Sean Covey Quotes

Isn't it kind of silly to think that tearing someone else down builds you up?

We are free to choose our paths, but we can't choose the consequences that come with them.

We become what we repeatedly do.

If you decide to just go with the flow, you'll end up where the flow goes, which is usually downhill, often leading to a big pile of sludge and a life of unhappiness. You'll end up doing what everyone else is doing.

Education must be a lifelong pursuit. The person who doesn't read is not better off than the person who can't.

Instead of playing to win, I was playing not to lose. It reminds me of the story I once heard about two friends being chased by a bear, when one turned to the other and said, "I just realized that I don't need to outrun the bear; I only need to outrun you.

Honesty is always the best policy, even when it's not the trend.

Life is a mission, not a career. A career is a profession, a mission is a cause. A career asks, What's in it for me? A mission asks, How can I make a difference?

Don't wait until people are dead to give them flowers.

It's especially hard to admit that you made a mistake to your parents, because, of course, you know so much more than they do.

Small changes can make huge destination differences.

We must all suffer from one of two pains: the pain of discipline or the pain of regret. The difference is discipline weighs ounces while regret weighs tons.

A fruit salad is delicious precisely because each fruit maintains its own flavor.

All the events of your past have formed a lens, or paradigm, through which you see the world. And since no one's past is exactly like anyone else's, no two people see alike.

These problems are real, and you can't turn off real life. So I won't try. Instead, I'll give you a set of tools to help you deal with real life.

Now think deeply. What have you done with your life over the past year? How do you feel inside?

I like how Mother Teresa put it: "Let no one ever come to you without leaving better and happier. Be the living expression of God's kindness: kindness in your face, in your eyes, in your smile." If you approach life this way, always looking for ways to build instead of to tear down, you'll be amazed at how much happiness you can give to others and find for yourself

It's hard, but sometimes it is better to have no friends for a time than to have the wrong friends. The wrong group can lead you down all kinds of paths you really don't want to be on. And retracing your steps can be a long and hard journey

The following is a list of statements made many years ago by experts in their fields. At the time they were said they sounded intelligent. With the passing of time, they sound idiotic.

My dad told me that when I was born my cheeks were so fat the doctors didn't know which end to spank.

You can usually tell when a couple becomes centered on each other because they are forever breaking up and getting back together.

The primary purpose of going to college isn't to get a great job. The primary purpose of college is to build a strong mind, which leads to greater self-awareness, capability, fulfillment, and service opportunities, which, incidentally, should lead to a better job.

If you could envision the type of person God intended you to be, you would rise up and never be the same again.

Let no one ever come to you without leaving better and happier. Be the living expression of God’s kindness: kindness in your face, kindness in your eyes, kindness in your smile. MOTHER TERESA

We first make our habits, then our habits make us. ENGLISH POET.

The world is a book and those who stay at home read only a page.

if you base your identity on having friends, being accepted, and being popular, you may find yourself compromising your standards or changing them every weekend to accommodate your friends.

If who I am is what I have and what I have is lost, then who am I?

We see them come. We see them go. Some are fast. And some are slow. Some are high. And some are slow. Not one of them is like another. Don’t ask us why. Go ask your mother.

Whether I fail or succeed shall be no man’s doing but my own. I am the force. ELAINE MAXWELL

Whenever you have a job to do ask yourself two questions. If not now, when? If not by me, by whom?

If we are what we have, and we have nothinh, thenwho are we? Are we nothing?

If you’re planning on dropping out of high school, prepare yourself for the future by repeating aloud each day: “I’m looking forward to low-paying jobs for the rest of my life.

It is OK to be a little selfish about my priorities.

As humans, our tendency is to play victim. And unless you’re watchful, it will sneak up on you and you’ll start blaming outside forces—parents, spouses, bosses, the weather, the government, circumstances, “the Man,” whomever—for your problems. In reality, we are not victims. We’re agents. We are the creative forces of our lives, and we are free to choose. But we have to be reminded of this all the time.

In our culture of multitasking, according to Professor Clifford Nass of Stanford University, “The neural circuits devoted to scanning, skimming, and multitasking are expanding and strengthening, while those used for reading and thinking deeply, with sustained concentration, are weakening or eroding.”5

It's all about how you feel, not how you look

• “I go running. It gives me a better perspective on my problems and helps me find solutions.” • “I allow myself one hour to feel sorry for myself and I cry.” • “I take a bath, read my journal, and sleep.” • “I play ball.” • “I lift weights to release the endorphins.” • “Helping others helps you forget about your own problems.” • “I just get out of the house.

