Friday, April 24, 2009

Seven Habits of Highy Defective People (humorous)

This excerpt was taken from the Facebook Group: The Happiest Days of Your Life by Nithya Shanti. Nithya always has a message of inspiration and so naturally I am compelled to share most of the time. Who doesn't need inspiration? :-)
Enjoy~
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You may have heard of Stephen Covey’s 7 Habits of Highly Effective People and Sean Covey’s 7 Habits to Highly Effective Teens. The lessons are profound.
According to Sean Covey (that's Stephen's son), the key to understanding the seven habits is to examine what they are not. So here's presenting the humorous, but also not uncommon...

Seven Habits of Highly Defective People
1: React
Blame all of your problems on your parents, your boss, your lousy neighborhood, your partner, the government, or something or somebody else. Be a victim. Take no responsibility for your life. Act like an animal. If you're hungry, eat. If someone yells at you, yell back. If you feel like doing something you know is wrong, just do it.

2: Begin with No End in Mind
Don't have a plan. Avoid goals at all costs. And never think about tomorrow. Why worry about the consequences of your actions? Live for the moment, but never 'in the moment'. Sleep around, get wasted, and party on, for tomorrow we die.

3: Put First Things Last
Whatever is most important in your life, don't do it until you have spent sufficient time watching reruns, talking endlessly on the phone, surfing the Net, and lounging around. Always put off your homework until tomorrow. Make sure that things that don't matter always come before things that do.

4: Think Win-Lose
See life as a vicious competition. Your colleagues are out to get you, so you'd better get them first. Don't let anyone else succeed at anything because, remember, if they win, you lose. If it looks like you're going to lose, however, make sure you drag that sucker down with you.

5: Seek First to Talk, Then Pretend to Listen
You were born with a mouth, so use it. Make sure you talk a lot. Be first off the mark, and never lose an opportunity to express your side of the story first. Once you're sure everyone understands your views, then pretend to listen by nodding and saying "uh-huh." Or, if you really want their opinion, give it to them.

6: Don't Cooperate
Co-operation is synonymous with compromise. Let's face it, other people are weird because they're different from you. So why try to get along with them? Teamwork is for the sledge dogs. Since you always have the best ideas, you are better off doing everything by yourself. Be your own island.


7: Wear Yourself Out
Be so busy with life that you never take time to renew or improve yourself. Never study. Don't learn anything new. Avoid exercise like the plague. And, for heaven's sake, stay away from good books, nature, this Facebook group or anything else that may inspire you.

Wasn't that funny!? As you can see, the habits listed above are recipes for disaster. Yet many of us indulge in them regularly (yes, you and me included). And, given this, it's no wonder that life can be really unpleasant at times.
Now now lets look at this another way, what are the seven characteristics that happy and effective people the world over have in common.

Here they are, followed by a brief explanation:
Habit 1: Be Proactive
Take responsibility for your life.

Habit 2: Begin with the End in Mind
Define your mission and goals in life.

Habit 3: Put First Things First
Prioritize, and do the most important things first.

Habit 4: Think Win-Win
Have an everyone-can-win attitude.

Habit 5: Seek First to Understand, Then to Be Understood
Listen to people sincerely.

Habit 6: Synergize
Work together to achieve more.

Habit 7: Sharpen the Saw
Renew yourself regularly.

I feel we can all benefit from reading and re-reading the two books mentioned above. Whether we choose habits that make us feel miserable and trampled by life or we those that make us feel magnificent and strong - the amount of work is the same. Why not emphasize effective habits over defective ones?? The important thing is not really where we are, but in what direction we are moving.

1 comment:

Lisa said...

Good read. Thanks for sharing.