“Begin today with the image, picture, or paradigm of the end of your life as your frame of reference or the criterion by which everything else is examined. Each part of your life — today’s behavior, tomorrow’s behavior, next week’s behavior, next month’s behavior — can be examined in the context of the whole, of what really matters most to you.” —Stephen Covey
Beginning with the End in Mind tells us that all things are created twice—first mentally, second physically.
Individuals, families, teams, and organizations shape their own futures by creating a mental vision and purpose for any project. They don’t just live day to day without a clear purpose in mind. They mentally identify and commit themselves to the principles, values, relationships and purposes that matter most to them.
Beginning with the End in Mind is about letting how you want to be remembered guide your thoughts and actions.
For Habit 2, Covey guides us through an eye-opening exercise that can really be a game-changer if you approach it whole-heartedly…
Ready for it?
Here we go: Picture yourself at your funeral.
What would you like to be remembered for by all of the people in attendance?
What would you hope to hear each person say about you?
We often get so busy with life, work, and pursuing goals, that we tend to forget about the values and people that matter most to us.
We forget about who we really want to be and how we want to affect the people in our lives.
Beginning with the end in mind gives us a different perspective and helps us keep our true values front and center.
Actionable insights
Create a personal mission statement.
Here are two examples of mission statements from my own life to help you as you create your own:
For organizations—Here’s our mission statement at one of my companies, FlashBooks:
“We help busy people get more knowledge in less time.”
For individuals—My own mission statement is:
“To inspire + educate people everywhere to achieve their goals + improve their lives.”
Now it’s your turn:
Think about the roles you play in your own life, and what goals you have for each role. It’s likely that you’ll have several personal roles, at least one professional role, and possibly even some important community roles.
Write about who you want to be about in each role, and what values would best guide you to be the best version of yourself in each of these roles.
You can choose to have different mission statements for different roles of your life. Or, you can choose to live by one simple mission statement.