Who am I? I am your constant companion. I am your greatest helper or heaviest burden. I will push you onward or drag you down to failure. I am completely at your command. Half the things you do you might just as well turn over to me and I will be able to do them quickly and correctly. I am easily managed—you must merely be firm with me. Show me exactly how you want something done and after a few lessons I will do it automatically. I am the servant of all great individuals and, alas, of all failures, as well. Those who are great, I have made great. Those who are failures, I have made failures. I am not a machine, though I work with all the precision of a machine plus the intelligence of a human. You may run me for a profit or run me for ruin—it makes no difference to me. Take me, train me, be firm with me, and I will place the world at your feet. Be easy with me and I will destroy you. Who am I?

Remember, very few of us wind up marrying the people we date in high school. So even though you may be convinced your current boyfriend or girlfriend is the one, they most likely aren’t.

Abraham Lincoln was often criticized for trying to make friends with his enemies instead of trying to get rid of them. He replied, “Isn’t that what I’m doing when I make an enemy a friend?

Boyfriend/Girlfriend-Centered This may be the easiest trap of all to fall into. I mean, who hasn’t been centered on a boyfriend or girlfriend at one point? Let’s pretend Brady centers his life on his girlfriend, Tasha. Now, watch the instability it creates in Brady. TASHA’S ACTIONS BRADY’S REACTIONS Makes a rude comment: “My day is ruined.” Flirts with Brady’s best friend: “I’ve been betrayed.   I hate my friend.” “I think we should date other people”: “My life is over. You don’t love me anymore.” The ironic thing is that the more you center your life on someone, the more unattractive you become to that person. How’s that? Well, first of all, if you’re centered on someone, you’re no longer hard to get. Second, it’s irritating when someone builds their entire emotional life around you. Since their security comes from you and not from within themselves, they always need to have those sickening “where do we stand” talks. if who I am is what I have and what I have is lost, then who am I? ANONYMOUS When I began dating my wife, one of the things that attracted me most was that she didn’t center her life on me. I’ll never forget the time she turned me down (with a smile and no apology) for a very important date. I loved it! She was her own person and had her own inner strength. Her moods were independent of mine. You can usually tell when a couple becomes centered on each other because they are forever breaking up and getting back together. Although their relationship has deteriorated, their emotional lives and identities are so intertwined that they can never fully let go of each other. Believe me, you’ll be a better boyfriend or girlfriend if you’re not centered on your partner. Independence is more attractive than dependence. Besides, centering your life on another doesn’t show that you love them, only that you’re dependent on them. Have as many girlfriends or boyfriends as you’d like, just don’t get obsessed with or centered on them, because, although there are exceptions, these relationships are usually about as stable as a yo-yo.

In the world of dating, everyone seems to fall into one of the following six camps. Sometimes they straddle two. Pick which camp you’re mostly in. Camp I Wish: You don’t date and you wish you did. Camp Who Cares?: You don’t date and you really don’t care. Camp This Rocks!: You really enjoy dating and you wonder why everyone else doesn’t. Camp Help!: You’re stuck in a bad dating relationship you can’t get out of. Camp Never Again: You just had your heart broken and don’t want to start dating again. Camp Hanging Out: You don’t really date, you just sort of hang out. You see dating as an old-fashioned ritual. Camp Curious: You’re too young to date, but you’re really curious about it.

one 2 x 4 beam can support 607 pounds, but two 2 x 4s nailed together can support not just 1,214 pounds (which is what you’d expect), but a whopping 4,878 pounds! So it is with us. We can do so much more together than we can alone.

About a third of the way through the course, one of the runners fell. The crowd gasped. But, amazingly, with utter spontaneity, the rest of the runners stopped in their tracks. They stopped and looked back at the one who had fallen. One by one they turned around and slowly made their way back to help the fallen runner. They pulled him to his feet and the race continued with everyone running arm in arm to the finish line. They all finished the race together. All of those runners could see themselves in the one who fell.

When you’re choosing someone to date, what’s the first thing you notice about them? Their personality? Right—let’s get real. The first thing you go for is their looks. You can’t help it. Being attracted to someone is where it all starts, but there is so much more to a person than looks.

