The Ability To Even (Collegiate Chronicles)

The 7 Habits x My Brain.

There's like a crap-tonne of self-help advice like everywhere. And I mean print, Interwebs, podcasts, we can get our help fix anywhere. The Big Daddy of these (as far as I'm concerned) is Stephen R. Covey's The Seven Habit of Highly Effective People.

Now, I don't know about you but I like to be effective, so I read this book. In some way the advice (like great many self-help advice seemed like ubiquitous common sense. But if it is so darn obvious, why did some of his words, when I really considered them, seem like an epiphany? Probably because I interpreted them for myself (with notes no less) and tried to see how I could apply them, you know, Just Do It.

So, here are some of my notes, maybe they'd help you.

(BTW, I don't think I'm violating any copyright laws by doing this. You can legit find the Seven Habits as a Wikipedia summary.)

1. Be ProactiveA reactive person just you know reacts to problems after the fact when everything is SNAFU and they get panicked. But a proactive person considers what problems could arise and then makes sure they don't. As a student, 'proactivity' definitely shows up with academics. You can't get smooth good grades if your health in shambles and you spend study time reading BuzzFeed listicles.

2. Begin with the End in Mind

For a good amount of my life (it's 19 years, comparatively not that long), I felt like I was just floating through life. Sure, I was getting good grades but it was because I was supposed to –- also for like social clout, parental approval, you know, the usual – I had no intrinsic motivation.

Having a life goal, like I kind of do now, helps and guides you. As one gets older, your knowledge and develop passions and interests shape what you'll do and who you'll become. You can't predict the future. But you can have an idea of how you want to be seen, what lie you would have that would make you happy and satisfied. Not just in a career but just life.

3. Put First Things First

Exactly what it says on the tin. But you need to know, what is first in your life? What do you want to be first?

4. Think Win-WinGo in a situation without the desire to pull one over another person. In life you have to relate with people, you'll have to negotiate, What can you give a person so that you'd get what you want.

In friendships and love? Consider the other person first. Always. But make sure you are being loved.

That's where the Win-Lose part of this habit comes in. Don't compromise your values, your art, your work, life, soul, loves, first for another person.

5. Seek First to Understand, Then be UnderstoodIn philosophy, the whole point is to find the right answer. Different schools of thought have different answers to the same questions and sometimes the same conclusion could be reached in completely different propositions. (My favorite age-old questions are in the comments).

To come to your own conclusions, or to attach yourself to one school of thought, you have to understand the others. You have to assume that they are right even if you do not think they are. If not, then you are not thinking, you have little to no basis for your own conclusions without understanding those of others and in a debate ( or paper or what have you) it would be painfully obvious that you never considered other arguments (There's a case to be made here for non-Eurocentric philosophy but that's another day's discussion).

This holds in discussions with other people, arguments, negotiations or just deciding what movie to watch. Understand where the other person comes from first.

And then be understood. This ties into the Win-Win habit. Make sure you are presenting your thoughts clearly, make sure you understand your own thought before presenting them.

6. SynergizeTEAMWORK! YOU CAN'T DO IT OWN YOUR OWN! EVERYONE HAS THEIR SKILLS (and so do you!!)

7. Sharpen the SawTake care of yourself. Read a novel. Read comic books. And fanfiction. Scream. Listen to good music. And them funny podcasts. Read your Bible. Get counseling. Pray. Meditate. EXERCISE. Talk to your friends. Listen to your loved ones. LOVE. Watch Looney Toons (it gets funnier as you get older). Scroll through memes. Eat them clementines. Drink water. SLEEP. Create adventures. Laugh.