"Begin With The End In Mind"

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College of Business Management                        

The thesis topic, “Begin With The End In Mind” is from the book “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People” written by Stephen R. Covey. Prior to writing this book Covey had over 25 years of experience dealing with business issues such as helping companies and their employees to be more effective and efficient in their work.  Stephen R. Covey leads seminars teaching managers to "do the right thing" as opposed to "doing things right." In a nutshell, that's the difference between being effective and being merely efficient.

 

Stephen R. Covey is chairman and founder of Covey Leadership Center, a worldwide, 700 member leadership development firms. He is author of the phenomenally successful best seller The Seven Habits of Highly Successful People, with over 6 million copies sold in 32 languages. Dr. Covey is respected internationally as an author, lecturer, teacher and leadership mentor. For more than 30 years, he has trained thousands of leaders in business, industry, education and government.

Stephen has a doctorate degree from Brigham Young University, an M.B.A. degree from Harvard University, and a Bachelor of Science degree cum Laude, from the University of Utah. He has served as an officer and board member of several corporations, an administrative assistant to the president of Brigham Young University, a visiting professor at the University of Utah and at Belfast Technical College, as well as a popular faculty member for the Young President's Organization. Dr. Covey is also the creator of "The Masters," a nationally acclaimed management development program; publisher of Executive Excellence, an executive advisory newsletter; and producer of the Seven Habits video and audio training programs and organizer. He is married to Sandra Merrill Covey, and they are the parents of nine children.

Overview of the Book:

Stephen R. Covey’s The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People was first published in 1989. Since that time, the seven habits he identified and described have been used by scores of individuals and organizations to improve their effectiveness. 

Stephen R. Covey's incredibly successful book is a pathway to wisdom and power. It offers a revolutionary program to breaking the patterns of self-defeating behavior that keep us from achieving our goals and reaching our fullest potential, and describes how to replace them with a principle-focused approach to problem solving.

Covey in his book The 7 Habits Of Highly Effective People explains in-depth the 7 habits that makes people effective in their work. In the book Covey explains the concepts by giving real world examples.  He also guides the readers, how they can follow the 7 habits of highly effective people. Following are the 7 habits discussed by Covey in his book.

1) Be Proactive

2) Begin with the End in Mind

3) Put First Things First

4) Think Win/Win

5) Seek First to Understand, Then to be Understood

6) Synergize

7) Sharpen the Saw


Begin With The End In Mind:

Great advice is often ignored because it sounds so matter-of-fact, makes such common sense, and is so simple that it just cannot be that good. Anyone could have thought of that idea, and probably has - so what's new? "Begin with the end in mind" is one such thought and is presented by Stephen Covey in his series of books on the 7 Habits of Highly Successful People. You have to think ahead to your goal or your destination before you can plan the steps or plot the route needed to reach it. And that makes good sense!

STOP - right now - whatever you are doing.

Now, ask yourself, what is the end (the purpose) of reading this thesis? If you do not know, then why are you reading it?

Everything that you do, you do for a reason. However, you may not always be aware of that reason.

Habit 2 "Begin with the end in mind" is all about knowing why you do what you are doing. Your starting point is a set of goals, targets, missions, visions or dreams. These give purpose to all that you do.

If you do not follow this Habit;

  • You will spend your leisure time the way TV companies want you to
  • You will buy what advertisers want you to
  • You will take the first half-decent job that comes along
  • At the end of the day, you will have no idea what you have achieved
    If you do follow this Habit;
  • Your leisure time will be amazing
  • You will spend less and enjoy it more
  • Your job will match your desires and your talents
  • At the end of the day, you will look back over many worthwhile achievements
    To get into this habit;
  • At the end of every day, decide what you will achieve the next day
  • During the day, regularly ask yourself why you are doing what you are doing. If you do not get a good answer, do something else

Imagine that our minds are like a camera lens. When we zoom in on the details, the big picture gets out of focus. And when we take a wide-angle view, we can see more opportunities and then choose which actions we'll take to seize those opportunities. A wide-angle view can provide the motivation needed to focus on all the details needed to make something happen.

In Stephen Covey's book, The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, Habit #2 is to "Begin with the end in mind." By focusing on the final outcome first, you can get clearer about what it would look and feel like if you were already there. This wider focus makes it easier to see more opportunities and possibilities than we can see when we only focus on the details.

Author Stephen R. Covey in his theory presents a holistic, integrated, principle-centered approach for solving personal and professional problems. With penetrating insights and pointed anecdotes, Covey reveals a step-by-step pathway for living with fairness, integrity, honesty, and human dignity -- principles that give us the security to adapt to change and the wisdom and power to take advantage of the opportunities that change creates.

According to Covey, “begin with the end in the mind” means, you know where you are heading and you know what your destination is. In other word you should not start your trip without knowing your destination/Goal.

For e.g. if you want to go to your friend’s house, you need to know the exact address of the house otherwise you may waste your time and possibly you will not be able to reach his house. Just by sitting in the car and start driving you will not help you reach your friend’s house. The most effective and efficient way of reaching your friend’s house is to make sure that you have the address (The end) before you start your trip


What is Goal?

The definition of Goal is the end that one strives to attain. It’s the object of a person’s ambition, desire or final destination. Are goals really an end to something? They are just the beginning. Once you set and reach your goals you are on your way to achieving greater heights, unlimited heights. Here are some tips on goals.

  • The most successful people have goals. Their goals are specific, measurable and positive. Goals are not dreams, they are achievable within reach.

  • Goals must be achievable and believable. If you don't believe you can reach your goal then you won't. Make sure you are really committed to your goal.

  • Don't waste your time, energy and emotions on goals that you don't believe you can achieve.

  • Share your goal, write your goal down, look at your goal everyday.

     The best goals are the ones that cause you to stretch yourself in order to reach them. In other words if you want to set a financial goal for sales or business, set one that you think you can reach then add 20%. This will cause you to stretch and go beyond your comfort zone. How are you going to achieve your goal? Here's how you do it.

            

  • Think of a goal that is specific, measurable, explicit and positive. One that is reachable with a stretch.

  • Then you ask yourself, when do you plan to achieve it? 6 months? 1 year? 5 years?

  • Now work backwards from that point. What do you have to do? What are your monthly, weekly and daily milestones and actions? In other words what are your short-term goals to achieve your long-term goal?

  • Always keep the end/goal and the reason you want to achieve the goal in your mind. In this way you will stay determined and focused to achieve your goal.

Make goals or choices that are:

  • Specific - Have a crystal clear picture of the desired outcome.
  • Measurable - How will you know you have achieved your desired outcome? How will you measure it?
  • Achievable - Create a step-by-step plan to accomplish what you want.
  • Relevant - Does this goal fit within the bigger picture (wide-angle view) of what is most important to you?
  • Time-bound - What is the timeline for accomplishing what you want?
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Begin with the End in Mind means to begin each day or task with a clear understanding of your desired direction and destination. By keeping that end in mind you can make certain that whatever you do on any particular day does not violate the criteria you have defined as supremely important, and that each day of your life contributes in a meaningful way to the vision you have of your life as a whole.

Importance of setting Goal/End

The key to success is setting up goals. If you have a goal then you will strive to achieve it, ...

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