Just as negative self-paradigms can put limitations on us, positive self-paradigms can bring out the best in us, as the following story about the son of King Louis XVI of France illustrates: King Louis had been taken from his throne and imprisoned. His young son, the prince, was taken by those who dethroned the king. They thought that inasmuch as the king’s son was heir to the throne, if they could destroy him morally, he would never realize the great and grand destiny that life had bestowed upon him. They took him to a community far away, and there they exposed the lad to every filthy and vile thing that life could offer. They exposed him to foods the richness of which would quickly make him a slave to appetite. They used vile language around him constantly. They exposed him to lewd and lusting women. They exposed him to dishonor and distrust. He was surrounded twenty-four hours a day by everything that could drag the soul of a man as low as one could slip. For over six months he had this treatment—but not once did the young lad buckle under pressure. Finally, after intensive temptation, they questioned him. Why had he not submitted himself to these things— why had he not partaken? These things would provide pleasure, satisfy his lusts, and were desirable; they were all his. The boy said, “I cannot do what you ask for I was born to be a king.

For a moment, imagine the person you hope to marry. What do they look like? Are they funny, intelligent, kind? How do you hope they are living their life right now? Would it bother you if you knew they were hooking up each weekend or had five, ten, or fifteen different partners over the past several years? Or would it make you smile if you knew they were holding out for you? Why not live your life as you would want them to live theirs? Wait for the relationship.

Only date people who respect your standards and make you a better person when you’re with them. Consider the message of the movie A Walk to Remember. Landon Carter is the reckless leader who is skating through high school on his good looks and bravado. He and his popular friends at Beaufort High publicly ridicule everyone who doesn’t fit in, including the unfashionable Jamie Sullivan, who wears the same sweater day after day and gives free tutoring lessons to struggling students. By accident, events thrust Landon into Jamie’s world and he can’t help but notice that Jamie’s different. She doesn’t care about conforming and fitting in with the popular kids. Landon’s amazed at how sure of herself she seems and asks, “Don’t you care what people think about you?” As he spends more time with her, he realizes she has more freedom than he does because she isn’t controlled by the opinions of others, as he is. Soon, despite their intentions not to, they have fallen in love and Landon has to choose between his status at Beaufort...and Jamie. “This girl’s changed you,” his best friend yells, “and you don’t even know it.” Landon admits, “She has faith in me. She wants me to be better.” He chooses her. After high school graduation, Jamie reveals to Landon that she’s dying of leukemia. During her final months, Landon does all he can to make her dreams come true, including marrying her in the same church her mother and father were married in. They spend a wonderful summer together, truly in love. Despite Jamie’s dream for a miracle, she dies. Heartbroken, but inspired by Jamie’s belief in him, Landon works hard to go to medical school. But he laments to her father that he couldn’t fulfill her last desire, to see a miracle. Jamie’s father assures him that Jamie did see a miracle before she died, for someone’s heart had truly changed. And it was his. Now that’s a movie to remember! Never apologize for having high standards and don’t ever lower your standards to please someone else.

Albert Einstein, considered the most influential person of the 20th century, was four years old before he could speak and seven before he could read. His parents thought he was retarded. He spoke haltingly until age nine. He was advised by a teacher to drop out of grade school: “You’ll never amount to anything, Einstein.” Isaac Newton, the scientist who invented modern-day physics, did poorly in math. Patricia Polacco, a prolific children’s author and illustrator, didn’t learn to read until she was 14. Henry Ford, who developed the famous Model-T car and started Ford Motor Company, barely made it through high school. Lucille Ball, famous comedian and star of I Love Lucy, was once dismissed from drama school for being too quiet and shy. Pablo Picasso, one of the great artists of all time, was pulled out of school at age 10 because he was doing so poorly. A tutor hired by Pablo’s father gave up on Pablo. Ludwig van Beethoven was one of the world’s great composers. His music teacher once said of him, “As a composer, he is hopeless.” Wernher von Braun, the world-renowned mathematician, flunked ninth-grade algebra. Agatha Christie, the world’s best-known mystery writer and all-time bestselling author other than William Shakespeare of any genre, struggled to learn to read because of dyslexia. Winston Churchill, famous English prime minister, failed the sixth grade.

The other day I saw my girl walking with some other man They were walking and giggling and having a time And I saw she was holding his hand! I stood back and spied, my eyes filled with tears As I watched this foul display Some overly cheerful bleep with legs Was taking my baby away! As I spied over Dumpsters with feelings of hate I saw them in a close embrace! Now I’m broken-hearted ‘Cause before they parted, I saw her kiss his face. That ended my garbage-can espionage I thought I had seen quite enough I decided to confront that devilish girl Who I had once called my true love. So I typed up an e-mail to that wicked female And gave her a piece of my mind. But I won’t say what I said, in case there’s kids present But I will say my words were unkind. I said it was the end, and right when I clicked send I heard my telephone ring. I picked up the receiver and couldn’t believe her It was my little ex...thing. She said “Sorry babe that I haven’t seen you all day But my older brother’s in town! Did I ever tell you that he is a boxer And one of the biggest around?! “He’d like to meet you but he’s quite protective So behave whatever you do, I’ll just check my e-mail and then we’ll come by And...oh look! Here’s an e-mail from you.

