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 »

I’ve been Revisiting the Seven Habits lately by reading the book The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey. It’s been years since I’ve read it, but considering how much I have going on personally and how much change is occurring in our society, I thought I would be proactive and give myself a refresher course. For those of you who haven’t read it, or haven’t read it in awhile, I hope this gives you some inspiration.

When Stephen Covey writes about the second habit of highly effective people, Begin with the End in Mind, he says that everything is created twice: once in the planning, the second in the doing. A building is first drawn up and planned out by the architect and contractor before it is actually constructed. In the film industry, a script is written and shots are designed before productions starts. As we consider the lives we are trying to create, we need to take the same approach by mapping out what we want to achieve and what kind of people we want to be in the process. Read more »

When discussing the first habit of highly effective people, “Be Proactive,” Stephen Covey makes a point to delineate the idea of proactivity as not just a positive action, but as realizing one’s responsibility in choosing the reactions that will create the life that is intended. He breaks down the word responsibility so that we can see “response ability.” We have the ability to choose our own response to any given situation.

While one may think that the opposite of proactive would be inactive, Covey points out that it is actually reactive. Being proactive, we own our behaviors. We realize that our decisions in any circumstances will determine what kind of person we are and how much control we have of our own lives. If we live reactively, our circumstances will determine our decisions, never letting us know what kind of person we really are because we choose not to take control of our lives. Read more »

The McAllister Code is a fictional approach to marketing that is out of this world! Go on a journey through time and space as two aliens convince Steve McAllister to turn his hometown of Sarasota, Florida into a marketing mecca. Filled with great information, a lot of laughs, and a story about getting back to the basics of humanity that will keep the pages turning, The McAllister Code is a must for anyone seeking purpose in their business and in life.

In the midst of a brutal hurricane season, after seeing an incomprehensible object shoot through the night sky, Steve McAllister receives a strange email stating that his latest book has been picked up for publication. The only problem is that he hasn’t written it. Setting out to unearth the mystery of the errant press release, Steve meets two aliens who charge him with a foreboding task – turn the city of Sarasota, Florida into a marketing mecca.

With a handful of guiding principles and a bevy of philosophical ideologies, the two wise-cracking extraterrestrials take Steve on a journey through time and space in order to teach him the finer points of industry and how his community can prosper in the new millennium. Filled with humor, wisdom, and intrigue, The McAllister Code is the definitive allegorical journey of one man on a quest to write his world.
As the Second Iteration of The McAllister Code comes to life via this blog, catch up with how it all began by ordering a copy of The McAllister Code: The First Iteration eBook.

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In order to fully ingratiate us into this new paradigm, Dr. Covey has developed the 7 habits into two main parts. The first part contains the first three habits, which move a person from Dependence to Independence through Private Victory. The next three habits comprise the Public Victory which helps a person more from Independence to Interdependence. The 7th habit is regular improvement and maintenance of all of the other habits.

Private victory begins with self awareness. Whether we are seeking improvement in our business, health or relationships, the ability to look at ourselves objectively and realize what aspects are working and what aren’t is an invaluable trait. Although humans are the only species that seem able to do this, all too often it is an ignored ability. When we miss out on that opportunity, we limit our own potential and our ability to help others reach theirs.

Sometimes, mastering this self awareness can take awhile. Read more »

The last decade has brought us overwhelming changes in our economy, in our technology, and unfortunately in our unemployment rate. Although a record number of Americans are without work, it seems that just as many have branded themselves as “social media marketing experts.” Although we know too well the myriad of ways one becomes unemployed, the question must be asked, “How does one become a social media marketing expert?” Just what is a social media marketing expert anyway? Read more »

Dr. Covey states that our character is basically a composite of our habits. The activity and attitude that we entertain every day define who we are. He defines them as the intersection of knowledge, skill, and desire. What to do and why + how to do it + wanting to do it = a habit.

Bad habits are caused usually because we want something now and desire leads our behavior and character. But if we knowsomething better will come along, and we know how to make it so, we can use good habits to achieve happiness, or as Dr. Covey describes it, “The fruit of the desire and ability to sacrifice what we want now for what we want eventually.”

What does this mean for us as a society? Especially considering the state of flux that our current economic condition has us in, we need to start looking at the changes we must make if America as we hope for it is going to survive. Read more »