Stephen Covey - First Things First (1994)

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Trust is the glue of life. It's the most essential ingredient in effective communication. It's the foundational principle that holds all relationships — marriages, families, and organizations of every kind — together.

Stephen Covey
Management works in the system; leadership works on the system.

Stephen Covey
When people have a real sense of legacy, a sense of mattering, a sense of contribution, it seems to tap into the deepest part of their heart and soul. It brings out the best and subordinates the rest.

Stephen Covey
The more involved you are, the more significant your learning will be.

Stephen Covey
Self-awareness is our capacity to stand apart from ourselves and examine our thinking, our motives, our history, our scripts, our actions, and our habits and tendencies.

Stephen Covey
The great apparent dichotomy is that the more we give, the more we get.

Stephen Covey
One thing's for sure. If we keep doing what we're doing, we're going to keep getting what we're getting. One definition of insanity is to keep doing the same thing and expect different results.

Stephen Covey
In the absence of wake-up calls, many of us never really confront the critical issues of life.

Stephen Covey
Conscience connects us with the wisdom of the ages and the wisdom of the heart.

Stephen Covey
Self-awareness involves deep personal honesty. It comes from asking and answering hard questions.

Stephen Covey
There is so much we can do to render service, to make a difference in the world - no matter how large or small our circle of influence.

Stephen Covey
We can never really change someone; people must change themselves.

Stephen Covey
It takes courage to realize that you are greater than your moods, greater than your thoughts, and that you can control your moods and thoughts.

Stephen Covey
What difference would a clear vision of my principles, values, and ultimate objectives make in the way I spend my time?

Stephen Covey
We do make a difference - one way or the other. We are responsible for the impact of our lives. Whatever we do with whatever we have, we leave behind us a legacy for those who follow.

Stephen Covey
The key to motivation is motive. It's the why. It's the deeper yes! burning inside that makes it easier to say no to the less important.

Stephen Covey
It's not only a matter of when to do things, but whether or not to do them at all.

Stephen Covey
More essential than working on attitudes and behaviors is examining the paradigms out of which those attitudes and behaviors flow.

Stephen Covey
Our lives are the results of our choices. To blame and accuse other people, the environment, or other extrinsic factors is to choose to empower those things to control us.

Stephen Covey
Quality relationships are built on principles, especially the principle of trust.

Stephen Covey
Petty things become unimportant when people are impassioned about a purpose higher than self.

Stephen Covey
The problems in life come when we're sowing one thing and expecting to reap something entirely different.

Stephen Covey
What does it matter how much we do if what we're doing isn't what matters most?

Stephen Covey
The key to acting with integrity is to simply stop playing the game.

Stephen Covey
Creating and integrating an empowering personal mission statement is one of the most important investments we can make.

Stephen Covey
As we create synergy among the roles of our lives, there's more of us to put into the time we have.

Stephen Covey
We present a dramatically different approach to time management. This is a principle-centered approach. It transcends the traditional prescriptions of faster, harder, smarter, and more. Rather than offering you another clock, this approach provides you with a compass — because more important than how fast you're going, is where you're headed.

Stephen Covey
Doing more things faster is no substitute for doing the right things.

Stephen Covey
It's easy to say ''no!'' when there's a deeper ''yes!'' burning inside.

Stephen Covey
Be governed by your internal compass, not by some clock on the wall.

Stephen Covey