Pay now and play later or play now and pay later.

Aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn’t mttaer in waht oredr the Itteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoatnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat Itteer be in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit a porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe.

Do I love you because you’re beautiful, or are you beautiful because I love you? Are you the sweet invention of a lover’s dream?, or are you really as beautiful us you seem?

I always just hoped that, that I’d meet some nice friendly girl, like the look of her, hope that the look of me didn’t make her physically sick, then pop the question and ... um ... settle down and be happy.

A boy I know named Michael, the oldest often children, came home one night intoxicated with E. When he saw the family’s pet Labrador in the kitchen he strangled it to death, convinced that it was the devil. The dog bit him and there was blood all over the kitchen. The siblings who ran in to watch the aftermath of the scene were traumatized. Michael is now in drug rehab recovering from addiction.

Our confidence needs to come from within, not without. From the quality of our hearts, not the quantity of things we own. After all, he who dies with the most toys...still dies.

Muéstrenme a alguien que sea lo suficientemente humilde para aceptar y asumir la responsabilidad de sus circunstancias, y lo bastante valiente para tomar todas las iniciativas que sean necesarias para afrontar creativamente la solución a esos retos, y les demostraré el supremo poder de la elección.

please listen to me: There is someone out there who loves you. Please hold on for dear life. Things are never as dark as they seem. Talk with someone immediately and let them know how you’re feeling, in the same way you’d talk to them if you had a terrible flu. “I’m feeling really sick. Can you help me?

respecto,

to shelve this book. But before you do that, hear me out. If you promise to read this book, I’ll promise to make it an adventure. In fact, to keep it fun, I’ve stuffed it full of cartoons, clever ideas, great quotes, and incredible stories about real teens from all over the world … along with a few other surprises.

WIG sessions provide an opportunity to celebrate progress, reenlist the energies of the team, and reengage everyone.

Results drive engagement. This is particularly true when the team can see the direct impact their actions have on the results.

The problem is not the absence of data; the problem is too much of it, and little sense of what data is most important.

Visibility drives accountability.

The snapshots represent the characteristics and practices of successful companies at a specific point in time, not those of struggling ones; or of executives who perform better than others at the time of the snapshot. Explicitly or implicitly, they then assert that if you want to perform as well as the best-performing ones, you should copy what the best companies and the best executives do. My colleagues and I have eschewed the profession

the three reasons for disengagement as anonymity, irrelevance, and immeasurement.

begin by asking, “If every other aspect of our team’s performance remained at its current level, what is the one area where significant improvement would have the greatest impact?

W. Edwards Deming, the father of the quality movement, taught that any time the majority of the people behave a particular way the majority of the time, the people are not the problem.

When you can stand apart from your own mind and examine it—to think about your thoughts, feelings, and moods—you then have the basis for using imagination, conscience, and independent will in entirely new ways. You literally become transcendent. You transcend your background, history, and psychic baggage.

Yes, our genes, upbringing, and difficulties affect us, but I do not believe they determine us.

Proactive people make choices based on values. They think before they act. They recognize they cannot control everything that happens to them, but they can control what they do about it.

Don’t go around saying the world owes you a living. The world owes you nothing. It was here first.

primera línea, aquellos que conforman la base de la pirámide

If I am what I have and all I have is lost, then what am I?

Seek first to understand, then to be understood ... Remember, unexpressed feelings never die. They are buried alive and come forth later in uglier ways. You've got to share your feelings or they'll eat your heart out.

People who lack the native physical, social, or mental gifts they desire must fight just that much harder. And that uphill battle can produce qualities and strengths they couldn't develop any other way. That is how a weakness can become a strength.

In our culture of multitasking, according to Professor Clifford Nass of Stanford University, “The neural circuits devoted to scanning, skimming, and multitasking are expanding and strengthening, while those used for reading and thinking deeply, with sustained concentration, are weakening or eroding.

Culpar a los demás y al entorno de nuestros problemas y dificultades puede convertirse en una norma; puede atenuar temporalmente nuestro dolor, pero al mismo tiempo nos encadena a esos mismos problemas. Muéstrenme a alguien que sea lo suficientemente humilde para aceptar y asumir la responsabilidad de sus circunstancias, y lo bastante valiente para tomar todas las iniciativas que sean necesarias para afrontar creativamente la solución a esos retos, y les demostraré el supremo poder de la elección.

