The 7 Habit Two Step
“I have a question,” I said to Iman as he cocked his oblong head to one side.
“What’s new?” he replied.
“Don’t get snippy,” I told him. “You’re the ones who decided to give me the mind meld. I didn’t ask for this.”
“Not directly, no,” he replied, “but go ahead with your question.”
“What do you mean ‘not directly’?”
“Is that your question?”
“It’s a question. One of many more, I’m sure.”
“What was the point of your studying the habits of highly effective people?” he asked.
“To learn to be more effective myself so that I can teach others how to,” I replied.
“Why would you want to do that?” interjected Yewell. He sat back as if in a reclining chair, but seeing as we were in the nebulous void of an Estralarian mind meld, it looked as if he was just floating in midair.
“If you haven’t noticed,” I said, “my planet’s got a few issues to work out. I figured I should do my part in bringing us together, getting us on the same page. Maybe if we apply a little wisdom to our daily routines, we can find some ways of dealing with some of the problems we’re facing.”
“So,” said Iman, “you were being proactive in your desire to learn and teach, and you saw the end results of helping your global community. The mind meld is going to help you to that.”
“How?”
“By helping you put first things first.”
“Which brings me to my question.”
“I knew you’d get around to it eventually,” said Yewell.
“Why is ‘Put First Things First’ the third habit? Shouldn’t it be the first? I mean it’s right there in the title of the habit. Twice.”
“It is the first habit,” Yewell replied.
“No, I’m pretty sure it’s the third.”
“Well, sure, if you want to count sequentially,” he said.
“How else is there to count?”
“In dyads.”
“You lost me,” I said.
“Why am I not surprised,” he sighed.
“You’re being snippy again.”
“Sorry. Look at it this way. When you look at a clock, you can either see 12 hours, or you can see AM or PM, night or day.”
“That’s the dyad?”
“The two step of being.”
“Night and day. On and off.”
“Big and small. To and fro.”
“Black and white. Light and dark.”
“Up and down. Left and right.”
“Okay, okay, I get it,” I said.
“It’s about seeing the big picture, Steve,” said Iman. “Even your greatest avatars have done it. Look at Jesus and the Ten Commandments.”
“What about them?”
“Moses gave you Ten Commandments. Jesus broke it down to two.”
“You mean, ‘Love God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength. And love your neighbor as yourself.’”
“Exactly. So glad to see that Sunday school paid off,” said Yewell.
“What’s that have to do with the seven habits?”
“Two habits,” Iman interjected.
“What are they?”
“‘Be independent’ and ‘Be interdependent.’”
“Just like Jesus said,” added Yewell.
“How do you figure?”
“The first commandment is to love God with all of your heart, your soul, your mind, and your strength. To practice that as a habit means to be proactive by putting your heart into your purpose, to follow your soul as it shows you the vision for your life, to use your mind to manage your activity by putting first things first, and using your strength to carry out the mission. Once you find your place in the greater universe, you can move on to the second habit.”
“Being interdependent,” I said.
“Loving your neighbor as yourself,” Iman nodded. “Using the independence of your purpose and your relationship with the Intelligence that gave it to you to serve your fellow man and realize your place in the community.”
“And how do I do that?” I asked.
“By putting first things first.”
