How to Coach Yourself and Others Influencing, Inter Personal and Leadership Skills | Page 149
Chapter 5: Habit 3, Put First Things First
Habit 1 says, “You’re the programmer, Habit 2 says, “write the program,” Habit 3
says, “Run the Program.” Habit 3 is all about organizing and executing priorities.
What one thing could you do that would most improve your personal or
professional life? You probably named a Quadrant II activity, thus showing the
value of focusing your life on Quadrant II activities.
Urgent
Important
Not
Important
Not Urgent
I
II
III
IV
Setting a Quadrant II Focus. Do not attend to leaves and neglect roots.
Feed opportunities and starve problems. Eliminate Quadrant III and IV
activities immediately, and slowly minimize quadrant I. You are always going
to have to say “no” to something; wouldn’t you rather say no to the “good”
rather than the “best?”
Needs of a Quadrant II Organization Tool
o
o
Balance: Success is pursued in all critical areas. It does you little good to
achieve a successful business career while suffering a broken marriage,
ruined health, shallow faith, and weak character.
o
Quadrant II Focus: Schedule your priorities rather than prioritizing what is
on your schedule. Weekly schedule accomplish this more readily than daily
schedules.
o
People Dimension: Most agree that people are more important than tasks
and therefore this must be factored into your schedule.
o
Flexibility: Make the organizer work for you; do not be run by it.
o
Coherence: What you do matches what you most want to be. Your mission
statement is placed in your organizer so that it may be regularly referred to
and lived out.
Portability: Your organizer must travel well.
Quadrant II Activities
o
o
Select Goals: Each week, set 2-3 important goals for each of your roles.
Make weekly goals consistent with your overall mission/long-term goals.
o
Scheduling: Assign each goal to a particular day or appointment.
o
Identify Roles (ex: father, employee, church member, etc…)
Daily Adapting: Review goals at the beginning of the day to gain
prioritization.
Stewardship Delegation