first things first summary

5/24/2018 First Things First Summary

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First Things Firstby Stephen R. Covey

Overall Summary

For those of you not familiar,First Things Firstis the third habit of Stephen Covey's famous SevenHabits of Highly Effective People. It is the habit of prioritization and focus. This book provides an

incredibly powerful method of improvin your daily productivity by focusin your time not so much

on what's urent in your life, but more on what's important in your life.

I hihly recommend this book to anyone who strules because they don't think they have enouh timeto do everythin they want in life.

Section One - The Clock And The Compass

!ettin thins done faster is not the trick " because even if you discover an incredibly powerful method

of personal productivity that enables you to et stuff done at a much faster rate, it doesn#t always solvethe problem of havin lots of thins to do. Covey arues that the real key is knowin how to seek out

thins that are really important to you and focusin on your time and effort on those " and then simpy

fillin in the aps in your life with the other $less important% thins.

1. How Many People On Their Deathbed Wish Theyd Spent More Time At The Office

&ost of the time, people spend their days focused on manain time " rather than manain priorities

in their lives. Covey believes that most time manaement philosophies maimize the use of the

moment and makin sure you make it to meetins on time " instead of helpin you focus on the central

$core values% and priorities in your life.

(ne analoy used is that of the parent who discovers suddenly that his)her child is strulin and usin

drus. (bviously, this wasn't intended " and usually the parent can see that had he spent more *ualitytime with the child, this may have been prevented. +ut as they look back at their lives, they realize that

they manaed time and not priorities " every day fillin their schedule and ettin thins done andnever makin the priority of spendin *uality time, sittin and talkin with their child the most

important thin to reach their desired oal-

!. The "r#ency Addiction

Taken straiht out of the Seven Habits, Covey points out in this chapter that most of us are morefocused on what is urent than what is important " and breaks down eactly what that means.

Covey breaks down the thins we do into four *uadrants

$%adrant &/Important and Urgent/ crises, deadline/driven pro0ects, and pressin problems

$%adrant &&/Important and Not Urgent/ preparation, plannin, and relationship buildin$%adrant &&&/Not Important and Urgent/ interruptions, most phone calls and mail and reports

$%adrant &'/Not Important and Not Urgent/ trivia, busywork, time wasters, and escape activities

1hen you stop and look at your own life, you will most likely realize that most of what you spend time

doin is in *uadrants I and III, but most of the really valuable thins in life are in *uadrant II. It's oftenvery difficult to prioritize *uadrant I and III thins to do *uadrant II thins, but accordin to Covey,

that's the difference between workin hard and workin smart " between livin your life efficiently and

effectively.

Impossible

Futures


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(. To )i*e+ To )o*e+ To )earn+ To )ea*e A )e#acy

This chapter primarily focuses on introspection and findin the basic core values our true north- with

which we make choices in our lives. This process is broken down into three main elements

The f%lfillment of the fo%r h%man needs and capacities , These needs include physical, emotional,mental, and spiritual, and Covey arues that all truly profound eperiences come from the point where

all of these meet.

The reality of -tr%e north principles" 1hether we aree with them or not, principles are concrete

and overn our lives whether we follow them or not. They are social ) psycholoical consistencies that,much like the laws of physics, act on our lives and overn the results, even when we don't follow them.

The potentiality of the fo%r h%man endowments" In this section, Covey hihlihts the four ideas

that make humans uni*ue. These uni*ue elements of the human psyche are our self/awareness,

conscience, independent will, and creative imaination.

Section Two - The ain Thing !s To "eep The ain Thing The ain Thing

This is the heart of the ideas in First Thins First " understandin that you take the time to make sure

you are doin walk your own talk.

/. $%adrant && Or#ani0in# The Process Of P%ttin# 2irst Thin#s 2irst

The process of puttinFirst Things Firstis starts with chanin the way we plan out our lives. Insteadof plannin our lives from minute to minute, hour to hour or day to day, Covey recommends focusin

on an intermediate time frame " week to week. 2rioritizin first thins durin that week.

The central idea that Covey presents in this section is that before you plan out a week, you should

identify what your roles are in life " all the hats you wear in the course of your life from C3( ortechnician to husband and father-. Then identify a oal that you really want to accomplish that week

for each of these roles " and make it happen by buildin time for it into your calendar and seein it

throuh.

3. The Passion Of 'ision

This chapter is a roundin on makin sure you have the end in mind as you walk throuh puttinFirst

Things First. (nce you have created all the roles that you have chosen in the previous chapter, Covey

asks us to start seein how we would like to be described, within the contet of those roles " when we

are old and ray. 1hat would you like for people to say about how you acted within each of thoseroles4 1hat, within the contet of these roles, would make you feel like you succeeded4 These

become the central oals of your life, and the choices you make every day should always move you

towards these oals.

4. The 5alance Of 6oles

This chapter, Covey tries to help the reader find a way to feel his life/roles are connected " helps them

find ways to be two roles at once, so that there isn't always a lose/lose compromise with time. The oalis to find activities ) thins to do that fulfill multiple roles.

7. The Power Of 8oals

Take some time and set real oals. This not only means comin up with them and plannin for them,

but also eaminin them within the contet of the rest of your life " makin sure there are no

$conflicts% with your core values or any of your other oals.

5lso in the chapter, Covey pushes for settin mid/term s he calls them- week/lon oals for each roleby askin yourself $What are the one or to most important things I co!ld do in this role this ee" that


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o!ld have the greatest positive impact#$ 5nd then writin them down and holdin yourself

accountable to the oals.

9. The Perspecti*e Of The Wee:

6ow that roles and oals have been set, Covey takes you to another lever. In this chapter, he focuseson makin sure that you don't allow the short term to drive the lon term. In essence he arues that you

need to make sure that your oals drive your actions, not the other way around.

7e stronly encouraes that the reader spend some time every week focusin on oals of the comin

week, makin sure they are alined with the lon term and then reflectin and re/committin to thelon term.

;. &nte#rity &n The Moment Of

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