, with a clear vision and a strong commitment to your goals, you can overcome any obstacle and achieve success. Here are some tips for overcoming obstacles to achieving your vision:

  • Stay focused and motivated: Keep your vision statement in front of you at all times, and remind yourself why you are working towards your goals.

  • Break down big goals into smaller ones: Divide your big goals into smaller, manageable tasks that you can complete one step at a time.

  • Seek support and guidance: Surround yourself with people who support and encourage you, and seek guidance from mentors or coaches who can help you overcome obstacles.

  • Be flexible and adaptable: Be willing to adjust your plan and adapt to changing circumstances, and don’t be afraid to ask for help when you need it.

  • Celebrate your successes: Celebrate your successes along the way, no matter how small they may seem, and use them as motivation to keep moving forward.

By following these tips and staying committed to your vision, you can overcome any obstacle and achieve success. Remember, your vision is a powerful tool that can guide you to your destination and help you achieve your goals.

Apps that Can Support the Habits

  • Once you are ready with the purpose of your life or project, pen down the exact mission statements using a simple tool, Mission Statement Builder. List down the values which have significance in your life and then use the tool to write down the mission of your life for various roles you undertake each day.

  • Another tool that can help you think at a high level is a mind map tool like MindMaple.

  • You now have well-defined personal, moral, and ethical guidelines which represent you and make you happy. You can use Week Plan to ensure you execute your vision.

Key Takeaways Of Habit 2: Personal Leadership

It is pointless and a waste of time if you don’t have end results in your mind before starting a project, as you need to be the leader of your own life. By keeping the end goal in mind, you are more focused on achieving your targets because you know your aim and the purpose of the goal.

  • Knowing the end results, you can track your progress because you have a defined benchmark to compare how things are going.

  • By defining what you want to achieve, you can accomplish things better and faster than if you don’t define them.

  • With the end in mind, you have a sense of purpose that keeps you feeling more positive towards the goal you are working on.

  • By planning the end results, you have clarity over your end game and your achievements with that.

  • Setting end results gives you a single point of focus so that you can spend your entire time and energy on it instead of working around different things at a time.

  • Time management also becomes easy with the end in mind because you have a clear idea of your goals which helps you allocate the correct proportion of time to every task.

  • Your decision-making ability also becomes clearer because you know your end plan so you take the decision according to it.

More Posts