Sean

لقد ذاكرت بجهد شديد طوال الفصل الدراسي، وكنت أعرف أن والديّ سوف يسعدان بذلك، وحصلت على تقدير ممتاز في ست مواد، وجيد جداً في واحدة، ولكن كل ما استطعت أن أراه في عيونهما هو خيبة الأمل. كل ما كانا يريدان معرفته هو لماذا لم يكن التقدير الجيد جداً ممتازاً بدوره. لقد كان كل ما استطعت أن أفعله هو أن أمنع نفسي عن البكاء. ما الذي كانا يريدانه مني؟ كانت تلك هي السنة الثانية لي في المدرسة العليا، ولقد قضيت السنتين التاليتين في محاولة أن أجعلهما يفخران بي. مارست رياضة كرة السلة، وودت لو أمكنهما أن يشعرا بالفخر، ولكنهما لم يأتيا ليراني وأنا ألعب أبداً. كان اسمي دائماً في سجل الشرف في كل فصل دراسي، ولكن بعد وهلة أصبح تقدير الامتياز في جميع المواد بالنسبة لهما ليس أكثر من شيء متوقع. كنت سأصبح مدرسة في الكلية، ولكن لم تكن هناك أموال للإنفاق على هذا، وشعر والداي أنني سأكون في حال أفضل بدراسة شيء آخر، وهذا ما فعلته. كل قرار كنت أتخذه كان دائماً مسبوقاً بمثل هذه الأسئلة، ما الذي يريدني أبي وأمي أن أفعله؟ هل سيشعران بالفخر؟ هل سيحباني؟ ولكن أياً كان ما كنت أفعله، فإنه لم يكن أبداً جيداً بما فيه الكفاية. لقد جعلت حياتي كلها ترتكز على الأهداف والآمال والطموحات التي كان والدايّ يعتقدان أنها جيدة، ولم يجعلني هذا أشعر بالسعادة. لقد عشت حياتي لإرضاء والدي لفترة طويلة للغاية حتى أنني شعرت بعدم السيطرة على ذاتي. شعرت أنني بلا قيمة، بلا فائدة، وبلا أهمية.

There’s nothing better than belonging to a great group of friends and nothing worse than feeling like an outcast. Friends are important but should never become your center.

Where does intrinsic security come from? It doesn’t come from what other people think of us or how they treat us. It doesn’t come from the scripts they’ve handed us. It doesn’t come from our circumstances or our position. It comes from within. It comes from accurate paradigms and correct principles deep in our own mind and heart. It comes from inside-out congruence, from living a life of integrity in which our daily habits reflect our deepest values. I believe that a life of integrity is the most fundamental source of personal worth. I do not agree with the popular success literature that says that self-esteem is primarily a matter of mind-set, of attitude—that you can psych yourself into peace of mind. Peace of mind comes when your life is in harmony with true principles and values and in no other way.

I am the servant of all great individuals and, alas, of all failures, as well. Those who are great, I have made great. Those who are failures, I have made failures.

Jordan Grafman, del Instituto Nacional de Trastornos Neurológicos y Parálisis de Estados Unidos, dice: “Mejorar nuestra habilidad para hacer muchas cosas a la vez en realidad daña la creatividad y el pensamiento profundo. Hacer más tareas simultáneamente implica menos deliberación, es decir, se pierde la capacidad de pensar y razonar un problema”.5

entre

Sow a thought, and you reap an act; Sow an act, and you reap a habit; Sow a habit, and you reap a character; Sow a character, and you reap a destiny.

I played terrible," recalls Covey. "After the game, he waited for me outside of the locker room, and I came out and he hugged me and said, 'Sean you were marvelous out there today.' I said, 'No, Dad, that was the worst game I ever had.' He said, 'No. You were getting beat up and you kept getting up. I've never been so proud of you.

las personas no tienen claro el objetivo, no están comprometidas con él, no saben qué tareas específicas les corresponden y no hay rendición de cuentas para supervisar que todos cumplan con sus responsabilidades.

El reto es ejecutar las metas más importantes sin dejar aquello que es urgente.

The key to changing yourself is to first change your perspective or paradigm

No one is better or worse than anyone else, just different. You're okay, they're okay.

So often, in our quest to be more popular and to be part of the “in-group,” we lose sight of things that are far more important…

After working with thousands of leaders and teams in every kind of industry, and in schools and government agencies worldwide, this is what we have learned: once you've decided what to do, your biggest challenge is in getting people to execute it at the level of excellence you need... It's natural for a leader to assume the people are the problem. After all, they are the ones not doing what we need to have done. But you would be wrong. The people are not the problem... The problem is inherent in the system.