7-Habits - Progress with Habit #1

I have been working on Habit #1: Be Proactive for the last month, but I must continue working on it, because although I made some strides I still need to work on it some more.  The progress I have made is to keep on doing the things I need to do and not allowing external influences dictate what I do or how I feel.  So although for the last 2 weeks I have been sick first with a stomach flu and then with a cold and ear infection.  I've continued, as much as I could, with my activities, taking rests only when I couldn't handle it anymore.  And as soon as I felt better I began to work on all the work that had backed up.

The part I still need to work on is being responsible for my decisions and not letting procrastination make them for me.  For example I decided I wanted to cut down on some of my private clients because I picked up more classes at the Institute where I work and I was getting overwhelmed.  I also decided that I wanted to focus on adults and keep the clients that I had been working with since the beginning, but I was not proactive in resolving some issues I had with these clients and they dropped me.  I was upset about the way they handled things, but taking responsibility for my actions is part of Habit #1 and I understand that next time I have to deal with my problems head on instead of letting inaction make things explode in my face.

The other thing of Habit #1 that I still need to work on is on focusing on my Circle of Influence (those things I have control over) and not so  much energy on worrying about conditions over which I have no control.  This is the one I am having the hardest time with.

So, I will remain working with Habit #1 for the rest of this month. The thing I will do different is that I will keep this Habit top of mind.  For example I am going to create myself a note about this Habit and place it every where I can see it. This will keep being Proactive top of mind.

7 Habits... - Habit 1

"Your life doesn't just "happen." Whether you know it or not, it is carefully designed by you. The choices, after all, are yours. You choose happiness. You choose sadness. You choose decisiveness. You choose ambivalence. You choose success. You choose failure. You choose courage. You choose fear." 7 Habits of Highly Effective People -Stephen Covey

Today I went to a conference on volunteering and gender through an organization I volunteer at called Federacion de Mujeres Progresitas (Federation of Progressive Women FPW) and as I listened to some of the messages about women and volunteering, something bothered me and I couldn't put my finger on it.

Tonight when I was reading the 1st Habit of Highly Effective People I realized what it was that bugged me.  As Stephen Covey puts it there are two types of people Proactive and Reactive.  He says that proactive people focus their efforts on their Circle of Influence.  They work on the things they can do something about:health, children, problems at work. Reactive people focus on things over which they have little or no control: national debt, terrorism, weather, he calls this the Circle of Concern.

Today at the conference some of the conversations where focused on the Circle of Concern and it struck a nerve.  I also met some fabulous people who are very proactive and are doing wonderful things as volunteers to help other women and themselves.  One person who really impressed me was a young lawyer from Latin America who had such an amazing positive attitude to move forward with her life and to help others despite her own circumstances.  It is so refreshing to meet women who don't focus on gender roles or the obstacles we face as women, but who see the barriers yet continue to move forward to reach their goals.

As women we face many challenges, roles that want to limit us, media that feed us messages to keep the status quo of the patriarchal societies we live in, but we have to say no living a proactive life, the life we choose.

The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People is a great read, especially at times that you are needing a little support in achieving your goals.  For me right now it is just what I need.  I've decided to focus on one habit a week, so that I may really own it and live with it.  So for this week it is Habit 1, being proactive.