“What do you mean the end of the world isn’t what I think it is?” I asked Iman. “What else could it be?”

“It could just be the end of the world as you know it,” he said as Yewell joined him in walking away from me into the vast expanse of nothingness that surrounded us.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” I asked, following after them. “Where are you going?”

“It means what it means and we’re going where we’re going,” said Yewell.

“You’re not going anywhere! We’re in the middle of nothing.”

“It often seems that way, doesn’t it?” said Iman. Read more »

“Everybody wins,” I said. “That’s the fourth habit, right? Think Win/Win.”

“Exactly,” said Iman. “It’s been a hard concept for humanity to grasp. Even before Jesus brought up what’s come to be known as The Golden Rule, your higher thinkers have realized the benefit of looking out for your neighbor.”

“However,” added Yewell, “the majority of your population does not consist of higher thinkers.” He nodded to the right with a little shift of his oblong head.

I looked into the vast expanse of the nebulous void. Off in the distance, a pin prick of light emerged, growing bigger as it came toward us. As it grew nearer, I could make out the color of green. There was movement, and I soon realized that they were human figures. As the light from the image began to overtake me, it was coated with red. Suddenly, I was immersed in the light of movement in color. Read more »

“How do I go from independence to interdependence?” I asked Iman.

The tall alien looked at me and shrugged. “You don’t.”

“What do you mean I don’t? I though you said the two ‘big picture’ habits were to be independent then to be interdependent.”

“No,” he corrected, “we said they are to be independent and interdependent. You don’t stop being independent as you become interdependent. That will just make you dependent again.”

“Whatever,” I argued. “You got me on a matter of semantics.”

“Semantics are important if you’re going to write the world,” added Yewell. “Don’t forget how powerful words can be.”

“For many people, words mean everything,” said Iman.

“Some people need to lighten up,” I chided.

Iman shook his bald head. “You are really not starting off this whole interdependent thing on the right foot.”

“Sorry. Something about an Estralarian mind meld makes me a little edgy.”

Read more »

“So then how do I put first things first,” I asked the aliens.

“Be proactive,” said Iman.

“And begin with the end in mind,” said Yewell.

“You’re not helping,” I said.

“Maybe you should try reversing them” added Yewell.

Dealing with one alien is hard enough, but dealing with two really is downright…

“Impossible?” Yewell interjected. “Just think of where you’d be if we weren’t here to help you.”

“I’d be reading the 7 habits book like a normal person.”

“When have you ever been normal?” he asked. Read more »

“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. Read more »

Have you ever had déjà vu? You know, when you experience something and it feels like you’ve done it before? What do you call it when you remember an experience that you can’t remember actually experiencing?

There I was, reading about the second habit, trying to Begin with the End in Mind, when all of a sudden I remember learning about it through a conversation I had with two aliens that had once abducted me. Well, it wasn’t actually once. It was a few times. And they didn’t necessarily abduct me. They just… Read more »

As I read over the second of Stephen Covey’s habits the other day, there was something so familiar about the concept. It wasn’t just that I’d read the book once before because I can remember reading it on the train ride from Sarasota to LA in 2003. I was remembering it on a different level, as if I had experienced it somehow.

I have engaged in the process of writing a personal mission statement. Stephen Covey is exactly right when he says that it will help you gain clarity. The power of visualization is a wonderful thing. Just taking the time to think through what is important to you, identifying roles that you play and the goals you wish to accomplish, is of tremendous help in reducing stress and inducing a feeling of effectiveness.

Yet even that wasn’t what I was remembering so I continued to read through the chapter.

In it Covey wrote about being a principle-centered person and how it could help you achieve true balance in life. People tend to center their decisions and goal making around things that are outside of themselves. Read more »