Stephen Covey invites us to, “seek first to understand.”
What does he mean by that?
Instead of trying to fit everything and everyone into your set version of how life works, open your mind to new possibilities and understand that everybody else has their own version of how life works.
Otherwise, you waste precious time and energy in judgment of the people and things that you don’t understand, and you miss out on opportunities to learn, grow and prosper.
Start now, with this book. When you read something that challenges what you always thought or what you’ve always done, you have two choices:
- You can judge the hell out of me for suggesting something so crazy, or
- You can learn and try something new and get better results than you’ve been getting.
Do you know who said, “When you believe you can do it, you can do it?” Notice how the quote emphasizes, “you, you, you?” Can you guess? Was it Mahatma Gandhi? Wayne Dwyer? Deepak Chopra? Dr. Robert Schuler?
Actually, it was none of the above. It wasn’t a spiritual guru at all. It was a hockey guru, by the name of Wayne Gretzky (and it was in a television commercial). A regular, ordinary guy. You don’t have to be a spiritual person to understand and use this material. So open your mind and join me.
When there is no understanding, there is judgment. When there is judgment, there can be no understanding. Judgment and no understanding are what cause you to create the roadblocks to your success.
This article was originally published in Curing The Unmet Needs Disease © Simon Reilly 2008
International Values and Behavioral Analyst, Business Coach, Speaker and Author
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