Starting with the End (in Mind)

Goal-setting. How many of us really enjoy do this? If we didn’t have supervisors or managers reminding us for our “yearly goals” we probably wouldn’t do it on our own. Entrepreneurs by default do it on their own since their business would have no bearing without goals. So many of us start the year with “Near Year resolutions” that are almost like goals, but do we really take them seriously? One of the problems is, we don’t take the time to imagine, or visualize them and how we are going to obtain those goals. OK, so – how should we approach goal-setting so that it is attainable?
The 2nd Habit of “Highly Effective People” is “Begin with the end in mind”.
Mr. Covey starts out with an interesting scenario and great example of what “an end” is. I rather you read the book than me giving away the scenario and ruin how deep it makes you reach into yourself. In general, the end really is a great starting point. If you imagine what the end will be like – with as much detail as possible, it will almost be like a “self-fulfilling prophecy”. If you “predict” what the end will be like, work on envisioning it, you will actually take steps towards it.
The two most important factors to achieving these types of goals are self-awareness and imagination.

I thought I was self-aware…
Once you are an independent, self-aware individual, you have come to terms with your self-worth and have a clear, solid value system. Covey elaborates on the importance of having your own “Personal Mission Statement”. Many companies have mission statements. They summarize what their priorities are and why they do what they are doing. It is a guideline by which all goals and decisions must line up with. Before we write one, we are asked to look into our “center” – that which matters to us the most, and dictates our actions. Whether it be work, money, pleasure, etc. we need to identify it and realize that it is fleeting. Almost every center can waiver under the pressure of a crisis. Remove any one of the factors that the center depends on, and it collapses like a house of cards. To do this deep-dive, we must be ready to create a paradigm shift that will allow us to create a Solid Center that will be unwavering under any condition.

I love Sci-Fi… am I not already an imaginative individual?
One of my favorite Einstein quotes is as follows: “Imagination is more important than knowledge. For knowledge is limited to all we know and understand, while imagination embraces the entire world… ”. Without a doubt, imagination is what gives us the ability to create worlds. Not necessarily distant, alien worlds (which I love), but create and re-create our own world. If we remember our circle of influence from Habit 1, that is “the world” we can focus on. Our proactive lives do not wait to be acted upon, we take initiative and make it better in our minds - what Mr. Covey calls our “first creation”. The “second creation” is when we make it come through fruition. Technically, the first creation takes personal leadership, and the second is management. I believe you need leadership in both – one internal, and then external.

It all comes together.
With our imagination, we can visualize our futures and rewrite our lives to be inline with our principles and values. Furthermore, we can plan for the future with as much detail as we wish - the more detail, the better. In the end, the important part of bringing our imagination and conscience together is acknowledging those things which matter to us the most, our principles – our roles and goals. Putting them on paper and creating our personal mission statements means that we will be committed to being ready for life instead of waiting for a crisis to come around. Without a solid center, we will be reacting to the various “curveballs” in life, leaving ourselves open to arguing, yelling, and letting emotions get the best of us. Potentially, jeopardizing what matters to us the most: the trust and respect of those closest to us.
So – what matters to you the most? What is at your center?